Polaris Predator 500 Review

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I bought this quad a few months ago, my first impressions were defined by the engine which was very tight and ran very hot at first, I have now done over 500 miles and it is running nicely now .
It is a powerful engine with a real rush at higher revs, the low down torque is very good, the handling is very sharp with Fox shocks and the Polaris PRO steering system being very responsive .
My quad is the homologated version so fully compliant with UK standards .
Have not done any mods yet apart from handlebars .
It is a great quad with power to spare for the sort of riding we do, ie-byways , green lane/trails and road .
It looks awesome with a menacing bug sort of stance to it .
A very tough and solidly built quad .

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Have done over 800 miles now and am delighted with the Pred .
I have done some mods/upgrades to it (as we all like to do) and the performance is superb, more than enough power for green laning and great on road .
The engine gives a real rush of power at high revs and combined with the wonderful exhaust note from the Pure Polaris (noisy sod) provides genuine excitement .
Great machine .

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Took my Predator to Toms Farm this weekend and quickly came to the conclusion that sports quads are very limited in this kind of terrain, there is not enough ground clearance and too much torque too quickly through the gearbox even in low gears, just the slightest blip of throttle sent the rear wheels spinning even with fine amounts of clutch inputs .
Some areas are like race tracks across the hills which were awesome on the Pred which was in its element, even then there was too much power to be able to use it all .
It survived a sudden drop onto it front end, the only damage was to me .

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My Predator has now done nearly 1800 miles and is great, no problems apart from a broken brake light switch which i put down to flying debris .
Am waiting for new rear brake pads, the front ones are not even half worn yet .
Have fitted a 15 tooth sprocket which has made cruising better at lower revs, heated grips, new indicators, front bumper rear grab bar, Renthal handlebars, Pure Polaris pipe .
Am doing the oil changes every 500 miles along with the filter, have not needed to check anything else other than the chain tension and general lubrication/cleaning .
It is a very good and reliable quad with nice performance and handling on and off road and is comfortable enough for a good days riding, the only thing i would change would be some non-scratch plastics :frusty: lol .
I dont think i will upgrade it anymore as am saving for the next beast in three years time, wonder what the Raptor will be like then ?;) .

[garnib]

hi mate im glad ur still enjoying your pred...
mines getting a bit tired now, need the rings changing .. but its over two years old now, so cant complain about that.. plus its done a fair few enduros, and its on the mx tracks afair bit as well..

must say we took our quads up to toms farm and didnt get stuck very much compared to my mates lt400 he was for ever getting stuck in the rutts..

the terrain up there is like wot we ride on when doing enduros, which are great fun.. :D

gaz


keep it safe.. :84:

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Hello Gaz, good to hear from ya, we did Toms Farm last year, there is a review on here and it was great as long as you stuck to the suitable areas, some parts were almost suicidal for us pred riders LOL .
I would go again though, I would know the areas to avoid in future .
I have said I wont spend much more on the Pred but I really like the idea of the `Big Gun` rev boxes, I could use a bit more low rpm grunt which is what they claim to improve along with higher revs, for the sake of about £100 I think I might starve the kids for another week ;):D
Someone on QH has just got one of those boxes so might wait to see what he thinks of it before making up my mind .
If your rings are gone, what is the bore like, may need honing or rebore ?

[garnib]

not sure wots up with the quad mate, as it runs fine and as my mate said to day, still gos like poop of a shovel. :brick:...
im running a redline over rev box mate, think i won it on flee bay for 30 notes.. its nice to have them extra rev to make it go.. :fencing:

was down mallory to day had a bout 30+ quads down there, theer was some fast boys going round.. the old pred kept with most of them down the straight .. the new ds450. was there on demo, and is a nice gud all round quad.

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Fiddled about with my Pure Polaris pipe before yesterdays ride, I put the 10 discs back on and then fitted the straight through tip piece, the extra power was surprising, much livelier throughout the rev range especially at the bottom end, i had only fitted either the end tip or the discs beforehand so am well pleased .
It is a bit noisier though, I like it

[garnib]

Fiddled about with my Pure Polaris pipe before yesterdays ride, I put the 10 discs back on and then fitted the straight through tip piece, the extra power was surprising, much livelier throughout the rev range especially at the bottom end, i had only fitted either the end tip or the discs beforehand so am well pleased .
It is a bit noisier though, I like it

so have you taken the plate out the end mate??
have you got any pics of it??
:crazy:

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Hello Gaz, yes, I have fitted the 10 discs and the tip without the blanking disc, it really improves the grunt, lovely deep sound too:D .
Just waiting for the Big Gun rev box from Sinister now .

