From the September/October 2011 issue of ATV Rider Magazine

From the September/October 2011 issue of ATV Rider Magazine

From the July/August issue of ATV Rider Magazine.

From the July/August issue of ATV Rider Magazine

Anytime I’ve been in the market to purchase any type of off-road machine, the main features I look for are great handling and superior power. So I can imagine the glee of anyone looking to buy a side-by-side right now. In the last couple of years there have been huge advances in the SxS market as companies top one another in engine displacement in order to claim their machine makes the most power as well as in suspension design for the ultimate in handling. One company at the front of this battle has been Polaris with the release of its RZR S, which was the first SxS to come from a factory with a long-travel sport suspension package. Combined with the already proven 800cc H.O. engine from the standard Ranger RZR, this became the hot ticket if you wanted the best machine for wide-open performance.

Looking for adventure is what sets most side-by-side enthusiasts in motion. Some love to test the limits of their vehicles, while others simply want to get out and enjoy what Mother Nature has to offer. With this in mind, the idea of building (or you could even say creating) the Extreme Adventure Machine was born, and the Arctic Cat Prowler XTZ 1000 provided the right platform for the job. It has everything you need to survive really brutal terrain and do it in style. As we pondered the thought of being out in the middle of nowhere with no way to get help, depending only on what we packed, it inspired us to dig for products that would be tough enough to get us out. Along the way, we also wanted to ensure that the driver and passenger felt safe and secure in the ride.

In every form of racing certain machines set themselves apart from the rest of their class, and we recently came across one particular Polaris RZR 4 which does just that. As the western regional sales manager for Polaris, Matt Parks had the opportunity to test the RZR 4 in the vast desert of Southern California before many people were able to get their hands on one. It was during these testing trips that Matt realized how smooth and controllable it was while going at high speeds through the rough desert terrain. After that day in the desert, the wheels in Matt's head started spinning and the blood of a desert racer took over as he pondered how competitive this machine would be in the UTV class of the Best In The Desert racing series. With past racing experience and success aboard the Ranger XP and RZR, Matt was determined to make the ultimate desert-racing side-by-side anyone has ever seen.

For the past several years, the Yamaha Grizzly 700 with Electronic Power Steering has been a frontrunner in the big-bore utility game. With precise handling, crisp acceleration and the reputation for excellent build quality and reliability, the mighty Grizz seemed like the perfect canvas to begin another ATV Rider project. Our goal was to capitalize on the Grizzly's many strengths and elevate its true capability by taking this machine to the next level. In the planning phase, our goal was to build the Swiss Army Knife of quads and deliver a proverbial "wolf in sheep's clothing." Imagine GNCC cross-country handling and performance paired with exceptional creature comforts and utilitarianism to give this machine the capability to traverse any backwoods obstacle, while doing so in a stealthy, unobtrusive manner.

In the days of old, people were able to purchase machines that their kids could learn how to ride on and eventually modify for more performance as their skills had progressed. The Suzuki LT-80 was one of the most popular in this category as it had the longest production run from 1988 through 2005. As the evolving four-stroke machines eventually took over the large-displacement market, this of course trickled down and the LT-80 was discontinued and replaced by the LT-Z90. With only a 10cc increase in displacement and conversion to a four-stroke engine, the LT-Z90 certainly lacks in the power department from its predecessor. A large part of this power deficit stems from many Americans' lack of taking responsibility when something happens, which starts a witch hunt ending with an ATV company burned at the stake. Essentially, the thought process is the less power the machine makes, the less likely something bad is going to happen.

Every day I can look into the ATVR email inbox or go to the forums on www.atvrideronline.com and find someone who is having problems with their discount ATV. By "discount ATV" I mean the ones advertised at your major chain auto parts stores and club warehouse stores or even sold off of a trailer on a street corner near you. Sure, these machines seem like a steal, but in the long run they turn into a major headache because of their poor quality and lack of product support once you leave wherever you purchased them from. The only "warranties" people get with these seem to be "50/50," meaning 50 feet or 50 seconds from purchase and that is it. Machines like these are what turn people off from the sport of ATV riding because they now have a bad taste in their mouths about the quality of ATVs.

When doing our build stories I often wonder what exactly goes through the minds of people who are willing to drop in excess of $10,000 for a new quad and then immediately begin to tear it down to the frame in order to add on $10,000 in aftermarket parts. The answer I got from Georgia native and GNCC Utility Open racer Shad Laurich was short and without hesitation, "To win!" Wow, that is dedication! I'm not going to act as if I've not done the very same thing myself, so I've got a little input from my own perspective. Building and creating what your mind considers is the Ultimate ATV brings with it a sense of satisfaction, and when you reach that goal, you get to experience what I consider to be the ultimate satisfaction, for a while anyway.

Josh Starrett's Open Mod class Polaris RZR was purpose built for winning at the highest level of UTV cross-country racing. There aren't too many people who can drive a side-by-side between trees faster than Kentucky's Starrett; having already won a championship in the GNCC Lites Modified class (2008), he's moved to the Open Mod class in 2010 with hopes of proving that he just might be the best UTV racer on the East Coast.

The off-road power sports industry has many new faces and many more new and exciting off-road vehicles for the free at heart. The road to 2011 hasn't been paved with gold for everyone, but a select few seem to have hit the fleeting masses with unforgettable products. A few years back the off-road world was turned upside down with the development and release of the Polaris RZR. The RZR was to be the first true race, sport, purpose-built adventure UTV. This vehicle made it possible for race fans, or just the true adventurer, to conquer their dreams of off-road freedom whether on the tightest trail or at the local race track.

