i guess this goes here. needed to rant somewhere. i just had to drop almost 300$ on a new speedometer for my 99 polaris sportsman 500 because the factory one quit. that is absolutely rediculous in my opinion. they use the speedometer to control the odometer, speedo, and awd and who knows what other functions. these things have plenty of power and go anywhere, but geez, keeping up with the parts is crazy expensive. that 300$ coulda finished off my 390 build.

 

Toys eat money. Always have and always will. Sorry about your frusteration.

 

Hindsight being 20/20 canbe a matter of perception. I mean you could look on the bright side and consider that this ony cost 300 bucks to fix, and consdier that it could have been worse.
Is this only a toy, or is it a work vehicle? If it is only a toy and you spent money to fix it and it has gotten into the budget of another project, then this is as simple matter or priority.
You know a hot water heater only goes out when you need it most or when you dont have the extra bucks to buy a new one. The roof never leaks on a sunny day. Truck never breaks down in the driveway at home. Usually waits until you are at a buddies place, and then pukes its gut out in his driveway, adding insult to injury.

Believe this or not, I have small and seperate accounts for my home and vehicles.
I run each one like a small business. Each account recieves a small donation each time I make some money. This accumulates over time, and eventually the accounts will reach a point where large investments can be made. The accounts are prepared for costly repairs and breaks. Its not that I have a ton of money, it is just that I am prepared for the time when the worst is yet to come.
Sorry to hear about the speedo, unfortunately electrical parts fail.

 

i could get into the economy on this, but im not going into that rant. its just a shame that these companies act like money is no object to the average american consumer. i keep accounts for just in case money too, but seems like sometimes the things just roll along too fast to get a reserve built up. and when im spending 400$ a month on groceries, thats just insane, it gets even harder to build up a reserve. for what that little piece of plastic is, i think 150-200 is a fair price. then again, gm thinks its fair to charge over 1000 for a replacement 3rd door on my truck, i think 600 is stretching fair.

 

It's a 10 year old 4 wheeler, and if you beat your sportsman like I beat mine you're doing pretty well with only a $300 speedo to replace. My buddy replaces the front diff on his sportsman 600 about every other year. Mines been good to me, it's an 04 400 and I've only had to replace the belt and battery, and remove and clean out the recoil/starter drive. And for the speedo, just think of all the water you go through, not to mention all the days it's sat out in the rain. After 10 years, I'd expect that water to find it's way in somewhere.

 

Oh, and that speedo is only a $150 part, but then the dealer marks it up 100%.

 

ill take it off your hands LOL...my uncle has a polaris 700 twin sportsman...plain insanity that thing is a tank and will do 60mph easy gets kinda sketchy at those speeds though

 

the sportsmans a great bike, im not knocking it at all. just sucks that parts are so expensive. i havent had the opportunity to hammer it too bad, just mud and stuff, but it will pretty much go up over or through anything. we're going out to yankee lake for the atv jam later this summer. its just irritating that oem parts from anywhere are so expensive.

 

I had a sportsman 500. 4x4 of course.

Damn that thing was more trouble then it was worth. Bought it used, had to have carburator rebuilt. Not a big deal. But something snapped on rear, so my rear right tire turned. Kind of like rear wheel steering. Lol. Got that fixed and then I had my front axle snap. Tire came clean off. I got rid of it pretty fast. $1000 for it. Couple hundred into parts. $2500 sold.

It was pretty good though, it had huge bumpers, a winch, mud tires. It was pretty good when it worked.

 

I still have my 1998 Polaris Trail Boss 250 that I got new. It was stolen from me for over 3 years. Polaris' theft system found it when they asked for a part and the shop needed their part number.

Anyways, the 250 is a 2-stroke, so it's not your average 250. It has been such a good quad, we got another one last year, an 06 model Trail Blazer 250. Cheap power. I prefer 2-strokes for the most part, but I love the torque of a 4-stroke on trails, too.