Ken- I have a Polaris Sportsman 800 and my brother has the Polaris Sportsman 500 X2. I burned through a belt in less than a year by keeping it in high when I should have been in low... spinning rear tires all the time in high is apparently a bad idea I had it replaced w/the "stronger" belt, and have used it daily since I got my property and have bulled trailers with 1000lbs of wood in them, and towed my truck a bit when the battery died, not to mention 4wheeled the crap out of it! I have seriously abused it and it runs great! I have 2 CV boots I need to replace, and the front storage box from when my wife rolled it, but structurally it's awesome! I also plow with it during winter and it works great.

My brother with his X2 has had 0 problems, and it's great for 2 people but don't plan on doing 15+ mile trips comfortably with 2 people the 2nd person gets beat a bit. The box on the back is nice for moving small items, but pulling a small trailer is more handy.

Also there is a huge difference in power and fuel consumption between the 500 and 800. I think they may even have an 850 now... the 800 is great, and I`m glad I have it! It makes moving stuff and plowing EASY.

The X2 2nd seat is not visible unless you fold it up / rest.