Sportsman 500/600/700

[Blaze]

I'm looking at a couple used Sportsmans in the '03-'04 age range. I know there are guys out there with 500s and 700s, and a few with 600s as well. I have a few questions for you guys:

Is there really much difference in power between the 3?

Is there really much difference in fuel efficiency between the 3?

Are these motors the same powerplants that Polaris put in their sleds those years?

Why'd they quit making the 600? I always thought that was a great Polaris motor.

Any that I should be leery of? (no brand flaming, please!) If so, why?

Thanks,

Blaze

[Roofer]

If you get the 600 or 700, you will have no recoil starter, a discontinued engine, and not much difference in performance from a 500. Don't get me wrong, the 600 and 700 are more powerful, but it depends on how much that means to you. I will say IMO the 500 is a much better engine. Those even firing twins sound aweful. That is a tough choice though.

The 600 and 700 motors are atv engines only I believe.

[Blaze]

Not real concerned about having a discontinued motor. I see the 6-700s listed as the Liberty motor, that's what made me think it was the same as they put in the sleds. Guess I never thought the twins sounded that bad - what about them don't you like? Are twins harder starting than a single piston machine (especially in cold weather)?

I saw the 600 referred to as a "torque monster" - does it have that much more torque than a 500? I will be using mine for a fair amount of towing/pulling stuff, so that's seems like a good thing to me. Good call on the lack of recoil. I knew the 700s didn't have it, wasn't sure on the 600s.

Anyone else?

[Northland Sportsman]

I have an 04.5 600 sportsman and it has been a great machine. I have had no issues with cold weather staring and the power is great. I used to have a 2000 500 sportsman and that was a good machine as well. There is more power with the 600. I would not be scared to buy one of these again. I think the 600 sounds good too

Good luck with whatever you decide. I do wish it had a recoil as a back up starter, but haven't needed on yet!

[wally-eye]

I have an 04 500 that has been a good machine. My one gripe with Polaris is their charging system. The battery doesn't have enough juice to run everything. If I am plowing snow, running the winch, with the headlights on, the battery light will flash almost everytime. It definitely will if I have my handwarmers on. The recoil starter is very nice to have. I've used it many times because of the battery issue.

[dustin85]

Maybe I am just lucky, but I have had no problems with my 06 Sportsman 500. Plenty of power for me. Never had any charging issues while plowing with mine.-Later!

Dustin

[Roofer]

atv batteries are atv batteries, that meaning, they are junk. Unless you drive your machine often and rev it high, the battery will die. Plowing is the hardest thing on a battery. Low rpm's, and evrything electrical running.

I thought anything without a recoil got a bigger battery?

The twins sound like a 2 stroke to me. Just sound different with the parallel twin.

[tyeetanic]

One difference that might concern you is weight. The 600/700 weighs about 120 lbs. more than the 500, as I recall. I believe they weigh around 720 vs. 600 lbs. I have various friends who own all of these machines, and they all love 'em. I haven't heard of any serious problems, and the extra weight has not been a problem for the guys I know who have the heavier ones. I haven't heard that the bigger ones use much more gas, either. They're all great machines. I like the sound of the side-by-side twin, too; and they really sound good with after market pipes. The only thing that would concern me is the lack of a recoil start on the bigger ones. That may not be a problem if you always ride in a group and carry jumper cables, but it would make me nervous. I went with a Kawasaki 650 V-Twin; it has both electric and recoil, weighs 600 lbs, and sounds the best, IMO, of course. They all do amazing things for us, elk hunting in the mountains out west. My buddy who is 6'5" and 260, loaded a whole 5x5 bull, hind qtrs on the front, the rest on the back rack of his Sportsman 500, and rode slowly and gently several miles back to the truck. I was following him and he still had suspension left, in spite of being well over the load capacity. He never bottomed out the suspension, even on the bumps. We also have guys with Grizzlies, Rubicons and Arctics in our group. Everybody loves their machine! They all do the job for us. As for power, the 400 Sportsman is marginal, but gets the job done, too. The rest all have plenty of power for normal users. Good luck and have fun!

[Roofer]

Actually all the Sportsmans with IRS are over 700lbs. with the 700 and 800's closer to 800 lbs. This is what steered me from Polaris, but it does have it's advantages.

[striker2160]

my son has a 04 600 sportsman. we test drove both the 600 and 700 and liked them both. he ended up buying the 600 because it had better mid range torque and he weights 275 lbs and it tops out at 62 mph.

[dirtking]

I have the 700 and know folks with the 500. No pull start on the 700, the 500 are alot easier to turn (shorter turning radius), the 700 has more power - other than that - both good machines

[Dave S]

The 500 Polaris motor is by far their best motor IMHO. I agree with Roofer on the sound. They sound a lot like a 2-stroke, but I don't think they give that "2-Stroke Feel". The 500's are smooth as silk, especially now with the addition of EFI.

All machines 500cc or larger by Polaris are 697 lbs plus. At least the '00 500 SP that I had was listed as 697 lbs. This could be a benefit if your plowing but a problem if you get stuck.

I don't think you could go wrong with either machine, but I have heard of a couple issues with the 600 motor early on but was fixed later in production.

[STORE500]

Here is my 2 cents. My dad and I bought machines at the same time, him an 04 SP 500 and me an 04 SP 600. The torque of the 600 seems to be ten times that of the 500, even he can't believe the difference. The 600 has a top speed of 63 and the 500 is 60. My 600 can pull a wheelie by just pinning the gas and the 500 can't without pulling on the bars. The 600 has more torque for pulling than the 700 does, but the 700 is faster. I do think that the 500 would be more reliable since it is only one cylinder. I love the sound of the twin motor, has that low rumble to it.

I pulled my 4000 lb. fish house with a tongue weight of 400 pounds out onto the lake with my 600 (had to use a skid under the tongue when the suspension bottomed out, I had chains on all 4 tires). I think you will not go wrong with either of the 3, but if you are looking for more pulling power the 600 has the upper hand. Hope this helps

[Fisherman For a Lifetime]

I bought a new Sportsman 700 Twin about 5 months ago. I love the sound after start-up until warm-up: Blub-Blub-Blub-Blub, sounds like it's soup'd up!

It smooths out real well and is VERY efficient on gas compared to my friend's 650 Twin of another Mfg.

NO regrets with the 700!

Guys, throw a charger on your battery once & a while - you'll be suprized how much longer they last......

[Roofer]

Quote:

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All machines 500cc or larger by Polaris are 697 lbs plus. At least the '00 500 SP that I had was listed as 697 lbs. This could be a benefit if your plowing but a problem if you get stuck.

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Yes, the weight is good for plowing and that's it. It doesn't tow any better(actually worse than the kawi's) and is harder to move around the garage. All these years and they still use that heavy (cheaper) steel.

[Kodiak]

arent the chassis on the 500's about the same size as the 700's and 800's?