I have a 2016 polaris slingshot. I have this real bad whining noise in the rear end and i've read other post about it. I went to montgomery powersports the only dealer on ohau and they told me they had to adjust the belt.
They charged me 0ver $200 even though i have the extended warrantee because they said they had to take my corbin side bag off to adjust the belt. It quieted it for a little bit than back louder than ever. At first when i came back they said it was my ad on roof and spoiler rattling than i showed them the noise again then they said it was a design flaw and nothing could be done about.
I contacted polaris and they said i would have to get the dealer to report it because they said they never heard of a problem with the noise in the rear. So i went back to dealer and they said they would send a report. Called polaris again they said the dealer said the noise was from my mods, roof, spoiler and stainless header and muffler.
The polaris rep got very rude and said maybe go to better business bureau and federal trade commission. Would all the people with this same problem like to get together and maybe finally get polaris to do something about it?
These are some other post people have put up on slingshotinfo.com and slingshotforums.com.
I’m sure i don’t have to go into detail on this problem – there is thousands of posts on forums and google to confirm the slingshot has a major problem. Let me just start off by saying; if you hear a noise coming out of a mechanical device, Transmission – diff – engine, pump, etc.) “there is something eating it alive” and sooner or later, it will fail. One has to question why polaris made the decision to go ahead and release the bike with this drive problem.
While the dealers continue to tell customers; it’s just the belt braking in - we all know the sound of the belt – the noise we’re taking about here is mechanical in nature and clearly sounds off under load or when coasting. There’s a lot happening in this drive transferring mechanical load from one direction to another, plus the radial load of the belt being pulled back causing other loading issues.
One thing is for certain, there is no way the polaris technicians just over-looked this problem, they heard it and they knew it would be a problem long before us mortals even seen the machine. If it was a decision of not wanting to push back release deadlines, or the fact they already ordered thousands of units, we’ll never know. In any case, polaris decided to install them and here we are today with a major drive-line problem.
As my research confirmed that everyone has this problem, as guys pull the plugs on the 90 degree drives and change the oil in the gearbox, they are finding metal filings, chunks of metal, darkened lubrication and occasional failed bearings, it all but confirms the 90 degree drive design is failed and polaris needs to step up to the plate and design and replace these failing units we all own. For myself, i can’t think of one car or motorcycle that has a mechanical whine or gear clatter noise so why should we accept this as normal in the slingshot. If you bought a car and the diff made this racket, you would drive it straight to the dealer, in fact every differential that ever made noise in my cars eventually failed. Anyway you look at it – it’s “broke” and needs to be fixed.
Regretfully, unless we all have to stand together and make enough noise, polaris will not fix our problem. While i’m sure some bikes will last past the warranty period, this still puts us all in a bad position when we try to sell our bikes in the future with this problem branded on our foreheads and known by the entire industry.
Another major problem is the failing bearing syndrome on the rear axle, this problem as well has taken the joy and confidence of any "out of town" ventures without the worry of a break-downs resulting in roll-backs, living in a motel and or leaving your bike with an un-experenced polaris atv dealer on the road.
Anyhow, i’m putting thread this up so we can have discussion and hopefully make a statement to polaris that we need to get the problem resolved. Please share your thoughts!
The dealer said it is a design flaw and there is nothing that can be done to stop it.
It's definitely a design flaw, some are noisier than others. I've ridden in several slings where i couldn't hear it. Some get lucky in the angle drive lotto and get a quiet one. Some hide the noise via music/sound and others via exhaust systems. I got one of the unlucky noisy ones, tried all of the suggestions and gave up, replaced it with a quad wheel setup, no more noise at all.
Welcome to the forum. With all due respect, none of the vehicles you mentioned have an angle drive. It's really quite something Stop laughing, it's true) to have a device that can take the normal rotation of the driveshaft input and send it out the other end at a 90 degree angle. They had to go with an industrial design that was never designed to spin at the speeds the slingshot puts out. Yes, they do make noise and a lot of that noise is due to the fact that you're almost sitting on top of that device as well as the fact that there is zero insulation in the cabin to keep those noises out. They have come a long way since the earlier units. Polaris did replace mine under warranty due to the massive noise it generated, so i would not let it pass with the comment to "go to the bbb or ftc". I really doubt that you'd get too far with a class action suit either, but that's just mho. Good luck and don't give up on this.
I want to know why the dealer had to remove the corbin bags to do a belt adjustment ...
I know i could do it in the street with a few hand tools and a beer in 15 minutes without having to touch them? Sounds like this and a really stupid comment about the angle drive being noisy, a subject that has been discussed since 2014, makes me wonder about the dealer. But i guess there are not many choices on an island that was the last place in the us to allow the slingshot.
It's the way it is, some are worse than others. Some get quiet with hard use, some don't. Resonance through the bags and under the roof are probably amplifying the sound.
While you are new to this forum this subject is far from so please understand for many this has been beat to death.
Nothing i said is bullshit. I love the sling but i don't like the horrible noise. When i spend hard earned money for something and pay for a worthless extended warrantee and have a company lie straight to my face about the problem it really pisses me off. Yes it is a major problem to me. I can't be like some people that like to be f'd without getting a kiss or like some that are afraid to stir the pot or like others Lazy and afraid) that want someone else to do the all hard work to get something straightened out. Since no one else wants anything done about it i will build a website about it, put it on facebook and post it online at the www.scamion.com and any other site i find. But i do thank everyone for their input because it will help me when posting.
