not sure if the 500 has it, but a friend of mine had the same problem with his 700 sportsman "it would die but lights and everything else worked" under the hood there are 2 black sealed pouches that have breaker's in them "instead of fuses" that are supposed to re-set on there own, after a few years they go bad or get wet and rusty. when you let it cool down a couple minutes it will re-set itself but then trip out again. if your 500 has these replace them, you can pick the same part up at autozone for 3 dollars where the dealer wants 20+. as for the starter try tapping on it with something "not hard as you can damage it" and then see if it starts, the brushes wear out and stick causing it to not work "very common with polaris", you can re-build it.