has anyone besides me found that you have to be prety careful about making sure the gear shifter is dead nuts in the high position before stepping on the throttle? twice mine has made a god awful gear grinding noise right when I step on the throttle to drive away. its blood curdling. anyone else ever had this happen?

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I got mine ! go build your own because mine fall apart.

I'm finding this on both ends of the transmission linkage; with the 'Park' indicator rarely lighting up also.
(From the PRC forum): http://www.prcforum.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2297

It's almost as if the throw on the lever isn't long enough or out of adjustment; as the latter was an ongoing issue with the early Sportsmans.

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Forming a "Long Range Financial Subcommittee" in MI.:
Take two inexplicably expired term motorcycle reps. still serving on the board (one names yet another motorcycle rep)
Add 1 full-size and but 1 atv rep.
Arrogantly claim that the entire process should be finished in 4 conference calls with absolutely no public involvement or any meeting minutes recorded.
Result?
No complaint whatsoever from sheep-like atv clubs with literally tens of millions in play.

the park issue is easily explainable. if you imagine the park mechanism as a big gear with holes all the way around it on the outside edge. now imagine when you put the bike in park that you are basically pushing a peg up against the side of this gear hoping it will drop into one of these many holes. some times the hole nearest the peg itsn't lined up all the way for the peg to drop in and the bike has to be rocked just a bit to get it to do so at which point you will hear a "click" . I have other bikes that do this same thing. I have actually disconnected the shift cable from my transmission and found that all the shift locating detents are in the transmission not in the shifter meaning that when you pull the shifter from front to rear and you feel all the clicks as you go through reverse , neutral low and then high, all those positions you feel in the shift handle are not made by the shift lever mechanism. when I disconnected the cable from the tranny I found the shifter and cable had almost no resistance and was super smooth operating and had more than enough travel to even go past park or high gear. my assesment is that these things are all brand new and machined tolerances are extremely tight. they need to be broken in and worn to fit and I will just have to make sure that I get the shifter dead in high before I throw the throttle pedal to the floor and I will also rock the bike forward and back just a bit with my upper body to make sure it drops into park. a small price to pay for a while when you consider what an awsome machine this thing is once it is in gear!

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I got mine ! go build your own because mine fall apart.

Yes, I too have experienced this. (Park indicator and not in gear) The indicator on the speedo can lie sometimes, best to slowly acellerate after gear change until you are certain. That grinding noise is unnerving.

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TerrySC

I do the same thing, Terry in regards to taking off slow and feeling the engagement. I'm a little tired of having to explain this to new drivers also; as this ridiculous adjustment needed immediately knocks this machine down a notch in both their eyes and mine.

-------------------------
Forming a "Long Range Financial Subcommittee" in MI.:
Take two inexplicably expired term motorcycle reps. still serving on the board (one names yet another motorcycle rep)
Add 1 full-size and but 1 atv rep.
Arrogantly claim that the entire process should be finished in 4 conference calls with absolutely no public involvement or any meeting minutes recorded.
Result?
No complaint whatsoever from sheep-like atv clubs with literally tens of millions in play.

meaning that new drivers in this machine are less impressed thinking that the RZR has issues in the tranny department when its a simple driver adjustment thats needed ,not a tranny rebuild. Right?

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I got mine ! go build your own because mine fall apart.

I''m not sure that it's the driver needing to do this adjustment; as many of us seem to be having the same phantom Park light problem and grinding gears with the indicator claiming that we're already in H.

-------------------------
Forming a "Long Range Financial Subcommittee" in MI.:
Take two inexplicably expired term motorcycle reps. still serving on the board (one names yet another motorcycle rep)
Add 1 full-size and but 1 atv rep.
Arrogantly claim that the entire process should be finished in 4 conference calls with absolutely no public involvement or any meeting minutes recorded.
Result?
No complaint whatsoever from sheep-like atv clubs with literally tens of millions in play.

well as Ive stated above , the park issue is all inside the transmission NOT in the shifter or cable and unless you feel like pulling your transmission and doing some serious machine work to make it drop into park easier its not adjustable. just rock the bike a bit and it drops right in.

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I got mine ! go build your own because mine fall apart.

With all due respect to both you and Polaris....that isn't the way a properly designed transmission; shifter OR indicator operates and most everyone accepts this as fact. I don't believe that anybody would question your method of gyrating around to MAKE it work, either....(I know full well that we're the guinea pigs; no less than we were with the first delivery Rhinos in the fall of '03... yet I have a hard time not being forthright about what's wrong with these things; no matter how 'minor' the issues may be may be).

