unhappy with my outlaw

[al capone]

I want to like my quad but it has been 1 issue after another.

1. popping back firing
2. over heating
3. loose lefthanded nut
4."
5."
6. speratic shutting down
7. falling on its face
8. chain falls off in the water
9."
10. chain will not stay tight no matter what HELP PLEASE
11. bike dies if i blast in to 1ft of water or more
12. NO SECOND GEAR HALF THE TIME IT TAKES 2 SHIFTS TO GET SECOND AND YES I KNOW HOW TO SHIFT MY BIKE



This is the most unreliable quad i have ever rode. I can not trust this bike to even climb a medium sized hill becouse it may fall on its face and down ill go. I have yet to have one outing in the 8 months i have owned it that has been problem free. I'm starting to hear a squeel when i take off (clutch I assume?). This quad has all the potential in the world but it is cursed I swear

Guys give me some support to help me with my quad, I have problems 1-5 fixed i think:huh :huh

[TYLER329]

How is jetting, tightening bolts, not washing out the radiator, and chain tension the Outlaws fault?

[birdman7389]

Sounds like jetting (should have been done 1st thing anyway), some locktight and a wrench set could do you some good. Clean your electrical connections, and seal up what you can with heat shrink. The clutch squeel seems pretty normal, but I have not noticed any slippage.

[al capone]

I have JD jetting and I think its dialed in some problems are cured. this quad is a lemon.

Yes the chain being loose is the outlaws fault no one I ride with has to tighten their chain 2 times per outing I keep a 15mm wrench with me at all times (this should be a nonissue)


I feel people are biased in these forums I will admit my quad is full of problems and I have met people with the same problems as me.

I don't want to fight with our family I just want to hear who else has had my issues and can help me work em out. were family here lets help each other all my post are to inform or to get informed never to belittle.

[marshviewripper]

1, 6, and 7 are all related to jetting. Did you install the kit yourself? Do you have an aftermarket exhaust or intake? If you do not then you do not need the JD kit. The KTM motor does come a bit lean from the factory but not that bad. If you are not runnin a high flow exhaust then you are too rich. What are your riding temps?

Get yourself a shop manual, (not the owners manual), repeat the process of purging the cooling system with the radiator cap off and bleed screw cracked open. Clean the radiator, preferably towards the front so you dont push more gunk further in. You could also have a bad temp. sensor. If you do replace it. Is your quad physically over heating or is the dummy light just coming on?

The left handed nut You talk of I assume is the crank nut? Take the nut off and clean the hell out of it, use a high grade lock tite and let it sit and dry for a few days before putting oil back in.

Are your front and rear sprockets good? No teeth missing? Does the chain aactually break or just ride off the sprocket? Sounds like it is misaligned.

[al capone]

The jetting is great its fixed all the issues dealing with jetting as for the temp issue its 20* here so ill figure out if its fixed in the summer seems to run fine now. The nut is fixed but the chain and second gear is my 2 main issues now. second gear is 50/50 hit or mis I swear it is not there half the time I'm no first timer amature dick slinger riding it is not the operator like I have read in other threads dealing with the shifting issue. :) :)

[sheriff525]

As for your clutch squel. What oil are you using? Me and my brothers bought 4 outlaws and mine was the only one doing the clutch squel. It really didn't affect my performance. I put a new clutch in and it started squeling again shortly after.

I think that there must be something wrong with the transmission on a few outlaws. Last year when i was at little sahara ut. I would be racing my bros up Sand mountain and it would fall out of gear. I would be in 3rd and all of a sudden it dropped to nuetral. It pissed me off. So i think a rebuild of the tranny would fix your shifting issues as i have the same thing happen once in a while. It takes me sometimes twice to get it up to second. I am starting to notice it more and more. So it has to be a wear issue!

[sheriff525]

Also in regards to the chain. Are you tightening it at the shifting point. I am sure you are but my brother was dumb and he forgot to tighten his up once and kept complainaing about it for a few days. Then i checked his and he forgot to tighten up the locking nut where the rear end pivots.

[birdman7389]

Originally posted by marshviewripper
Did you install the kit yourself? Do you have an aftermarket exhaust or intake? If you do not then you do not need the JD kit. The KTM motor does come a bit lean from the factory but not that bad. If you are not runnin a high flow exhaust then you are too rich.

This is absolutely incorrect IMO. These things are WAY lean from the factory. Mine ran like dog mess, horrible stumbling issues. JD Jet kit solved that, while the machine was otherwise stock. There are enough options in the kit to tune a wider range of mods.


The #1 thing for any new outlaw should be a JD jet kit, hands down. Everything builds off of that.

[sleddog66]

I did not see which outlaw you have, but if it is an IRS, then your chain issue may be due to some bad rear bearings? Grab hold of the rear brake rotor, and shake it. Also grab the rear sprocket and shake it. There should be no play in these.

I would guess a bent shift fork on the shifting issue, however, many have found the shifter to be too long of a throw. Many have switched to a Pit Posse shifter(including myself), and problem solved.

[TYLER329]

There is a big ferris wheel type set up on the side of the motor behind the flywheel. You have to find the bolt that backs itself out take it out, lock tight it and reinstall. This is a common problem and has happend to me last year. Since removal it has not happend again.

[marshviewripper]

"This is absolutely incorrect IMO. These things are WAY lean from the factory. Mine ran like dog mess, horrible stumbling issues. JD Jet kit solved that, while the machine was otherwise stock. There are enough options in the kit to tune a wider range of mods."


