Polaris Xplorer ATV day 1
We bought a used Polaris
Xplorer ATV today.
It's in good shape and runs
like a dream.
I think that smile on my face
is connected to a memory of being 6 years old and playing with Tonka trucks in the backyard sand box.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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Did you get the 500cc 4-stroke version or is it one of the smaller 2-stroke ones?
The 4x4 will be nice to have in the mud.
Roland --- You threw Mark for a minute since he didn't know that 2-stroke was the same as 2-cycle. But since it mixes oil with the gas, I'm guessing it is indeed 2-stroke. Not sure of the year or size of the engine.
Mark drove it home in two wheel drive with no issues. (The creek was knee-high too.) I'll be curious to see when he finally needs the four wheel drive!
From a distance it looks like a 2000-ish air-cooled 250 cc model.
This model has oil injection. The filler cap on the front is for the 2-stroke oil, so you shouldn't have to pre-mix the oil and the gas unless the oil pump's broken.
Air cooled engines have the advantage of simplicity, but they need air flow to stop them from overheating and possibly seizing. It seems this model has an electric fan to help cool the cylinder because these things are not always driven fast enough to generate enough airflow. If the fan doesn't come when the engine is hot, you might get problems.
As a rule I prefer 4-stroke engines because they're less dirty to work on. Especially cleaning a 2-stroke exhaust damper (they tend to get clogged with burnt oil residue) is a really dirty job.
Since you are driving off-road, keep your air filter in good condition. Engines don't like dust. This thing has a chain drive to the rear axle at least. Chains on off-road bikes need regular TLC. Are you familiar with chain maintenance? I've always used o-ring chains on my chain-drive motorbikes.