Posts by BKL

Quote from airoutlaw

First question...
year and model?

Second question...
Have you recently added anything to your brake light circuit? Trailer harness, third brake light flasher, LED light strip?

And a simple test... position your Sling tail end toward a wall so you can observe the brake lights coming on and going off. Start the Sling and then...

Press brake pedal and watch for brake lights on then release and brake lights off. Repeat this often with short and long duration depresses. And when I say long, as if you were waiting on a stop light or train to pass.

If at any time your brake lights fail to go off immediately upon release... there will be your ESP light.

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I should have supplied that info in my original post!
2015 base model.
No changes to brake light circuit. I installed a brake light flasher module in early 2016, but removed it after a month or so and haven't used it since.
From your test cycle description of the brake lights, it sounds like the problem may be due to a faulty brake switch. I didn't yet try your test cycle, but if memory serves me correctly, I typically see the ESP light come on after having stopped for a red light and usually seem to notice it after I have accelerated from the light. I was thinking it might have something to do with accelerating from the light, but it may well be associated with having my foot on the brake pedal for an extended period. IIRC, the light started coming on frequently after I had my brake fluid replaced at the dealer.

Polaris Recalls 2017 & 2018 Slingshot Models Due to Potential for Brake Failure

My ESP light seems to be randomly coming on and staying on. Per the Owner's manual, if the light stays on, there is supposed to be a problem with the system, but if I turn the engine off and then restart, the light doesn't come back on. Sometimes, it will come back on farther down the road, but not always. If there really is a problem with the ESP system, I'd expect the light to stay on. At first, I thought maybe I temporarily lost traction and that somehow triggered the light, but it now seems to be happening frequently enough that I don't think ti was loss of traction.
Anybody else experienced problems with the ESP light coming on for no apparent reason? Since the light goes off after a restart, should I be concerned? Is this something where replacing a magnetic switch with a fully mechanical switch might make a difference?
Helpful feedback appreciated.

Quote from Ghost

I am not particularly fond of the fasteners on these things. Seems they are not the best grade for sure.

While many believe Polaris uses fasteners made from a poor grade of cheese, I believe the vast majority of fastener problems comes down to the use of power tools when installing/replacing the fasteners.

I tend to keep my original parts just in case I ever decide to sell and want to revert to stock.

I have read where tires normally rated for an extended period of mileage are usually warranted at about half the normal mileage when used in a situation where they can't be rotated. Varies by manufac turer.

Welter recently mentioned having a solution for exhaust smell. Contact them. Some folks also like the wind restrictors behind the seats for reducing fumes.

I bought a Kenda locally for my base model for around $130.
The Nankang NS-20 was a little larger but only cost around $100. The Sumitomo HTR Z III was a 295/30R18 tire and cost around $200. I also just put an ATR Sport 275/35R18 on my original rear wheel. Got it from Amazon for under $80.

All other things being equal, the main determinant in tire life is the driver. I got 35000+ miles from my stock front tires. The Kenda rear tires averaged around 10000 miles each. I got about 7000 miles from a Sunitiomo HTR Z III on the rear and around 9000+ miles from the Nankang NS-20. I now have around 5000 miles on my Nitto 555 G2 315/35R17 tire and it doesn't really look worn to me. Based on its price ($258 mounted on an American Muscle 17x10.5 Mustang wheel for $150) I certainly hope to get more than 10000 miles from the 555 G2.
The Nitto Motivo is warranted for 60000 miles so I'd hope it would last at least 20000 miles on the rear of the Slingshot.

Quote from cbailey7a

even though I dont need tires for the sling yet this is good reading and info for me. as far as asy. or sym. traed pattern I cant physicaly see a problem there but then again I am one of the people who runs a car tire on the rear of their motorcycle (2 wheeled one) and you know what they say about that.

I never ran "dark side", but I'd think if an asymmetric tire might be a problem, it would be most apparent on a two-wheeler when leaning one way puts a different tread pattern on the road compared to leaning the other way. As little as the Slingshot leans, an aymmetric tire on the rear doesn't bother me. If the Nitto 555 G2 I have on my Slingshot doesn't last as long as I'd like for the money, I plan on installing a Nitto Motivo (asymmetric) in its place.

Quote from Bigdog

My next new tire concern would be sidewall stiffness....and rim protectors on the sidewalk of the tire....lots of torque on the sidewall of the rear tire...from bends and acceleration...don’t need no mushy sidewalls..

Based on internet comments posted to various performance car forums, the Nankang NS-20 reportedly has a soft sidewall compared to other HP tires. I had one on the rear of my Slingshot and at standard interstate speeds, the tire seemed a little wobbly just due to minor steering wheel movements. Oddly enough though, if I tried a high speed chicane-type lane change (rapidly shifting from right to left and back to the right lane) such as trying to avoid tire debris or other road hazards, I never noticed any problems with the rear end handling of my Slingshot.

I did a quick Google Image search and saw motorcycle ties on the rear of the older Morgans and what looked like regular car tires on the rear of newer models. Michelin seemed to show an asymmetric tire for the newer Morgans, but I didn't take to the time to make sure.

Quote from Jonathan Thompson

Appreciate everyone's thoughts. I guess its time to pay a professional...

I strongly recommend you look for an investment pro who follows the fiduciary rule and charges a flat fee as opposed to a percentage of your investment. The fiduciary rule means the advice you get will benefit you and not generate sales for the so-called investment advisor!

Quote from airoutlaw

Paint them black or grab some plastic caps.

Filling the holes with black-finished bolts would help, but might leave some shiny metal still exposed, meaning the paint idea may be best.

Quote from edwardaneal

In the end I believe personal experience trumps the guesses of those with no experience. Thank you for your input

One additional comment - While I wrote I never experienced any handling problems, I seem to remember a tendency for the rear end to move towards one side if I accelerated hard enough to spin the tire. I can't say if I was just imagining it, or since I was spinning the wheel when I seemed to notice it if it might have been associated with high torque, or if it was actually attributable to the asymmetric tire. It never caused me any problems and I think I felt similar slippage when using the stock Kendas. My current Nitto 555 G2 315/35R17 tire seems to be wide enough that sometimes it feels like one side is slipping under hard acceleration, but others times it seems to be the opposite side.

I've never sat in a Slingshot with the Gen 2 lower speaker pods, but if they're anything like the Gen 1 pods, I took the used ones I bought out because I missed the extra legroom!

Also - make sure you hook up all speakers maintaining polarity between each pair of speakers. Failure to do so will place the speakers out of phase with each other and will result in garbled sound.

As I've posted previously, I put 5000 miles with an asymmetric tire on the rear of my Slingshot (a Sumitomo HTR Z III 295/30R18) and did not encounter any abnormal handling issues. Admittedly, one driver running 1 tire for 5000 miles is not conclusive, but I was never worried about any changes in the handling of my Slingshot.

Sounds like she wants to power the hoop pod speakers using the wires from the front speakers. IIRC, she has the gen 2 front speaker pods which she is replacing with the hoop pods. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with the wiring on the gen 2 front pods.

Quote from Bigdog

I showed my tire guy since 1972 who has two stores, a picture of the nitto tire. (Below)

He said we can’t mount motorcycle tires...

Find a new tire guy. That Nitto definitely looks like a"motorcycle" tire! Yeah, RIGHT!

I just noticed they now list the Polaris Slingshot as a vehicle. Back when I ordered, I had to search for a vehicle with the same motor.