Features

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.…

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…

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…

By Joe Kosch If you think we see big changes in ATVs from year to year, find some old issues of Dirt Wheels and have a look at what you’d have to pick from at your favorite dealers five, 10 or 20 years ago. I didn’t want to go so far back in ATV history that many readers would have no connection with the machines I’m talking about, so I grabbed a “Dirt Wheels Buyer’s Guide” put together in 2000. The sport quad world had some very cool choices in 2000, like the Bombardier (now Can-Am) DS650. This big, liquid-cooled,…

Rockier than usual By Lane Lindstrom After having to deal with a worldwide pandemic that shut down just about everything in 2020 (and parts of 2021), the Rally on the Rocks (ROTR) event organizers were told by the city of Moab and Grand County that they would not grant an event permit for the annual rally. Fortunately, event organizers were able to stage the 2021 Rally on the Rocks in Utah’s San Juan County in early May. The event was noticeably down in attendance, although there were a decent number of vendors,…

Time to get dirty in the pines By the staff of Dirt Wheels The fifth annual Rugged Radios UTV Rally at Mormon Lake returned to Mormon Lake Lodge. It was listed as being in the high-altitude forests near Flagstaff, Arizona. In truth, Mormon Lake is 20 to 30 minutes from Flagstaff. Continuing with truth, it isn’t really what you think of as a lake, either! Especially in a dry year like 2021, the “lake” looks more like a short-grass meadow. In wet years the lake area acts as a natural flood control. The actual water…

Exploring the famous Black Hills By Lane Lindstrom South Dakota’s Black Hills are famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) for a myriad of reasons—from well-known characters (good and bad) to hills once laden with riches to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse to awesome landscapes to games of chance (read: gambling). We would add off-roading to that short list of what makes the Black Hills such a popular year-round haven for visitors. Long gone are Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok, Al Swearengen and Wyatt…

Tips to stretch your dollar By the staff of Dirt Wheels Buying a used ATV or UTV is fast becoming a seller’s marketplace. As major manufacturers experience production-line slowdowns, the number of new machines has decreased. In turn, this has led to a boom in used vehicle purchases. While that is good news for existing OHV owners, making their own machines increases in value. It also means that you have to pay more attention to the mechanical condition of the vehicles out there. To do that, we have broken our…

By Joe Kosch The lure of new machinery casts a spell that entrances almost all riders, including me. I have a lot of experience in separating marketing hype from real advances in performance, but riding new ATVs and UTVs is a kind of fun I never tire of. I’m not going to fight the feeling. I get it when other riders say no matter how much they enjoy the machines they have, new models they don’t have always seem to have something, or lots of things, that will make riding vastly more fun. You see yourself with a new…

By Lane Lindstrom COLORADO: ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH When it comes to describing the amazing scenery Colorado has to offer off-roaders, we quickly ran out of superlatives. The scenery is over the top both figuratively and literally. Colorado has 58 “14ers”—the term for mountain peaks at least 14,000 feet—more than any other state. With those mountains come spectacular views and great riding. There are thousands of trail miles in Colorado, and almost all with a view of the Rocky…

Dirt Wheels attacked the Baja 1000 and won!  By Dennis “Ketchup” Cox VINTAGE DIRT WHEELS RACE TEST: 1000-MILE ATV TEST Try to imagine driving nonstop from Chicago, Illinois, to Orlando, Florida. Now, imagine doing it off-road on your ATV. Throw in an occasional high-speed washout and terror-inducing swaps. With the demise of the Blackwater 100, there are few events that elicit as much awe and mystery as the Baja 1000. DENNY WOLFF’S BAJA-WINNING SETUP The Baja 1000 has sudden drop-offs and blinding silt…

By the staff of Dirt Wheels 2021 HIGH LIFTER MUD NATIONALS The 18th annual High Lifter Mud Nationals presented by Polaris brought off-road fans together for a week-long extravaganza of mudding fun and racing action at Hillarosa ATV Park in Blevins, Arkansas. Over 8000 people traveled from across the country to experience the thrill and adventure of a High Lifter event with fellow ATV and UTV enthusiasts. The event offered riding competitions, racing, games, food and live music throughout the week. 2021…