Polaris HO 400 quad bike

I would hedge a bet that everyone who has died, been seriously injured or maimed had exactly those thoughts.

Well wrap ya self up in cotton wool and be careful crossing the road bloke.
I've survived 8 years jumping out of planes, 6 years working as a fishing guide and living on boats, a few years working with Saltwater crocodiles, a life time of rock fishing, 40 odd years accident free driving, think I'll be ok without a roll bar on my quad.....but guess I am a fool.

Ok.

Be as safe as you can be mate-don't forget the helmet....

davent said:

I have heard various opinions on Polaris in general, mainly with their after sales service.
I'm looking at HO400 that o ly has 290km on it. It's a 2010. Bloke who owns it only uses it for spraying the perimeter of his 5 acre block.
Comes with a trailer.
I won't be flogging about, just need a quad to cover a bit of ground, as it's now way too hot to walk....anywhere lol.

So I'd really like to hear from people who have experience with polaris vehicles thanks.

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Last line says it all really.

I would like to hear from people who have experience with polaris vehicles, thanks.

I don't want to know about helmets, or what your opinion of quad bike safety means, just want to know any potential problems to be aware of regarding polaris, reliability issues, mechanical fixes etc.

Thanks to goldchaser for his input, as he owns a very similar model.

Air filter, especially in the west and up north, is vital to keep clean, they clog up very quickly.
Blow it out regularly.

One of the issues with them is,
cranks but will not start.
Check fuel, Spark Compression etc.
If all of the above are present,
(Will not have spark on starting with starter button.)
Carefully dismantle the start button assy and clean then
linnish off flat using 1400 wet and dry. Use something
like Innox as a wetting agent.

There are 4 contacts and 2 of them stop working due
to the PCB warping.

I bought one for $300.00 once because it would not start.

Sold it a month later for $2000.00.

Wish I kept it.

If it's still got the paper polaris air filter dave throw it and put a unifilter in it,there's quite a few on ebay for them,not just unifilters there is other brands,your not racing mx or enduros either, if ya out on ya own like us putting about it won't see much dust,you'll go a full season prob and it will still be quite clean,i do ours once a year i reckon...

Turned out the polaris needed too much work, and bits were proving a bit difficult to find, so sold it cheap, and found this 420 Honda, in very good nick.

Very nice

Have fun on it Davent and DRIVE IT LIKE YA STOLE IT!!!!!!!!

Good pick up Dave, demand is very high currently for quads and it is certainly a tidy example of a second hand machine.

I have the 420 4WD also, 2014 model.. auto with dual clutch and power steering. Its never missed a beat.

Only suggestion I have is make sure you change the oil and filter on a regular basis particularly if yours is auto with dual clutch too, the dual clutch units deteriorates oil quality quickly and will cause transmission shift problems if you don't!

might help you in carrying your 7 found in bunnings but i straighten the one on the front put some poly water hose on over it with some elbows but fill it up full of liquid nails to strengthen it, least when you buy honda there's a dealership in every town

Beauty, thanks for the idea mate, will have look next day off, and will post a pic if i go with it!

Cheers!

Flatlander said:

might help you in carrying your 7 found in bunnings but i straighten the one on the front put some poly water hose on over it with some elbows but fill it up full of liquid nails to strengthen it, least when you buy honda there's a dealership in every town

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Thanks for the idea, went to bunnings yesterday, couldn't find exactly what I wanted, but, I found something that will work, based on the same idea! Will post when I fit it, won't be in the next 3 or 4 days....

Ok, the MK1.

davent said:

I find it really sad that people applaud over regulation in this once free country.
Think back to when you were kids.
If the sea is really big and wild, don't swim in it or fish off the rocks.
Australia is the only country in the world to introduce this roll over stuff.
Quads for the most part are not toys, and Most people use them for the way they are meant to be used.
Those that roll them are usually pushing them a bit, or taking them to places that are questionable.
Common sense will prevent 95% of roll overs.
Legislation is getting out of control in this country.

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Australia averages 13 quad bike deaths per year (cf 1200 road deaths) - so more than 1%, and my daughter lost a friend that way at High School. They are often used by kids on private land (one in six fatalities), and the "questionable" places tend to be slopes that kids misjudge on the family farm. It does not seem a major inconvenience if it is standard.

“Quad bikes are the leading cause of fatalities in Australia of all consumer products that aren’t regulated,” the assistant treasurer says.
" Across Victoria, a child goes to hospital every five days because of quad-bike trauma, he says. ....60 per cent of quad-bike fatalities were caused by rollovers.....about half those killed in quad-bike incidents would have survived if they hadn’t been crushed or pinned by the bike.....We know that around 60 per cent of quad-bike fatalities are caused by rollovers, and the operator dies from asphyxia in around half of these.”

Ok, thanks for that.
But as I have requested before, and I am asking nicely, I only want to hear about mods and maintenance issues, originally the polaris, but now the Honda.
Not interested in the 13 deaths by quads per year.....