-------------------------
Forming a "Long Range Financial Subcommittee" in MI.:
Take two inexplicably expired term motorcycle reps. still serving on the board (one names yet another motorcycle rep)
Add 1 full-size and but 1 atv rep.
Arrogantly claim that the entire process should be finished in 4 conference calls with absolutely no public involvement or any meeting minutes recorded.
Result?
No complaint whatsoever from sheep-like atv clubs with literally tens of millions in play.

I fully agree. This isn't something like the size or location of a cupholder, it is the transmission.

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TerrySC

to be perfectly honest, one of my best friends is the general manager of a polaris dealership here in california and I bought my rzr from him and ride with him regularly. he imediately informed me as soon as I brought this shifting issue up that the sportsmans do this same thing and have been doing it for years without any mechanical issues. I am also a certified motorcycle mechanic and have been for 20 years. this MINOR issue is not going to be repaired by your dealer and isnt going to go away. its the nature of the beast and in my opinion a very small issue which I have no further problems with. I now rock the machine a bit and it works flawlessly. if this a SERIOUS issue for you I suggest you sell your machine before it gets many miles on it because I dont think you will have any trouble getting rid of it tomorrow to someone who is less critical

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I got mine ! go build your own because mine fall apart.

Now I recognize you....you're the mechanic down at (pick your dealership USA) that knows everything there is to know about the issue that we're both supposedly there trying to solve.
Sorry, bub; but claiming that the very common Sportsman linkage adjustment issue is indeed "the same thing"....and then immediately switching gears to assert that all Rzr shifting problems are in the tranny and can never be fixed....sounds a lot like the run-around many of us receive at the stealerships.

Lots of Sportsman owners on this forum, I'm afraid.....and every one of them will inform you (probably much politer than me after the "welllll....then why don't you just sell it!" commentary)...that those Sportsmans you referred 'knowingly' to earlier....require a pretty simple linkage adjustment and that's just about it, to actually perform properly.

You can't have it both ways, my friend.

-------------------------
Forming a "Long Range Financial Subcommittee" in MI.:
Take two inexplicably expired term motorcycle reps. still serving on the board (one names yet another motorcycle rep)
Add 1 full-size and but 1 atv rep.
Arrogantly claim that the entire process should be finished in 4 conference calls with absolutely no public involvement or any meeting minutes recorded.
Result?
No complaint whatsoever from sheep-like atv clubs with literally tens of millions in play.

this is going nowhere fast.

supersonictoys,

Personally the gear indicator isn't that big of an issue, but if the engineers couldn't make it function realiably they should have just installed a simple manual pointer on the shift lever. Something that could be trusted. Does this mean I can't trust the gas gage either? Suggesting I sell my Rzr was nothing short of a smart a$$ remark, and wasn't appreciated. I happen to work for an auto manufacturer and we listen to customers input and try to improve the next model, or correct existing problems.

You were the one that started this post mentioning grinding noises, have you now changed your tune and will accept having to replace your gears when they get chewed up? If it was your new car would you just sell it and get something else, or see if the grinding noises could be resolved?

My AWD is not functioning either, should I just accept that as the way it is or see if it can be rectified? I'm taking it to a dealer 2 1/2 hrs from here rather than the dealer 5 miles away because of their treatment of customers. Yes, I bought it from the distant dealer for the same reasons. If a service tech gave me the responce you did, he'd never lay a hand on my machine again.

