2004 Polaris Sportsman 700 EFI

2004 Polaris Sportsman 700 EFI

This was my first ATV. I never really had much interest in the things (always had fun riding them but it wasn't something I needed or wanted to own) but I started dating a girl who loved going four-wheeling so.....

Sheri had the little tan Honda in the middle (I bought the red and blue Polaris later for some reason). She took great pride in her rather diminutive Honda being able to go just about everywhere that the big boys could go. I decided to go a different direction.

I bought it new. I shopped all the largest and most powerful ATVs for sale at the time and decided on the Polaris because back then it was the only option with fuel injection (EFI). Everything is EFI today, so I think I was on the right track. I didn't stop there though. I tricked it out with just about everything you could do to a four-wheeler. I did the obvious stuff at Polaris before I even took delivery of it: Lifted - bigger wheels and tires - skid plates - a 2500 lb winch with a remote control - etc. Next, I added all the other things I had seen on other people's rigs that I liked such as a Kimpex box, the cooler rack in the back, etc.

Then I got creative.

I had a stereo shop build a marine system for it with a satellite head stereo and CD player. Stereo systems on ATVs are pretty common, but I had them custom fabricate a head unit for the controller and mount it under the gauge. It worked pretty good considering all the abuse and harsh conditions it faced.

The thing that I found most amusing was the spotlight I mounted on the front. A lot of four-wheeling is done at night (it's a heat thing in Texas - you kind of have to wear coveralls to protect yourself from things like snakes and God knows what else and they aren't that comfy in 95 degrees with 80% humidity). I decided to buy one of those remote controlled spotlights like you would find on a yacht and mount it on my ATV. It worked great! I could be standing 100 yards away from my ride and control my 225,000 candle power beams' complete motion. 

I also had red and blue flashers mounted in the headlights so I would look like a policeman when I turned them on. They didn't work as well though. 

I bought a trailer to haul everything (always had a truck or two around so that wasn't an issue) and answering the question "What are you doing this weekend?" with "Goin' mudding." became an actual thing in my life. 

They call it mudding for a reason! Best as I can tell, the fun is trying to see if you can get in and out of places that you probably shouldn't be able to without getting stuck. These things will go just about anywhere. Mine almost never got stuck but I used the winch to pull other people out quite often. 

There are lots of places you can four-wheel around Houston, but this picture was taken at a place called Mud Creek in east Texas. 

I don't do this sort of stuff anymore. The hobby (and the Polaris) left with the girlfriend. It was a lot of fun though. If you just talk it out it doesn't seem like it would be - go freeze or sweat while camping out in the middle of nowhere to ride around in the mud and dodge snakes and rocks and drunk people. It actually was a lot of fun though. You always think "there's no way I can drive over that log" and then the Polaris would just do it...like it was nothing. It's a lifestyle. I probably won't ever get back into it again, but I love riding four-wheelers and I loved my Sportsman 700 EFI.