In my case anyways installing the JD kit on a stock motor was a mess. Different elevations Im sure. Ive never seen two Outlaws run the same. A little more R and D on Polaris' part wouldnt hurt.

[katch26]

Originally posted by marshviewripper


In my case anyways installing the JD kit on a stock motor was a mess. Different elevations Im sure. Ive never seen two Outlaws run the same. A little more R and D on Polaris' part wouldnt hurt.

R&D and EPA are 2 acronyms that hardly ever equal the same thing

[birdman7389]

Originally posted by marshviewripper


In my case anyways installing the JD kit on a stock motor was a mess. Different elevations Im sure. Ive never seen two Outlaws run the same. A little more R and D on Polaris' part wouldnt hurt.

Did you do it right? I do not mean to attack you, but you would be in the tiny minority if the JD kit did not make it run better....properly installed. You know there are different settings for elevation in the kit?

You really think that Polaris and or KTM can not tune a RFS motor to run like a raped ape?

They intentionally leaned it out (made it run like poo) so it would pass an emissions test. Its garbage that it has to even do that, but thats what it is.

The Jet kit should have been included in the paperwork or under the seat.....

[al capone]

My jet related issues are fixed now. The only issues I have now are the chain and second gear and the dying when i hit water. I have already had new bearings put it by the dealership and still have the chain problems I put the JD kit in correctly and it has fixed my problems related to that.

[GE4x4]

As far as it dying when you hit water, make sure your tether plug is clean and seal it up good.

As far as the chain goes, do you have any more chain adjustment left? How much ware on the sprockets? Does the chain keep loosening?

[xc44]

i had aproblem with water also. the problem was my ignition wire broke from rubbing inside the harness and before it broke when i hit water it would shut down

[al capone]

It doesnt shut down it bogs and dies .

The chain keep loosening throughout the ride like it just keeps stretching

[marshviewripper]

"Did you do it right? I do not mean to attack you, but you would be in the tiny minority if the JD kit did not make it run better....properly installed. You know there are different settings for elevation in the kit?

You really think that Polaris and or KTM can not tune a RFS motor to run like a raped ape?

They intentionally leaned it out (made it run like poo) so it would pass an emissions test. Its garbage that it has to even do that, but thats what it is.

The Jet kit should have been included in the paperwork or under the seat....."

I think the biggest thing not mentioned was that I own a 525S, not IRS. Jetting and intake setups really cant be compared between the two. Im aware of all that the kit consists of, including different elevation setups.

Ive never had much faith in Polaris' ability to tune anything, I think many others will understand where I'm coming from.

I not totally convinced on the emissions hoopla. Can you really think of any quad that runs as bad as the Outlaw from the factory? I can't, and Ive ridden alot of quads. It never appeared that KTM had as much trouble with this as Polaris; the motors may be the same but the intake setups are not even remotely close. If you havent worked on a 525S it may be hard to understand.

[kylejansson]

man I've never found cures to some of my problems with my predator. Polaris is different then every other four wheeler out there some run like striped *** and some just run like ***. Every four wheeler eventually have problems it just seems polaris has less dianosis to there problems and for sure less cures

[fasterblaster02]

I have had quite a few of those problems. Mine would overheat, even with engine ice, so i bled it really good and cleaned the radiator very often, and have not had the problem since, although I will really see next summer. My chain came off twice, once for sure was because the rear bearings were shot and maybe the other time as well, but probably not. It did happen in water, at the same EXACT place during races about 5 months apart. At least some, maybe all, of the IRS Outlaws have problems with the rear carrier twisting and causing the chain to go out of alignment. I now have my spacer on the outside of the sprocket so the chain lines up straighter. Mine also ran bad, I went through the electrical system and checked and greased every connection, the only thing I found that was bad was a broken wire at the voltage regulator. I have been told this shouldnt affect anything, however, it has not run bad since. I also put heat tape on the gas tank at that time. I have not had an issue with the shifting, although it did pop into neutral at my last race a couple of times when hitting mud, but I am not sure if it is becoming a problem or not.

[birdman7389]

Originally posted by kylejansson
man I've never found cures to some of my problems with my predator. Polaris is different then every other four wheeler out there some run like striped *** and some just run like ***. Every four wheeler eventually have problems it just seems polaris has less dianosis to there problems and for sure less cures

Again, maybe I lucked out, but my 06 TLD has been flawless int he high and low desert, sand, mud and woods :D

[al capone]

I am on my last leg now with this quad its in a hundred pieces in my garage im putting it together this weekend and im giving it 3 more rides and if it messes up im parking it in my drive way and im going to go buy a yamaha then im defaulting the loan. This quad is a piece of lemon ****.

[katch26]

that sounds like a bad plan

[al capone]

Ya I know I was in my little B!tGh mood I really want this quad to work out I love it but it just keeps acting up and a person should be able to trust there quad not to break down on a simple 3 hr ride.

[al capone]

Well my parts came in and the quad is back together after the oil change i took it out and ran each gear to the max we will see if it holds up. The quad felt solid.

[wannaride4]

Well mr. al capone i wish you the best of luck, i hope you got the bugs worked out of it. i have rode mine for 2 full seasons in all types of riding conditions and am very happy. i am looking for a big bore kit, not that a person needs it, its only a want sort of thing. i am looking at the 600 kit. but anyway good luck.

[al capone]

I took it out today for a half hour or so just pounding the **** out of it and it felt tight I hope it stays good, the true test will be a hard 3 or 4 hour ride at the badlands.

I'll keep you guys posted :macho