Polaris Store, Inc. Reviews
I have a 2016 polaris slingshot. I have this real bad whining noise in the rear end and i've read other post about it. I went to montgomery powersports the only dealer on ohau and they told me they had to adjust the belt.
They charged me 0ver $200 even though i have the extended warrantee because they said they had to take my corbin side bag off to adjust the belt. It quieted it for a little bit than back louder than ever. At first when i came back they said it was my ad on roof and spoiler rattling than i showed them the noise again then they said it was a design flaw and nothing could be done about.
I contacted polaris and they said i would have to get the dealer to report it because they said they never heard of a problem with the noise in the rear. So i went back to dealer and they said they would send a report. Called polaris again they said the dealer said the noise was from my mods, roof, spoiler and stainless header and muffler.
The polaris rep got very rude and said maybe go to better business bureau and federal trade commission. Would all the people with this same problem like to get together and maybe finally get polaris to do something about it?
These are some other post people have put up on slingshotinfo.com and slingshotforums.com.
I’m sure i don’t have to go into detail on this problem – there is thousands of posts on forums and google to confirm the slingshot has a major problem. Let me just start off by saying; if you hear a noise coming out of a mechanical device, Transmission – diff – engine, pump, etc.) “there is something eating it alive” and sooner or later, it will fail. One has to question why polaris made the decision to go ahead and release the bike with this drive problem.
While the dealers continue to tell customers; it’s just the belt braking in - we all know the sound of the belt – the noise we’re taking about here is mechanical in nature and clearly sounds off under load or when coasting. There’s a lot happening in this drive transferring mechanical load from one direction to another, plus the radial load of the belt being pulled back causing other loading issues.
One thing is for certain, there is no way the polaris technicians just over-looked this problem, they heard it and they knew it would be a problem long before us mortals even seen the machine. If it was a decision of not wanting to push back release deadlines, or the fact they already ordered thousands of units, we’ll never know. In any case, polaris decided to install them and here we are today with a major drive-line problem.
As my research confirmed that everyone has this problem, as guys pull the plugs on the 90 degree drives and change the oil in the gearbox, they are finding metal filings, chunks of metal, darkened lubrication and occasional failed bearings, it all but confirms the 90 degree drive design is failed and polaris needs to step up to the plate and design and replace these failing units we all own. For myself, i can’t think of one car or motorcycle that has a mechanical whine or gear clatter noise so why should we accept this as normal in the slingshot. If you bought a car and the diff made this racket, you would drive it straight to the dealer, in fact every differential that ever made noise in my cars eventually failed. Anyway you look at it – it’s “broke” and needs to be fixed.
Regretfully, unless we all have to stand together and make enough noise, polaris will not fix our problem. While i’m sure some bikes will last past the warranty period, this still puts us all in a bad position when we try to sell our bikes in the future with this problem branded on our foreheads and known by the entire industry.
Another major problem is the failing bearing syndrome on the rear axle, this problem as well has taken the joy and confidence of any "out of town" ventures without the worry of a break-downs resulting in roll-backs, living in a motel and or leaving your bike with an un-experenced polaris atv dealer on the road.
Anyhow, i’m putting thread this up so we can have discussion and hopefully make a statement to polaris that we need to get the problem resolved. Please share your thoughts!
The dealer said it is a design flaw and there is nothing that can be done to stop it.
It's definitely a design flaw, some are noisier than others. I've ridden in several slings where i couldn't hear it. Some get lucky in the angle drive lotto and get a quiet one. Some hide the noise via music/sound and others via exhaust systems. I got one of the unlucky noisy ones, tried all of the suggestions and gave up, replaced it with a quad wheel setup, no more noise at all.
Welcome to the forum. With all due respect, none of the vehicles you mentioned have an angle drive. It's really quite something Stop laughing, it's true) to have a device that can take the normal rotation of the driveshaft input and send it out the other end at a 90 degree angle. They had to go with an industrial design that was never designed to spin at the speeds the slingshot puts out. Yes, they do make noise and a lot of that noise is due to the fact that you're almost sitting on top of that device as well as the fact that there is zero insulation in the cabin to keep those noises out. They have come a long way since the earlier units. Polaris did replace mine under warranty due to the massive noise it generated, so i would not let it pass with the comment to "go to the bbb or ftc". I really doubt that you'd get too far with a class action suit either, but that's just mho. Good luck and don't give up on this.
I want to know why the dealer had to remove the corbin bags to do a belt adjustment ...
I know i could do it in the street with a few hand tools and a beer in 15 minutes without having to touch them? Sounds like this and a really stupid comment about the angle drive being noisy, a subject that has been discussed since 2014, makes me wonder about the dealer. But i guess there are not many choices on an island that was the last place in the us to allow the slingshot.
It's the way it is, some are worse than others. Some get quiet with hard use, some don't. Resonance through the bags and under the roof are probably amplifying the sound.
While you are new to this forum this subject is far from so please understand for many this has been beat to death.
Nothing i said is bullshit. I love the sling but i don't like the horrible noise. When i spend hard earned money for something and pay for a worthless extended warrantee and have a company lie straight to my face about the problem it really pisses me off. Yes it is a major problem to me. I can't be like some people that like to be f'd without getting a kiss or like some that are afraid to stir the pot or like others Lazy and afraid) that want someone else to do the all hard work to get something straightened out. Since no one else wants anything done about it i will build a website about it, put it on facebook and post it online at the www.scamion.com and any other site i find. But i do thank everyone for their input because it will help me when posting.