[butch2485]

where are you getting this rev box from

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From Sinister ATV Sean, I dont know if they are any good but have seen a few good reports, might be an idea to wait till i have tried mine before you buy, or might even be able to run it on yours to try .

[warriorrider]

me what one lol

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You will need to get the cobwebs off your pred before you do any work on it Nige LOL

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An update on the Predator .
It has now covered nearly 3000 miles and is going really well, all the electrical probs are sorted, except a dodgy indicator which is corroded inside, some of the wiring fitted in the homologated factory in italy needed replacing properly and the original loom has been insulated better .
I am not doing any more mods for peformance as it has more than enough to kill myself and horses/cyclists/bikers/walkers on the green lanes for another year :cool:.
It has not had a proper engine service yet as i dont believe it needs one, no taps or rattles in the engine, it has shims instead of tappets so i guess if there is no noise then they are fine, i may just get them checked though, it gets oil and filter changes every 500-750 miles .
I am after a smaller rear sprocket to bring the revs down a bit for the road .
All the bushes are in good nick and ball joints etc ok, have replaced both front wheel bearings and rear brake pads .
Looks like i will keep it another year to see what comes out next as i dont think there is another sports type quad that is worth spending another £3-4K on over the Pred, an 800cc IRS equipped quad would be ideal, just think, no more getting stuck on ruts lol .

[upperdeane]

Graham ....re your request "an 800cc IRS equipped quad would be ideal" ....a CanAm Outlander or Rennegade would both fit the bill I believe :)

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Quite right Gary, the Renegade is out of reach costwise, i had a chance to get an Outlander like yours for £7200 which was out of reach, another year or so of saving required, i want to see what comes out in the near future and whether that Honda 700 lives up to its billing .

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What is it with bearings, as if its not bad enough when the gits fail, they decide to wreck whatever was holding them in the first place, my rear axle bearing carrier is trashed where the chain side bearing failed and the sprocket carrier carved grooves in the aluminium housing, does anyone know of a Predator being broken for spares ?

[Nogbad]

Yes.......yours.............ha ha

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LMAO, you are turning into a comedian Nogbad, i just hope i dont get the last laugh on you-remember, you own a QZ ;):D

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Just had some good news from our local Polaris dealer Steve Berry of Berry Farm Services, my axle bearings/seals and bearing housing is covered under the excellent Polaris warranty, all parts to be replaced, cant say fairer than that, a big thanks to Steve .

[Big Jim]

Good job it wasn't a quadzilla then!!!

Jolly good show, you shall go to the Isle of Wight ball after all Cinderfella.

[Nogbad]

....and we will all be safe from the Herriard rapist, who is apparently holidaying there at the same time as us.

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You will not meet the Herriard rapist, there will not be a full moon that weekend lol

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Just to steer this back on topic, had a great night ride last night, apart from the indicators packing up again the old girl was fantastic, very sweet performance and handling, easily lugging around the byways in 5th gear with torque to spare .
Had a fun sprint with Wild One on his nice GasGas on the dual carriageway to Morrisons, it highlighted the fact that i need to change the gearing to a 36 tooth rear instead of 38, it was hitting the rev limiter at 80 to 82mph with lots of power left over, will change the sprocket when i put a new chain on .

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Have got the 36 tooth sprocket on and it now hits the limiter at 84mph with a slight decrease in acceleration, its much better cruising though with much smoother cruising speeds.

[butch2485]

Have got the 36 tooth sprocket on and it now hits the limiter at 84mph with a slight decrease in acceleration, its much better cruising though with much smoother cruising speeds.


79.6 on mine to be pickey LOL

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I think your speedo reads slow Sean, I know mine is about 3mph fast on average as i have GPS`d it, did you set the wheel circumference accurately ?

[butch2485]

I think your speedo reads slow Sean, I know mine is about 3mph fast on average as i have GPS`d it, did you set the wheel circumference accurately ?


yes so i`ll stick to my reading but it is the fasted we`ve been

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[QUOTE][79.6 on mine to be pickey LOL /QUOTE]

Outlaws are slower than Predators because they are a fair bit heavier-fact :amen:

[butch2485]

[QUOTE][79.6 on mine to be pickey LOL /QUOTE]

Outlaws are slower than Predators because they are a fair bit heavier-fact :amen:

Yer but i`m lighter than you so should be the same

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So why were`nt you ;):D

[butch2485]

So why were`nt you ;):D

You were going down hill (gravity) LOL

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LOL, ahh but more mass equals more friction ???

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And my bigger (fatter) body had more wind drag LOL

[butch2485]

And my bigger (fatter) body had more wind drag LOL

the pred hasn`t got a fat body LOL

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It says `My body` not the quad Sean LOL