huanchaco

It's crazy times indeed Dave,never thought Einsteins quote " 2 things are infinite : the size of the universe and people's stupidity,but not sure about the former" would apply so much to today's world. I quit my job in Holland at 64 and retired back to Peru with my wife where we lived the first half of our lives and as a former motocrosser I never saw an atv as an option. Was I wrong!! They are the perfect go anywhere vehicle,easy to ride,safe ,forgiving and will fit gaps too narrow for a 4 wheel drive. They are though, dangerous for hasty ,and reckless kids (tell me about it)😇. I wish you lots of happy hours on your 570 and regret not being there to remove the broken grease nipple. Take care, Buddy Rob

Hi Dave, actually it has 41000 km,(25000 miles) . I bought it from a company that plants mango and oranges for export in northern Peru a year ago after it served it's field and commuting service for 3 years. It still looks quite new and appears to have been well maintained,but mostly the engine and gear box. Suspension,sway bar and moving parts had been neglected so I had to make a mayor overhaul,mainly lubrication and bushings. The clutch weights had carved their way sideways and clutch bushings replaced with small piston pins cut to size. I have rebuilt and filled the gaps with spacers and better fitting parts made from motorcycle scrap. Now I have a still good working primary clutch and Aliexpress sent me a clone for 200 bucks that needs some tweaking but works good. I am amazed at the design of the Fuji engine,which also makes the Subaru. It's 2 valve,2 bucket under the camshaft is virtually non maintenance and the conrod big end and coated piston should be good for 50000 miles with proper oil intervals. On the other hand having been a motorcycle guy for 50 years and all around mechanic In Peru and Holland, a Polaris quad is a high maintenance hobby but it's worth every minute you hit the beaches and dunes. Most people here stick to their atvs for there is no other transportation besides mototaxis (3 wheeled unstable 2 people carriers) and chinese junk atvs. Rob, 68 Los Organos, Piura,Peru

The Bosch 0280158091 is actually from the Ford cyclone 3.5 L engine, the Chrysler one is the 233 (27 lbs/hr) my bad.

Living in northern Peru there is no chance of a cold start but i noticed my 450 starter was becoming sluggish with more than 20,000 miles on the engine. Besides the camshaft missing the decompressor ball it was becoming a scary thought to get it started on a remote beach. After pulling the starter apart i found worn out brushes,one of them barely contacting the collector. Of course, no polaris parts to be found here but automotive brushes can be adapted and shortened to fit, file and sand here and there and soldering the copper mesh wires in place, now i have a starter that spins strong and cranks as new again. My next problem will become the chinese fuel injector I ordered. Instead of the Bosch 2521068 ( 30 lbs/hr) you get the Bosch 0280158091 from Aliexpress (22.9 lbs/hr) which is a Chrysler 3.5 l engine injector, or is it a remanufactured one?? Difficult to tell, but it starts on the lean mixture side on a cold start, after that it runs pretty good. To make sure,a friend going to the US is bringing the right injector.

My starter clutch bearing has finally gone bad after 25000 miles. I still have to make a flywheel puller before checking the damage,so my question is: What are the odds,beside the bearing, that the inner contact surface on the gear itself is still in good condition? Does it generally survive? I can order the bearing shipped to Peru ,but there's very little offer on ebay for the gear, besides being pretty expensive from Polaris oem parts. Thanks in advance for any information

Waiting 3 months for my Ebay order for a Polaris clutch needle bearing down here in Peru. The chinese clutch is doing well without abuse but the ebs one way bearing turned out to be short lived,already sticking and making gear change tricky. I was wondering if anyone knows the equivalent for this part on SKF, FA*,Timken or other brands? As far as I know the OD is 1 3/4" ID 1 1/2 " and width 1 5/16" , Polaris markets this part as an exclusive product while a cage needle bearing should be available over the counter for other appliances if you have the right numbers. Unfortunately here in South America all knowledge is lost since the new generation people took over and Chinese junk reigns supreme.

The 450 has it's bad and it's good days,with the hydraulic cam chain tensioner the main culprit. It makes all kinds of ticking sounds depending on oil temperature and pressure. You can confuse it with a slight exhaust leak or vibration. I changed the exhaust gasket ring and it solved part of the noise but you can still hear the cam chain under acceleration While noise disappears when decelerating. I need to convert my tensioner to manual but have to make sure it works, 'cause there's no parts dealer in Peru. You have to be patient and check/repair items one by one . Most people switch parts for new ones hoping it goes away but that's rather expensive . I would buy a manual tensioner to start with and once the chain noise is gone you can finally adress the other sounds.

Check the exhaust gasket ring between the pipes,as it wears out it gets thinner till there's only a steel mesh left. As for the shift linkage vibrating,sand down one or two halves of the shift linkage fibre 'til it makes a good fit.

Almost forgot MX, a full size battery might rub against the prop shaft, I had to loosen the bolts of the battery case and move it a bit outwards .

My polaris 450 starts making cam chain noise as soon as the engine warms up. The tensioner,besides not having a ratchet mechanism to keep the chain tight,relies solely on a spring and oil pressure. I am suspecting there might be an oil pressure drop seeping through the thread of the tensioner itself,which is a rough m18 x 1.5 mm that leaves a lot of leaking space for the oil to escape. It would be interesting to machine a groove just before the thread starts to fit an o ring and keep oil pressure constant. A manual adjuster will be my 2nd option but having no parts available here in Peru i'll have to modify the stock tensioner and tap some inner thread in it. You have to be carefull with a manual since a chain can have it's slacks going around and end up too tight at some sectors.

I´m having this mixed feelings about how smooth the 500 engine of the 450 should feel within the 3500 and 4000 rpm range since it has a counterbalancer and is suposed to be factory balanced within this operational range. Mine vibrates a little to much for my experience with 500 singles and comparing them to my former Honda XR bikes during my motorcycle years. Engine cases have never been split so i asume the balancer is still correctly timed. Can anybody tell me if this is normal? Thanks in advance. Robbie

Bought a 2nd hand 2017 polaris sportsman 450 with 12000 hours recently and have done a lot of maintenance including a new 18 amp battery to assist faster starting. Having expected to find a 4 valve head i took the valve cover off and found a single ohc with its 2 buckets. At first dissapointed, i realized this was a run forever engine, no visible wear noticeable and still running perfectly. The decompressor ball was missing in the camshaft, with the lever and spring still in place. Since the motor starts at once every time i think its better to keep the camshaft as is . In my experience a decompressor is only needed for a manual starter.

Having recently bought a well used sportsman 450 with 20000 miles in northern Peru i found out ,among many other things that the swaybar is stuck solid,hence the harsh ride,so I removed the links and finally am enjoying a much smoother ride. My thoughts are to find a 1/2 " round steel rod with grooved ends instead of the awkward square tube which polaris fits and make a proper rotation bearings linkage. By the way ,turning has improoved but I think a more flexible bar would bring back stability for a safe ride. The intake manifold adapter was cracked in two pieces and glued together with 2 component epoxy glue but didnt last long. This glue stuff (soldimix Peru) really sticks to this rubbish puttylike polaris rubber but the trick is to wrap a silk tape while the glue is still fresh overlapping both broken ends. Garanteed it will never come off again. Problem is the intake boot vibrates a lot and being more plastified than rubber for rigiditty´s sake it will end cracking by also bearing the weight of the carb body and airbox.