Got a 04 Sportsman 500 that wasnt running- owner said it needed a stater and a new battery. It ran rough (been sitting out in the weather for a while). A friend and I started by adding a new battery and it would start barely with the choke and his hand over the air-filter. I decided to install the new battery in the holder on the side. we had it on the rack because the old on was still in the bike. I tried to be nifty by turning the battery to put the terminals in an easier spot to get to, but forgot to reverse the cables too. In a sentence, I reversed the positive and negative on the battery like a dummy. When we discovered my mistake and corrected it, we turned on the bike, but the display did not light up and the key did not turn on the starter. jumping the solenoid worked the starter, so we thought the solenoid just burned up when I reversed the pos and neg... new solenoid and no difference. what have I burned up? Also, the shifter does not seem to do anything in the trans. it slides back and forth like its stripped in the trans. any help would be appreciated!! I think the biggest issue right now is the electrical.

Here is a link to a site with the service manual for the 2005 Sportsman 500. It won't let me download the manual unless I sign up with the site so I'm just posting the link for you to do as you wish.. You can view the entire manual online , just can't download it . https://www.scribd.com/doc/51630928/2005-Polaris-Sportsman-400-500-Service-Manual-NoPW

sweeeet fix!

I had this situation happen. The oil fill plug was an allen socket that stripped. So what I did and it may work for you. First I ordered a new one. Then I warmed the engine up and had a compound called “JB weld”. It’s metal repair compound. I mixed it good and put it in the allen key hole and put the socket into the allen hole as well. It took 10 min to set up at best so you have to be quick. I let it sit for 15 min and put the socket driver on and spin it out.

ditto