Initial Thoughts...

[Dave S]

I'm close to 50 miles on the new Sportsman since I brought it home last week.

First thing I want to say is what people say about power steering is right. You don't realize what you're missing until you get a chance to drive a machine with it. I've yet to add much for accessories other than the plow. More on that later.

Fuel injection has been great in the colder temps over the past week. No more of the cold blooded SP500 days. Although this machine is a wet sump vs. the dry sump system used in earlier models, turning the motor over hasn't been an issue.

Lights are far better also. Having all 3 on lights up the road better than any other machine I've had. The only machine in my past that came close was the Can Am (Bombardier) DS 650. Good thing too. Was out at night on the township roads putting some easy miles on when a deer crossed the road in front of me. This is when I learned of another improvement. EBS.

About the EBS....at speed, it can be a little aggressive for the unsuspecting rider. It will save on brake pads, that's for sure. This machine also has 4 wheel engine braking, actuated by moving the switch over one more click for the standard 4x4. I was plowing one of the neighbors driveways in 4x4 mode and with just the rear EBS, the back end slid out a little while going downhill. The next pass down I switched it over to the other 4x4 mode. It seemed as if this was a manual transmission in first gear and 4x4 lock. Great control over all.

Now as for the plow. I have the 60" Glacier Pro that I've used to clear 6 driveways, including my own. Of the 6 driveways, 4 are blacktop, 1 concrete and 1 gravel.By the time I finished the first round, the skids had worn down to the point that the pan on one of them had fallen off. Yup, worn right down to the weld holding the pan to the post. The dealership gave me a new set no questions asked. If this new set wears as fast, I will be having my own set made and hardened as well as the scraper bar to match. What I like most about the plow is I can have it mounted in less than 30 seconds compared to the 2 hours it takes me to convert the garden tractor from summer to winter duties.

Stock tires are typical for most machines. Not worth squat! Going to get my use out of them though before I drop the coin to put new ones on. Yikes, 14" wheels makes for expensive tires. This is gonna hurt.

I'll finish by saying that rundrave was correct on this 570 motor. It is no slouch. far more power than my last ATV (Honda Rincon). Thanks to rundrave for offering up his thoughts on this motor. I wasn't going to bother with this machine prior to his input.

[rundrave]

nice write up I told you that 570 was a sleeper! You will surprise some people with that platform and better yet it still has some getup and wont handle like a your driving a tank with some of the weight of the other larger CC machines. I wasn't aware that you could get the 570 with dual a-arms until I saw your first post.

I am jelous! Gonna be really hard not to go get one myself.

You could maybe upgrade the clutches or try a different spring in the secondary to get the backshifting in the clutch to where you like it. It also may take some time for the belt to "stretch" a tad and you wont feel it grab as bad when it back shifts.

I had a very similar problem with my 500 when I switched out the stock belt for a RAZR belt. It ran a little tight but its was huge improvement over the stock belt for grip etc. i can pull a wheelie at will at just about any speed. Works great for lifting the front end over rock or logs. Again congrats on the new machine, i want one really bad.

[BoxMN]

Sounds like a great machine! I agree with the power steering, I drove a year or so ago with power steering and can say that I would probably not get one without it if/when I am in the market again. It was just so darn nice.