rode a scrambler this weekend

[Jbelknap21]

this weekend i took a spin on my friends 2001 scrambler 500. i was very impressed with the power, it hit pretty hard at the bottom, the power reminded me of riding a snowmobile, like normal, then a hit, then slowly calms back down, and it handled really nice in the snow. i was very impressed with it, the best polaris ive ever rode.

[Juggalo]

yeah i got the chance to ride my friends 99 scram 400 4x4 with a buncha mods on it last monday. it was kinda cool but it was lame compared to my ex. it seemed like it topped out really fast and when it was topped out it didn't seem like i was goin very fast. and it was super heavy (sucked at jumpin). the best part was riding endos on it (very scary but cool). not a bad machine but i'd never buy one.

[Guy400]

In my neighborhood I'm the only person with a real sport bike. A couple of blocks down there's another Raptor and the next neighborhood over has a couple of 400EX's. Out of the 6 guys that live on my immediate block there's 5 Sportsman 500's, 1 Rancher ES and 1 Scrambler 500 4x4. This is no lie, Fourstrokefan can vouch, every single Sportsman has been back to the dealer at least once for a major repair. 3 of those 5 have had the front diffs grenade, 1 had the tranny explode and the other had a rear diff problem. In all fairness to Polaris, the guys with the Sportsman's all go about 275lb. and above and they beat the he!! out of their bikes. I mean, this is the worst punishment I've ever seen quads take. I fully believe that these guys would destroy any quad given to them. But, about the Scrams performance, the guy that lives near me with one has some tranny kit in his that according to him makes the belt bite quicker and that's it. This guy doesn't talk $h!t but he's just generally uninformed. His Scram does about 85mph, climbs any hill, jumps any jump, etc. so if his bike does that my bike must do 100mph and I quadruple his double-doubles according to him. I'm flat-out not impressed with the Scram 500. The motor feels strong but that belt drive really seems to kill any power to the rear wheels. The instant you pin the throttle from a dead stop the motor feels weak (because of the belt drive) but then feels pretty strong as you accelerate but then feels weak again at 50mph+ (because of the belt drive). I'll keep my shifter bikes

[K400EX&A250EX]

Around here we must be doing SOMETHING wrong with all of our Polaris bikes...because we ride them all hard and haven't had ANY problems with any of them. I've read here and in a couple of other forums about how bad the reliability of Polaris is...but we are all VERY pleased with them. Between my immediate family, my brother, and my sister's family...we have two Scrambler 500 2x4s, a Scrambler 500 4x4, a Sportsman 500, and a Scrambler 90...and we haven't done anything but maintenance to any of them.

The Scramblers will never ride the same or have the same speed as the true sport bikes...but they are a good all around bike that work for multiple purposes. As I mentioned in another thread in here somewhere, there are times when I prefer riding my 400EX and other times when I'd rather ride the Scrambler.

[JustRace]

Yeah I don't think that Polaris has a reliability problem. My step-dad had a 92 Polaris Trailboss 350L that I beet the crap out of and it ran like it was new. My dad has a 95 Polaris Sportsman 400 that has over 3,000 miles on it and it still runs like new too. And this sportsman goes to Canada every year for a big fishing trip. The only work the 95 polaris has had done was that in 96 it got a new frame (I had a little accident). Oh the only problem that both polarises have developed is that the batteries do not stay charged.

[kc 300EX]

Met a kid with a 500 4X4 Scrambler, it was all of 3 months old I think, Lets see.........
Snapped the swing arm and blew out the rear shock
BROKE out the front wheel drive, the shafts? yeah, they were gone, he replaced them once then said fudge it, so now its only 2 wheel drive
the funky clutch they have with the spring thing? yeah, the spring was broken in half, quad was about half speed
Polaris reliability problem? Nooooooooooo

[4punksdad]

polaris has been around awhile now........they took alot of heat back in the day when they started making 3-wheelers (yeah, they have been around that long) and they are still taking abuse about their belt drive.

I am no fan of belt drive quads..........to include the grizzly's, but belt drive has proven to be reliable. snowmobiles have belt drive, and they have been very dependable.........

how do the quads compare to the belt drive on sleds? do they have the same centrifugal clutch like a sled has or what? if so, then there is no "tranny"

[K400EX&A250EX]

Sounds like in the case of the kid with the Scrambler 500 4x4 the problem may have been the rider...and not the bike. I know of individual examples of almost any model of bike having problems, and a lot of time it has more to do with the rider than the bike. As I mentioned, my personal experience (and that of my family) is that Polaris is very reliable.

[JustRace]

That kid had to really be screwing around to brake a shock considering polaris uses the fox shocks. Its people like this (the kid not the person that posted) that make **insert brand name here** have bad reputation.

[DiceMan400]

Polaris is fine....... I have a friend with a scrambler that rides with us once in a while and he does ok...... Not nearly as fast but he does ok....... People get quads for spacific needs........ Are you gonna buy a 400 EX to do farm work????? You gonna haul logs with your raptor....... Are you gonna race mx with your polaris...... Dont think so....... See what I am gettin at here....