Sports and Racing

We're always happy to head to the track on an ATV built for racing. The performance, handling, and power from the 450cc racers on the market today was only a distant dream a decade ago. Like most ATV owners, much of our riding is on the trails and in the woods however, and that's not always the best place for a high strung racer, better suited to rocketing corner to corner and between jumps than winding through the trees or gliding across the dunes.

Most riding in North America is confined to the trails and track, but in many countries you can enjoy your ATV on the street too! That makes us a little jealous, and we'll admit that many times we've found ourselves sitting at a traffic light, imagining how great it would be to drop the clutch and rocket forward past the other vehicles. While we see only the ATVs meant for dirt, there quite a few other models and manufacturers of road legal ATVs, and even cross over models that are equipped for the tarmac or the trail.

At the top of the ATV pyramid are the quads designed with championships in mind. These are the racers, capable of maximum performance, and while this segment of the market receives most of the attention, it becomes easy to overlook the huge number of less experienced riders who simply love to ride the trails. For those riders, a sporty ATV with good power, handling, reliability, and affordability work far better than one with a finicky race engine. Luckily, there are quite a few mid sized sport ATVs under 350ccs that work perfectly.

For those that live in a Northern climate, winter presents a whole new type of riding as lakes and ponds freeze over, and as snow piles up on the trail. It’s a blast pitching the back end of an ATV or Side x Side around in the fluff, or charging through drifts that explode in a white cloud as you power through. The trouble is, after several months of cold weather riding, we’re ready for a few days in the sun, and the perfect place to unwind is at the most famous sand box in the country: Southern California’s Imperial Sand Dunes, aka. GLAMIS!

There are many very good ATVs and Side x Sides on the market today, and they truly are amazing vehicles, capable of taking us through some of the toughest terrain on the planet. With a little experimenting and adjustment, they can be made even better. One of the areas where the largest improvements can be made and immediately felt is with the suspension, but sadly, many riders overlook any suspension changes until after they’ve installed an aftermarket exhaust, air intake, or a larger set of tires and wheels.

“What do you think about racing a stock Kawi, Corry?” These were the words that began my little journey to Glen Helen, CA for round seven of the WORCS series, in order to race in Kawasaki’s own media class; a class which would allow us “editor types” to get a taste of what the 2010 Kawasaki KFX450R has to offer in stock trim.

How good is the stock Honda TRX450R? Good enough to be a perrenial top choice for off-road racers and trail riders all across the country. But even good machine can always be made better, right?  As Bill Murray in Stripes would say, "That's a fact, Jack. " 

So, to prove this theory right, we took a 2007 model 450R, which we had access to, and set about transforming it from a 'standard' looking and 'standard' running TRX450 into a veritable roost-rocket, fully blinged out 500R dunster!

In a way, Honda’s voyage into the world of big-bore, IRS sport ATVs could be compared to Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the New World. Both embarked on a journey that few others had the courage to attempt, and for the most part, both journeys were a success. Columbus stumbled onto the New World, but then had to live with the problems that came with it. Honda developed an all-new engine and a unique chassis that could rock your world on two tracks, dunes, or desert …typical conditions on the western side of the country.