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Three off-the-beaten-path riding areas By Lane Lindstrom Montana is known as Big Sky Country, and under all that sky are dozens upon dozens of off-road riding areas that appeal to riders of all sorts—from technical to mild and from thrill seekers to mellow. The western one-third of Montana is laden with mountains, more specifically the world-famous Rocky Mountains. The land flattens out some as you head east across the state, with different topographies offering different riding opportunities. Of all the riding…

Wienen and Hetrick battle nonstop By the staff of Dirt Wheels, Photos by Stephen Tripp, PH3 Photos and Josh Cline There are eight rounds down and two to go in the ATVMX series, and the constant for the season, as for the last four or five seasons, is Chad Wienen and Joel Hetrick in an all-out battle. Current champ Wienen established his Wienen Motorsports team working with Yamaha race quads, and he won five national MX championships in a row. Before linking with Yamaha, he raced a Honda and was on race teams for…

Communication is key By the staff of Dirt Wheels Having the ability to communicate with other riders can be critical in some situations, but it makes riding with a companion more enjoyable in all situations. Engines are loud and helmets block out lots of noise, so it can be hard to hear a passenger who is trying to tell you something. Now some people purposely don’t want to hear their passenger, and for that we recommend a single-seat machine. If you are riding in a pack, a comm system can help communicate trail…

Grass-roots competition By the staff of Dirt Wheels Glen Helen Raceway has teamed up with GBC tires to host a 10-race series at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California. The series features tracks designed by four-time motocross champion Gary Jones. Unlike a typical West Coast MX-style track, these are wider, safer and all around less intimidating, hoping to attract a grass-roots level of competition. The series is aimed at drivers and riders of all ages and skill levels. The 10-race series started on…

By Joe Kosch It would be great to earn a cool nickname because of amazing driving skill or style, incredible demonstrations of bravery on the trail, or awesome racing accomplishments, but those are hard to come by. More often, less flattering nicknames are handed out to decent drivers who made a single mistake in front of the wrong riding buddies. Some of my UTV driving friends have been awarded with less than flattering nicknames they can’t wait to shake, but they’ll have to win a major championship, jump…

Tips and tricks By the staff of Dirt Wheels Yamaha is designing some of the most reliable and smoothest-riding ATVs lately. There is a 5-year-old Kodiak 700 that works daily on a ranch down the street from our shop that is a perfect example of this. In those years, the machine has primarily been used for spraying, towing and basic transportation. Even if it doesn’t move, the machine does sit idling for most of the work day.  The constant, slight vibration this Kodiak has at idle has rattled the light bulbs loose.…

A superb trail machine gets smarter and better By the staff of Dirt Wheels Kawasaki’s Teryx KRX 1000 lineup is a genuine home run in the sport UTV space. The addition of the new Teryx KRX 1000 eS and its computer-controlled Fox Live Valve suspension won’t hurt Kawasaki’s batting average. The entire package is great with fine handling, superior interior room, all-day comfort and brilliant suspension. Working with Fox to fit Live Valve 2.5-inch shocks on the KRX and controlling them with Bosch electronics truly elevates…

Not just for Raptors By Juli Moore/www.dirtndunez.com On the Oregon dunes each year a thunder can be heard as the annual Northwest Raptor Rally takes place in Winchester Bay, Oregon. The dunes are filled with Yamaha Raptors from mild to wild for a weekend of family-friendly events. Don’t let the name fool you, everyone is welcome at Northwest Raptor Rally. It doesn’t matter what you ride or drive. It’s really hard to put a finger on everything that happens at Raptor Rally. It is one part family campout, one part…

Reliability and fun in a smaller package By the staff of Dirt Wheels You could say that Kawasaki was stretching it a bit by calling their 271cc, liquid-cooled, four-stroke single by the unlikely moniker “Brute Force.” That sort of displacement does not lend itself to the term exactly. But, the 2021 Kawasaki Brute Force 300 2WD quad is a vehicle that does make a strong case for itself, especially when it comes to the hard-fought battles of dependability, usefulness and a certain charm for getting the job done in the…

Ride Command for ATVs and a new Ranger 570 By the staff of Dirt Wheels Polaris Off-Road has released details for the model year 2022 line. So far the news consists mostly of updates and fine-tuning, though there are some new trim packages and an all-new Ranger 570 and youth RZR 200. One of the more exciting new trim packages is the General XP 1000 Trailhead Edition. Polaris has hit a home run with both the General and the General XP, and the company has grown that success with special editions that tailor the…

Thin is in By the staff of Dirt Wheels We knew back when the Maverick Trail was first introduced that it was a keeper. We got a nice exposure to the machine on normal and 50-inch-designated trails. We liked what we experienced when we drove the then-all-new 2018 Trail model when it was unveiled.  And, we like the ride experience we’re having now in our demo 2021 Trail. Can-Am’s Maverick now comes in 50-, 60- and 64-inch track widths, and the Trail version is the 50-inch model. There are two variations of the…

Returning desert racing to Oregon By Juli Moore/DirtNDunez.com Fifteen years ago a commitment was made to bring desert racing back to Millican OHV, a high-desert riding area east of Bend, ,Oregon. In October 2020 that promise came to life when Joe Merrill’s dream came true as the pits filled up for the first-ever King of the Kastle 100-mile UTV desert race. After having to reschedule the race from May 2020 to late October due to statewide COVID-19 restrictions, this dream finally took place, and two successful races…