ATV & SXS - UTV Product Reviews

Every industry has its annual conventions, trade shows, or expo. It’s a chance to network with fellow industry insiders, preview new products, check up on the competition, and generally have fun for a couple days all under the guise of “work”. Besides the show there’s the nightly debauchery with all manner of temptations and many attendees flock to the usual dens of gyrating decadence as pulsating neon signs draw them in like moths to a bug light.

If you’re going to play in the mud, you can plan on getting stuck at some point. Most of us learned this lesson as kids the first time we left our boots in a muddy field, and the same principal applies to our toys today. Unlike your stranded boots though, getting your ATV or Side x Side out of the muck is a whole lot more challenging.

The Polaris ACE marked a different direction in the development of Side x Sides. The ACE wasn’t exactly an ATV, although it did appear to be the offspring of a mating between the RZR 570 and a Sportsman ATV. It wasn’t exactly a Side x Side either; even though it has a steering wheel, roll cage, and a bucket seat. One thing we knew for sure is that we needed to spend more time on, or maybe we should say “in” it.

Moving from Michigan to Colorado was a tough decision. Being born and raised in Michigan, my family and I grew to love the outdoors, with all the lakes and forests, what’s not to like. And Michigan supplied plenty of outdoor activities to make every weekend a joy.

Once we got all our stuff packed and moved out west to the Centennial state, our weekends didn’t change much, except hiking at higher altitude, and how we were in awe of the beauty of these incredible mountains and the thousands of acres of forest that surrounded us every weekend.

 There’s no way around it. You are going to replace your stock tires someday, but don’t wait until they are completely worn down to the carcass. Changing to a tire that fits your riding style and the terrain where you normally ride is one of the best ways to improve your machine. Recently we changed out the tires on our trusty RZR we use for the trails, and our do-it-all, hard working Ranger. Why hadn’t we done this earlier?

Wolfsnout had solved our breathing problems.  Now it was time to get us seeing better as well, and for the last year we’ve been using the WOLFSNOUT goggles much to the benefit of our eyes.  

There are gear bags, pouches, and storage boxes all meant for stowing away everything from Snickers bars to spare parts, but they all have one thing in common; before any ride they must be strapped down to your ATV or Side x Side.  That usually means tie-downs or bungee straps, but as anyone who has ever fiddled with the wrong length strap knows, that’s not always a sure thing.  It seems they are either too long, too short, or the darn hooks don’t fit around whatever you’re trying to fasten them to.  Recently, we found a nifty solution to the problem.  

If you own an Arctic Cat 400 or Suzuki Eiger 400, chances are that you’ve experienced or at least heard of the flywheel failure that plagues these otherwise great ATVs. One minute you’re riding along and everything is running smoothly, and out of nowhere and for no apparent reason your engine coughs and you roll to a stop. You know you’re not out of fuel, but it doesn’t take long to realize you are out of spark, and that points to the dreaded electrical gremlins.

You can never have too much storage on any off-road machine. There are always tools, tow straps, tie-downs, and snacks to carry. On most utility style ATVs and Side x Sides manufacturers do a pretty good job of building in storage compartments under seats, the front hood, or in the dash, but on any sporty machine, available space is often limited. That is particularly true for our trusty Polaris RZR 900 S, but QuadBoss had the answer to our problem.

If you’re planning any riding adventure, you’ll also be using a little fuel, and that often means toting fuel cans or jugs along. We’ve never really liked hauling a potential fire bomb in the back of our truck, especially when the sun is constantly causing the jugs to expand and vapors to escape. There had to be a more secure, safer way to transport fuel, and recently we found one.