oh400ex 629 Posted September 25, 2020 Was working on a Sportsman 400 and noticed something curious. On a bike that was never serviced in this area I found silicone sealant all over the inside of this engine. (To clarify... I'm saying that they never had to get into this part of the bike, not that they never serviced it at all) I was going in to replace a starter bendix so I had to take off the side cover of the engine. There was no gasket and metal-to-metal seal was done completely with grey silicone. It's possible to do a gasket without tons of inside residue but there was a bunch still left after years and some in the oil... Brand new from the factory these things are destroying themselves. When we all harp on Polaris it is justified when this is the kind of stuff you see. It's literally a piece of paper cut to size and is dirt cheap to produce in mass compared to the labor of putting a silicone gasket in. One of two things are possible... Either they were supposed to use a gasket at the factory but didn't for whatever reason. Or their factory procedure is to use a silicone gasket on a brand new engine which does not save money and is the wrong way to do it. No matter which it ends up being my question would be the same... Is that the company whose decision making you trust enough that you want to give your money to? I understand for a lot of you this is like saying the sun is hot or sky is blue but I wanted to share another example of why... Thank you for reading! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fishfiles 20,145 Posted September 26, 2020 What you expect from a POO'laris , they are the cheapest brand out there for a reason ----the biggest mistake I made in 4 wheeling was when my friend Brian gave me a Sportsman 500 free , mice had ate the wires and the starter drive exploded and took out the stator , I put $1,200 into it getting it all back to nice condition , and it never ended form there on , one thing after another breaking , traded it for the 450 I still have , Ricky wanted it for his wife as it was automatic , he finally sold it after he spent a fortune on it -------- it was fast , would bury the speedo , about 62 mph on the street , the fastest I ever went on a 4 wheeler , top end on my 450 is 19mph Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oh400ex 629 Posted September 26, 2020 2 hours ago, Fishfiles said: What you expect from a POO'laris , they are the cheapest brand out there for a reason ----the biggest mistake I made in 4 wheeling was when my friend Brian gave me a Sportsman 500 free , mice had ate the wires and the starter drive exploded and took out the stator , I put $1,200 into it getting it all back to nice condition , and it never ended form there on , one thing after another breaking , traded it for the 450 I still have , Ricky wanted it for his wife as it was automatic , he finally sold it after he spent a fortune on it -------- it was fast , would bury the speedo , about 62 mph on the street , the fastest I ever went on a 4 wheeler , top end on my 450 is 19mph You can come ride my 400ex anytime you wanna go faster 🤣 I like the gearing high and have moved up in in front teeth and down the rear so it's 70+ without taking it to the redline. Buddy used to have a scrambler which was a fun bike. 4WD push button and 2-smoke power so it was a beast. Pretty sure it spent more time at the dealer getting fixed than being rode though... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fishfiles 20,145 Posted September 26, 2020 When I first moved over here , one of my old buddies that I ain't seen or talked to in a long while had a two stroke 4 wheeler , it was fast and loud , I rode it , it was insane , but you didn't want to ride behind him , he was the mosquito man 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
