Sportsman 500 nose diving when off the gas

[OldSchoolin86]

It's an 02 Polaris sportsman 500 HO. When you hit the gas it feels like it's taking a way too much for it to get moving and when you let off of the gas it nose dives like the brakes are on. I lifted it and the wheels spin freely so it's not hanging brakes. Any other ideas?

[bigred1981]

Is there anything loose or sagging in the front suspension.. maybe shocks are too soft.. is there a preload on them?.. I'm not familiar with Polaris

[OldSchoolin86]

I think I miss-communicated the problem here......... it takes a lot of power to get it moving and then quickly stops in a nose diving fashion. It's like something is hanging up.

[bigred1981]

ahh, I understand.. sounds like the EBS maybe

[OldSchoolin86]

Hmm, was EBS standard on this model or is there a way to tell if it is equipped with it or not?

[OldSchoolin86]

LOL, found it! It's only printed in BIG letters on the drive cover!

Well if that's it then I really don't like it. I wonder if some grab harder then others or if there is something that goes wrong with these?

[bigred1981]

The 2000 model had EBS.. and I know for sure the one I rode ('04) had it.. so It's probably a standard feature. Maybe your polaris dealer can shed some light on it.

[bigred1981]

http://www.machinedesign.com/ASP/strArticleID/14491/strSite/MDSite/viewSelectedArticle.asp Check out that page.. easier to read that to understand how it works.. as far as what goes wrong..some of these Polaris Guru's are gonna have to step up and give some info Hopefully you figure it out .
Chucky

[OldSchoolin86]

Thanks for the link bigred1981, it was a good read.

[twgranger]

struts may be bad. My cousin has a 02 700 sportsman and that thing is nose diving just sitting there. Dont care for polaris too much.

[OldSchoolin86]

struts may be bad. My cousin has a 02 700 sportsman and that thing is nose diving just sitting there. Dont care for polaris too much.
Thanks buddy but I think you missed the problem, it has nothing to do with the struts. :D

[okieRrider]

you might check the belt.....could be way off track but wouldn't hurt

[TravEX]

Once you get used to the EBS, it's great. I've ridden older Polaris's without EBS, difficult to stop with just the brakes. On my ATP I rarely even use the brakes, I just let off in time to stop where I want to. Also, the EBS belts are non-adjustable (self tightening), so I would doubt any problems with the belt.

[twgranger]

Thanks buddy but I think you missed the problem, it has nothing to do with the struts. :D
My kodiak has the ebs and when i let off the gas it dont nose dive. So i was thinking maybe bad struts.:wondering

[Dirtcrasher]

I don't know much about Polaris, just throwing this out there but - it sounds like something isn't "free" like it should be. Is there a one way clutch in there somewhere??