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TerrySC

Guys, I started this post the day after I got my rzr and I was concerned because of this tranny issue but at that time I had no seat time in the machine and didnt have a clue at that point if this was a serious problem or not . after I rode it about 10 or 15 miles and stopped and started it a few times and actually "took mine apart" to see how things worked I realized how minor this issue is. unless you are handi capped or not capable for some medical reason I cant see rocking the bike as being a big deal for you guys either and I still say its a small price to pay for having such an awesome machine. you guys can bitch and whine till you are blue in the face to your dealer or at me , it still doesnt change the fact that it isn't a repairable problem without engine and tranny removall and custom machine work and interior modifications . since I started rocking my bike I havent had another issue with shifting the unit . it works flawlessly. being "forthright" about an issue that you cant and polaris wont repair is pointless. as for my smart ass comment, I was actually responding to blackballed not you Terrysc but it wasnt intended as a smart as comment, just a plain honest responce to the fact that he seems very dissatisfied with a bike that he handed out 10k for and an option for him to get this source of anguish off his back would be to sell it while the demand is so high and while its still very new . I buy and then resell new machines all the time. my 06 rhino was just sold because I wanted something better and have had several banshees, kfx700's and a kfx400 go bye bye when they were less than a year old because I decided to try something else. I personally feel that this thread was only productive for about the first 6 posts and once the "rocking the machine to overcome false park" issue was addresed and the "gentle take off when placing the machine in high to make sure its all the way in gear" issue was covered that there was really no further reason to beat a dead horse. there are much more serious issues with the RZR that "COULD" be delt with that I'm sure everyone who owns one is experiencing . and to change the subject, what about the hurky jerky throttle? have any of you tried to go over anything technical like crawling slowly over some rocks or inbetween some tight trees over bumpy ground at a slow speed?? the thing just lunges. what about your air box? have you pulled your filter out and taken a look at how much dirt enters these things and goes past the filter?? these are much more serious issues that need immediate attention that I feel can be repaired and need to be delt with before someones machine gets body damage or enough dirt down the intake to damage the bore or someone gets hurt. I personally wont ride mine again till it has a snorkel on it and mine will be done this week. while I have the bike apart I will also take a serious look at the throttle issue and see what I can do about it as well. If you guys want to keep crying out into internet land hoping someone will answer with a "quick fix " for your narrow shift detent blues I feel you are going to be doing it for sometime ...

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I got mine ! go build your own because mine fall apart.

Yes it is. I came here to share concerns, ideas, fixes and work arounds. Guess me and SupersonicToys are from two different molds. No hard feelings just don't agree with his logic. Hey Supersonic, I put the first bullet in the horse, you want the second shot? That way we won't break our toes kicking it.

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TerrySC

yea I,m done with this thread as I stated in my last post. I guess we are as you say, from different molds. I started this post with a concern, realized 10 posts ago that there is no fix and found a way to work around it. didnt call anyone any names doing it like smart ass or anything. just wanted to know if anyone else had experienced the same thing I was. I think you will find that I am not a person who cries about problems . I fix them.

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I got mine ! go build your own because mine fall apart.

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TerrySC

Originally posted by: supersonictoys"...he imediately informed me as soon as I brought this shifting issue up that the sportsmans do this same thing and have been doing it for years without any mechanical issues....."

Hey, at least we managed to get this all straightened out, anyways! (lol)

In my defense; I'd just like to say that it's kind of tough to actually own both of the machines in question and not set the record straight for the sake of the discussion.
I went out today and tried to rock my perpetually-out-of-adjustment Sportsman into gear; hoping to maybe save some inevitable wrench time, as SST suggested. Finally had to break the tools out anyways after the neighbor commented that I appeared to be having way too much fun on an inanimate object that didn't appear to be going anywhere. (just kidding)

It's all good, SST and we're all going to disagree at one time or another. (simply take a look at my tell-it-like-it-is history in the Land, Trail and Environmental section if you don't believe me).

-------------------------
Forming a "Long Range Financial Subcommittee" in MI.:
Take two inexplicably expired term motorcycle reps. still serving on the board (one names yet another motorcycle rep)
Add 1 full-size and but 1 atv rep.
Arrogantly claim that the entire process should be finished in 4 conference calls with absolutely no public involvement or any meeting minutes recorded.
Result?
No complaint whatsoever from sheep-like atv clubs with literally tens of millions in play.

just repeated what I was told by the general manager of a polaris dealership, still dont know how "right" you are and dont care . I dont own and wouldnt own a sportsman . anyway , your sig and sceen name and the fact that you have posted TODAY in every other thread in the RZR forum should have told me all I needed to know about ya and you "told me" the rest. those who can do.... those who cant whine about it hoping someone else who can will fix it for them . I just wanted to find out if my issue was common , not get into a pissing contest with you and terrysc. I like my RZR and am just here to share info and learn from others , not bad mouth polaris or the RZR or anyone else. Let it go indiana .... just let it go.. bet you cant??

-------------------------
I got mine ! go build your own because mine fall apart.

-------------------------
Forming a "Long Range Financial Subcommittee" in MI.:
Take two inexplicably expired term motorcycle reps. still serving on the board (one names yet another motorcycle rep)
Add 1 full-size and but 1 atv rep.
Arrogantly claim that the entire process should be finished in 4 conference calls with absolutely no public involvement or any meeting minutes recorded.
Result?
No complaint whatsoever from sheep-like atv clubs with literally tens of millions in play.