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Find your mojo again By the staff of Dirt Wheels There was a time when it was fairly rare to replace the CVT drive belt on a 4x4 quad, but now some of these models are very powerful and come with large and aggressive tires. What we need here is some good TECH: to remedy the situation. Plus, owners are riding them harder and punishing the CVT and its belt with high-load situations like mud-running and using track systems. In our case, the belt on our Polaris Scrambler S let go while racing, so it was being ridden…

Sit or stand in corners By the staff of Dirt Wheels RIDING TIPS: When looking at our photos of the Mesquite round of WORCS, Pro ATV champ and race winner Beau Baron hit one corner standing and sitting on different laps. We were curious and asked how he chooses whether to sit or stand in a corner. He was happy to explain it for Dirt Wheels readers. RIDING TIPS: “Typically, I will decide to stand up though a corner if I feel like I am losing too much traction to the rear wheels, and the back of the…

Fast and safe fuel By the staff of Dirt Wheels TECH: We recently caught up with Best in the Desert race series competitor Rick Smith who has been racing a 2017 Can-Am X3 with some light modifications suited for racing. While competing in the 2020 Laughlin Desert Classic in Laughlin, Nevada, Rick explained he lost a lot of time in the pits while fueling. The issue was filling the stock fuel tank with traditional fuel cans. His pit team tried using a high-capacity fast-fill fuel can thinking it would save some…

BEST ATV/UTV TRAILS ON EARTH The US arguably has some of the most thrilling ATV trails in the world, but if you want to explore trails in different climates, you will find plenty of excellent ones in various countries.  But have you ever wondered where the BEST ATV/UTV TRAILS ON EARTH are? Here are picks for the top five trails on the planet, outside of the USA of course. The Dirt Mania Circuit, India Located in Nelaguli, Bangalore, the tour company Dirt Mania provides ATV tours through the tropical forests, fields,…

Big-time sand-throwing By Gee Armstrong Photos by Juli Moore, Dirt-N-Dunez Photography OREGON DUNACY! A veritable case of pure OREGON DUNACY! As giant plumes of sand roost blasted forth from the spinning paddle tires of 500-plus-horsepower UTVs, a crowd of thrilled spectators (socially distanced and masked) were at round three of the General Tire Sand Outlaw UTV Drag Race Series held in the Oregon Dunes at Winchester Bay. Sand drag racing has always been the centerpiece of the Reedsport/Winchester Bay Chamber…

Stepping up its game in Ohio By Harlen Foley, Photos by Harlen Foley XC RACING STEPS UP The American Cross-Country Championship Series is perhaps best known for stepping in to sanction East Coast pro SxS cross-country racing when GNCC discontinued its SXS classes. Now, AXCC promoter, Andy Kyner, has further stepped up his game and held a special one-off, championship-level 4X4 ATV race at Muskingum Speedway in Ohio. If you ask any of the competitors in the event, Kyner has a hit on his hands. The race was the…

You are riding your ATV and you heard a sudden “pop”; you get worried. Well, there is nothing to worry about. It’s just that your ATV is backfiring. ATV backfires when your engine runs excessively rich or excessively lean. In simpler terms, when the engine has more fuel for the amount of air present in it or if the fuel is less than the amount of air it has engulfed, the engine backfires, which manifests as a little explosion in either the intake or the exhaust of the ATV’s engine. ATV backfiring is a very common…

HOW-TO SERIES: HOW TO TAKE GREAT ACTION PHOTOS If you spend enough time on an ATV or similar vehicles, you’re bound to rack up your share of impressive action photos. But, if you’re like most people these days, there’s a good chance those awesome photos are virtually “gathering dust” in an over-crowded iPhone or Android library you never really look through. This is a shame because while the real thrill is in the ride, these photos constitute moments and memories not that many people have. They ought to be celebrated!…

UNCHARTED SOCIETY Guided and self-guided Can-Am trips By the staff of Dirt Wheels CAN-AM HOLIDAY Riding in new places and perhaps with a new machine is on everyone’s wish list. Can-Am has set up a way to do both without all the hassle of machine prep, transportation or trip planning. We call it: Can-Am Holiday. Known as Uncharted Society, ( http://uncharted society.com ) the new partnership with top outfitters that are exclusive to the brand is also a way to attract new riders to Can-Am and other BRP products.…

Do ATV's Float? A question ATV riders have been pondering for decades is, “Do ATV's float?” Joe Lepore of Loxahatchee, Fl, claims his FourTrax Foreman 400 not only floats but can actually motor along in the local canals with a rider on board! He even has the photos to prove it. Joe did, however, have to per­form a major waterproofing job on the entire machine as well as add a snorkel air-intake extension up to the handlebars. “Whatever you do, don’t turn the en­gine off when you’re floating,” says Joe. “Water will go…

A 1982 Honda ATC 250R reborn By the staff of Dirt Wheels, Photos by Joshua Elzey Restoration to Perfection. Honda invented the first high-performance ATV in 1981 with the introduction of the ATC 250R, and the racing industry has evolved ever since.  In more recent decades, Mike Palmgren of Vintage Motorsports Restorations (www.vintagemotorsports.net, (508) 303-5085) has been preserving and restoring Powersports machines with two, three, and four wheels. Over the last few years we have…

By Joe Kosch The term “halo car” is well-known in the automotive world. It refers to a vehicle made to draw attention to a brand, usually with over-the-top performance, styling, technology, and features. These machines get people talking and cast the glow of an impressive performance image on all the vehicles in the lineup. Halo cars usually have enormous prices to go along with their incredible performance, and that only adds to their mystique. Usually, the absurd prices don’t come close to covering the true cost…