2015 Polaris Scrambler 850 Review
Back in January of 2015 my wife and I bought a pair of Sportsman 850 SP's. She got the Sunset Red and I got the Titanium Matte Metallic. Since then we have put a little over 1300 miles on each of them, and I thought I'd share my thoughts and experiences with them with you guys. They do not get babied by any means. We are careful, and don't beat the crap out of them, but they do get a work out.
First of all I'd like to say that we still absolutely LOVE them. Without a doubt they are the best money I have ever spent. I should also point out that I have been on one ride without my wife that was around 30 miles, but otherwise these two bikes have been inseparable. They have followed each other on the same trails at roughly the same speed, at the same time. They are equiped nearly the same. They both have a winch, rack extensions, hand guards, front brush guard, and an Ogio rear bag. Mine also has a rear brush guard and a front cargo box. We each carry a 2+2 Rotopax. My wife's is on her front rack and mine is on the top of my front cargo box.
Maintenance on both were done at the same time. I changed the oil and filter on both at 25 hours then changed oil and filter, air filter, front diff, rear diff, and transmission fluids at 75 hours. My plan is to change all fluids every 50 hours. Both of them are nearly there again, so i plan to do all fluids in both when I break them out in the Spring, along with new spark plugs.
I should mention that I keep the tire pressure on both between 6 and 7 psi. I haven't had one flat or leak (knock on wood) on either machine, and I'd say each bike has at least 50% of their tread left on them. For us the stock tires perform well enough for everything we need them to do. I'm hoping to get one more year out of them before I need to upgrade to a better tire.
Reliability has been pretty dam excellent overall. My bike had a front wheel bearing that went bad at about 300 miles and was covered under warranty. I also had a front lower ball joint that went bad at around 900 miles, but I think it was my fault. I hit a rut pretty dam hard with my right front tire, and I think that's what did it. Warranty would not cover the ball joint because supposedly it's a "wear item", but the dealer replaced it for about $90. A arm bushings are are still tight on both machines. I give them a few pumps of grease usually after I wash them or after they've been through water.
The only real "problem" I've had was with the heat shield on the right side. The exhaust got hot enough to melt away the reflective tape on the back and melt the plastic. My wife's bike only melted the heat tape, but hasn't melted the plastic "yet", mine has melted all the way through. See pics below...
Polaris would not replace these under warranty, however they did replace them as a "good faith" gesture. Also I should mention that they added a second layer of reflective tape to the back side of the new covers. Honestly it's not a big deal that they replaced them, because new ones are less than $40, but I really just wanted Polaris to be aware of the problem.
My wife's bike has had zero problems other than the melted heat tape stated above.
I should say that I've been running Polaris fluids from the beginning, with the exception of Red Line gear oil in the rear diff. Next oil change I will be going to T6 oil, but will most likely stay with the Popo fluids in the front diff and tranmissions.
Complaints ???? A couple...
Clutch engagement could be better... You try to ease into it slowly, slowly, then BAM, it's engaged and your off. Nothing subtle about it.. both bikes engage the same way. The engine braking (in my opinion) is a little too powerful. I'd like it to be a little less powerful, or maybe even progressive... If your standing up going down hill in low range, and you let off the throttle, if your not paying attention it's powerful enough to throw you over the bars.
Speaking of downhill... There is a fine point between throttle on and throttle off. It's not as gradual as as carb'd machine. It seems you twitch and go between throttle on and engine breaking with a mm of throttle. It gets annoying as shit on a long downhill run. The throttle response is amazing in every other circumstance except going downhill, it's almost too good.
Other than that I have no complaints. The power is more than you could ever need, and they go faster than I will ever need them to go.
Truly the best money I have ever spent...
2015 Polaris Scrambler 850 Review
Source: https://www.polarisatvforums.com/threads/1300-mile-review-on-my-850-sps.70921/
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