Product Reviews

HEAT. Sometimes it’s your friend, sometimes it’s your enemy. The line between the two is very fine and often by the time you realize it’s been crossed, your engine has already taken a significant hit. Design Engineering Inc. of Ohio knows all about that line and has an extensive line of products that are designed to keep you firmly planted on the right side. One of those products that we’ve used is called “Radiator Relief”.

What is it?

If there is one product that can make any Side x Side more functional, it is a quality mirror kit. Whether you drive a sporty, desert taming model, or a hard working machine on the job site or farm, it’s much more difficult to see behind you when strapped into the seat of a Side x Side than it is in your truck. This is especially true if you wear a helmet like we always do. There are plenty of mirror kits on the market, but the hands down best kit we’ve found is the PURSUIT mirror by Seizmik. We’ve tried other mirror kits, but none are nearly as nice as this.

One would be hard pressed to argue that the knife is nothing less than the most important tool ever developed. With our original crude knives hewn from a sharp rock, then later bone, copper, and finally the specialty metals or even composite materials of today we’ve gone from hunters on the savannah, to farmers, and finally to modern man. Still, the knife of today would easily be recognized by our ancestors despite its continual evolution. It has been and always shall be the most basic yet highly functional of tools.

Even when part of a large group, riding is primarily a solo adventure.  There are times we really appreciate the quiet shelter of our helmet while the machine beneath us carries us far from everyday life and to a place that recharges ones soul.  Anyone who has spent much time on the trails knows this feeling well.  At other times though we want to share the adventure with our riding buddies or just talk about whatever we find along the trail, but unless you’ve got a helmet communication system you’re out of luck.

Don’t you just love getting a new set of tires? There’s just something about having a brand new set of treads whether they’re for your car, truck, ATV, or SxS. It just makes you feel good inside. From that nice, clean, sharp edge on the lugs to that awesome new tire smell, it’s always a good day when you get a new set of rubber.

The Kawasaki Teryx4 is a rock solid machine. It’s tough, powerful, comfortable, and it’s more nimble than any other four-seater on the trail. We love it! We also can’t leave well enough alone, and after a couple trips to the woods, we decided that the Teryx4 was the perfect candidate for a few, simple bolt-on accessories to make our trail riding experience even better.

Whether you’re headed to the dunes, woods, motocross track, or the deer camp, you’ll almost certainly have to haul your ATV or Side x Side to get there. That means your best trail buddy will be riding in the back of your truck or trailer, and getting it loaded can be a sketchy maneuver fraught with the possibility of disaster.

There are millions of older model ATVs and early Side x Sides still on the trail and ready for another decade of action.  Like an older truck, though, after long and faithful service even the best of machines will require a little massaging, and some parts are known to be prone to failure. Ignition and electrical problems always pop up unexpectedly with no warning, they’re often difficult to diagnose, and they’re never cheap to fix.

As much as I love my iPhone, I do have to question the idea of making a phone out of such breakable materials. Somehow the people at Apple must have much grippier skin than the average off-road magazine editor, and they apparently don’t ever drop their phones. Unless you live in some kind of a bubble, you’re eventually going to drop your phone and it could potentially get a bit ugly. (Read as expensive). It’s a must to have some kind of protection.

There’s no such thing as having too many tools. Whether that means having an extra set of cheap screwdrivers, or having that ultra-important, irreplaceable tool in the box, more is always better. One tool that has recently hit the market is the RM Stator Portable Power Bank, and we consider it to be one of those on our short list of very important tools.