With the growing popularity of mud riding, sinking the quad of your dreams into the bottomless bogs and creeks can be as simple as buying a factory-assembled unit or as hard as working countless nights in the garage. Having built many mud-capable units in the Georgia ATV laboratory I was dead set on creating a machine that would ride like a thoroughbred on the trail and twist like a caged beast in the muck of South Georgia. I called some friends over to the garage and with a wink I said, "You gotta see this one!"

When the Yamaha Rhino was first released it revolutionized the off-road market and created an entirely new segment of products and competition. For nearly four years the Rhino enjoyed sole ownership of the newly created side-by-side (or UTV) market, and Rhino owners were flooded with new product offerings and options from farming implements to engine mods and suspension kits. The Rhino boom coincided with our economic boom, and highly modified, high-dollar Rhinos were being built across the country. The curse of being innovative is that all of your cards are on the table before anyone else even sits down, and as with anything groundbreaking, the competition took notice of Yamaha's success as well as the products consumers were bolting onto their machines, and copycat offerings from the other OEMs soon followed. While some machines attempted to outwork the Rhino, others focused simply on "outplaying" it. The Polaris RZR immediately began dominating competition thanks in part to a 140cc displacement advantage, a low center of gravity, longer suspension travel and a nonutilitarian approach, leaving many competitive Rhino owners in a predicament: Do you sacrifice your investment by simply selling your under-displaced Rhino to purchase an RZR, or do you sacrifice reliability by building a highly modified, yet notoriously unreliable Rhino motor in an attempt to compete?

First Impression Testing In these hard economic times I'd be willing to bet that all of us could find good use for $600. For some it could be used to pay rent, make a mortgage payment or even cover a payment (or two) on your automobile. With that said, I can understand why many may ask if the addition of Electronic Power Steering (EPS) to Yamaha's Grizzly 450 was a good call, questioning whether it's worth forking over the extra $600 to have this new feature. There is no doubt that slowly but surely I've been becoming a fan of EPS, but like you, I'd want to know if it is really worthy of the extra cash... And that's exactly what I set out to determine while testing the new unit from Yamaha.

Guinea Pig: Keith Little

Having been born in New York City and raised between there and Miami, farm work hasn't exactly been a staple of my upbringing. If you were to add up all of the grass that covered the yards in the homes in which I was raised, it wouldn't cover the floor of a two-car garage. The utter lack of "all things green" in my childhood is probably responsible for my obsession with the off-road and love for the outdoors. With that said, 20 years after leaving the city life, I somehow ended up in the North Georgia mountains, staring at multiple acres of overgrown weeds on which my wife and I would be building a mountain retreat. Feeling somewhat accomplished and beaming with pride over our new purchase, my wife posed a seemingly simple question: "How do we mow it?" The city boy in me panicked before blurting out, "I'll just mow it with my quad." It sounded reasonable enough, and she seemed to be considering it, which worked for me. "Really? An ATV? Shouldn't we buy a tractor?" The economic repercussion of her question meant the trail quad/play fund I had managed to accrue might go to John Deere instead of Suzuki. "Nope, no need for a tractor, I'll do it with my quad." I'm not sure if she bought it, because I honestly wasn't sure of it myself.

When you hear the name John Deere thoughts of high-performance recreation are less than likely to be the ones you find while rummaging throughout the mind. Fact is, the slogan for many years has been "Nothing Runs Like A Deere," and its products (even the Gator models) are widely recognized as an American workhorse. For 2011, a shift in strategy and design for the Gator line of XUVs have them tipping the scale in the direction of those who seek adventure and possess a love for the outdoors. The goal of the company is to push the scale to equal a 50/50 work-play combination, meaning a true crossover vehicle that can accomplish hard work and satisfy those with a taste for camping, trail riding or whatever use a true outdoor recreationist can dream up.

The months of May and June are usually pretty hectic for the staff here at ATV Rider. This is the time of year when many manufacturers debut their upcoming machines to the media hoping to drum up attention and interest by the time their vehicles are released to the public a month or two after we get our hands on them. As I returned from one trip, I had just a weekend to prepare for the trek to Great Falls, Montana, where Polaris had arranged for us to ride its latest and greatest ATVs and side-by-sides at the Bull Run Guest Ranch. Since I have never been to Montana before I was excited as my anticipation built to see someplace new, let alone aboard some new machines.

Test Riders: Bob O'Brick And Lance Schwartz

Test Rider: Lance Schwartz

Ever since I started at ATVR I've been given the great opportunity to travel all across the country and test the latest and greatest machines that companies have to offer. In early spring of this year, we were sent an invitation from Can-Am to attend its 2011 product launch up in Montebello, Quebec, Canada. No sooner had I read over the invite that Thad forwarded to me, than I was ready to pack my bags and head up north. This trip had me excited for two different reasons: The first was because it would be my first time traveling out of the country (Mexico excluded), and the second was because there was quite a bit of hype about a potential SxS release. For the past two years, at the Can-Am intros we've been foaming at the mouth for this machine only to leave in disappointment, but something told me this trip would be different.

Testing By Thad Josey, Matt Pate And Rick Sosebee