Features

-- The right accessory parts make a difference -- By the staff of Dirt Wheels Perhaps there are people who buy an off-road machine on a whim, but most of us need a reason, or even reasons, that we need or want it to justify the cost. From the moment that 4x4 quads hit the market, they have been popular with buyers. For many years the majority of reasons people had for purchasing a 4x4 quad had to do with utility. Buyers selected 4x4 quads to work on the farm, to travel to fishing holes, to carry game out of the woods…

-- Youth off-road machine for $3,699 -- The number one complaint we hear about UTVs is they cost too much. Well, here's one that is quite affordable indeed. To be fair though, it may not actually be a UTV under the standard classification. Hammerhead lists it in the off-road go-kart category. For one, it doesn't have 4-wheel drive. To keep things simple and inexpensive it only has power going to the rear axle. Also, the power is quite tame when compared to big 3-cylinder turbos. The 150cc air-cooled engine is rated at 9…

-- Sara Price's King of Hammers UTV -- By the staff of Dirt Wheels Sara Price is one of the most driven, capable and impressive ladies we know in the off-road industry. We have featured her racing machines and adventures throughout our magazine, social media and web presence. Sara and her remarkable co-pilot, Erika Sacks, have raced in Africa, competed in high-horsepower Baja trucks, and continue to battle for top finish at the infamous annual King of the Hammers UTV race. Last year’s KOH was tough, and this…

-- Jumping a Banshee over a river boat... say what?! -- When looking through old issues of Dirt Wheels we sometimes come across articles that blow us away.  A staff member will typically say, "Dude, we gotta put this on our website. " Back in the day the magazines were put together with a T-square and an exacto knife, so there's no digital file to download. Nope, we have to scan the actual printed magazine pages, so naturally they look a little rough. But hey, that's just part of these "Great Moments in ATV History."…

-- Testing a lockable way to carry stuff in your RZR --  By the staff of Dirt Wheels Excitement comes in many forms in our industry, whether we are rubbing tires on the track, dodging trees on the trail or finding the best cargo containment systems around. That’s right, we get excited over storage solutions! We only feel comfortable on long UTV adventures when we carry the proper spares to fix the machine in a pinch. It can get tricky finding ways to store what we feel is needed. We found a Tusk UTV cargo box from…

-- A wild old-timer custom build -- By Casey Kramer Most of the builds we feature in Dirt Wheels magazine are all about the bling and the speed. This diamond-in the-rough XP 1000, on the other hand, was chosen because it caught our attention with its unique design and purpose. Being a mechanical engineer by trade, project owner Jonathan wanted something with style that would withstand his “work hard, play harder” mentality. The inspiration for the “Old-Timer” originally came from a love of classic ’30s-era trucks…

-- 300 2-stroke & 450 4-stroke from 2004 -- You may have heard of the ATVs with the funny name that were made in Spain. The Gas Gas quads were actually fast machines, whether you got the 300 2-stroke or the 450 4-stroke. Even though they're no longer available now they are a part of ATV history, along with Cannondale, that you should know about.  Dirt Wheels tested the two Gas Gas quads in our January 2004 issue and you may want to read the reprint of that article below. . .

-- Looking back at Trinity Racing's Banshee build of 2003 -- The 535cc Cheetah cylinders were the popular choice for Banshee builders back then and Trinity started with that for this project Yamaha we featured in our May 2003 issue.  With a bore and stroke of 72mm x 64mm and 26 ports this twin cylinder two-stroke cranked out 138.7 hp on the dyno.  We have a reprint of that original article you can read below. . .

-- CT Racing  builds a "Best In The Desert" winner --  By the staff of Dirt Wheels CT Racing has been a dominant force in off-road endurance racing since the 1990s, winning three SCORE off-road championships and 11 Best in the Desert (BITD) championships. Seven of those BITD championships were in a row! For two years, CT quads placed first, second and third in the championship. All of the BITD titles have been won on Hondas—a TRX250R, TRX450R and a hand-built XR650-powered Laeger quad. Eight championships,…

-- Testing a useful tool -- By the staff of Dirt Wheels In the May 2019 issue of Dirt Wheels we had a story on greasing UTV wheel bearings. Since then we have had experience with Machined Integrations, LLC (MI) bearing greasing tools. A quality, well-designed tool is always a pleasure. And in the case of UTV and 4x4 quad wheel bearings, these tools are almost required. The bearings are sealed on both sides. The only opening for grease is the seam in the split inner race, so you would have to risk damaging the…

-- And who to ride with -- By Karel Kramer There are excellent reasons why most of us are creatures of habit. In the case of off-roaders, that means that we ride or drive the same type of machines in the same place with the same people. That totally makes sense. At your favorite ride spot there is no wasted mental effort searching for a trail or wondering whether you are looking at a dead end or a through-route. Piloting the same machine has good points as well. You know every creak, rattle and bump, so mechanical…

We get a lot of gear and cool products to test every month so we can inform our readers of whats new and useful in the market. This week we got a few great offerings from Warn, Ogio, O’neal and an awesome cooler from Pelican. We are currently working on a Project RZR and slowly upgrading a Yamaha YFZ450R! Some of these parts will go on the builds while others get tested on our ATVs and UTVs. Stay tuned for next week's Gear Grinder for more awesome products to check out! O’NEAL GEAR www.oneal.com 5 SERIES HEXX Helmet -…