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-- Ultimate dream machine -- It would be great if KTM made 3-wheelers, but since they don't Nico Smith built one himself down in Laredo, Texas. He started with  the frame of a 2002 KTM 250 SX dirt bike. For the engine he installed a freshly rebuilt 2003 KTM 300 EXC 2-stroke. The seat and rear fenders came from a 2009 KTM quad. The wider triple clamps for the forks came from Emig Racing. Nico made the swing arm and sub-frame himself. Various other parts came from Yamaha Banshees and Tri-Zs. The front fender came from…

-- Testing something a little different -- By the staff of Dirt Wheels Lines can easily be blurred when deciding what machines should be considered UTVs. We can take that acronym in two ways—ultimate terrain vehicle or utility terrain vehicle. We can easily categorize the high-horsepower, long-travel offerings from Can-Am, Polaris, Yamaha and Honda in the former. Yet, many more machines seem to fit in the latter category. One vehicle we struggle to categorize is what we call the “Trail Tank,” or its real name, the…

-- Finding brand new Cannondales -- Imagine you're out in a remote section of woods you've never been to before. You go between some bushes and accidently discover the opening of a cave. Out of curiosity you wander in to check it out. After a few twists and turns your flashlight beam focusses on something shiny. Your heart suddenly starts beating frantically as you exclaim, "GOLD!" Well, that's kind of what happened to Dirt Wheels reader, Hunter Lovelace, up in Ontario, Canada. He was rummaging around in a back warehouse…

-- CFMoto's top model for 2020 -- CFMoto released information on it's new 2020 ZForce 950. We showed you photos last year of the prototype and here it is now going into production. It should be at dealers in early 2020. The engine is a V-twin of 963cc with 8 valves operated by a single overhead cam and produces 79 horsepower. The electronic fuel-injection and ignition have two power delivery modes, trail or sport. It comes with a CVT automatic transmission and  power steering. The chassis is all new with…

-- The fastest 3-wheeler -- What was the fastest 3-wheeler? That distinction has to be the Tiger 500. So, you say you never heard of the Tiger 3-wheeler brand? Well, that's understandable. It wasn't a very large company, but you could buy machines from them between the years of 1983 and 1986. The company was founded by Peter Wood, so the story goes, and the Tiger factory was in Minnesota. The company made their own frames and plastic, and they installed 2-stroke engines from Rotax. The Tiger 500 had the big air-cooled…

-- Understanding the deal with Textron, Arctic Cat & Tracker Off-Road -- It was nearly two years ago when Textron announced that it had purchased Arctic Cat. Because of Textron’s reputation and clout that it carries in the aviation industry, this was not necessarily viewed as bad news by most people. Among the many companies it owns are Cessna and Beechcraft airplanes, as well as Bell helicopters. The general idea shared by off-roaders is that Arctic Cat would benefit by the economic and technology boost from…

-- 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…

-- Checking out a great quad conversion -- Gerald Tramble is a Dirt Wheels reader who lives in France. Just like many of us in the USA, he has a strong passion for ATV racing. ATV motocross is very popular in Europe too. As expected, Yamaha's YFZ450 is a machine many Europeans choose to race. For Gerald though, he wanted his YFZ to have a two-stroke power plant. So, he set out to remove the 450 4-stroke engine and replace it with something else. KTM is a company that still puts two-stroke engines into a lot of its dirt…

-- First test of the wild new Sherp ATV -- By the staff of Dirt Wheels There are a lot of firsts going on here for us: first time in a Russian off-road machine, first time with 63-inch tires and first time we truly understood the concept of letting nothing stand in our way. The letters “ATV” have become a name or a model designation, but they are actually an acronym for “all-terrain vehicle.” If we are totally accurate, most all-terrain vehicles are really multi-terrain vehicles, and most ATVs actually perform better…

-- Raptor, Banshee, Z400, DS650 & Cannondale 440 -- Since the first issue of Dirt Wheels back in 1980, the editors and test crew have done shootouts to see which ATV is best. We did that again in the January 2003 issue. At that time the five fastest machines were Yamaha's Raptor and Banshee, Suzuki's Z400, Bombardier's DS650 (Can-Am) and Cannondale's 440. So, how did each one rate for power, handling and suspension? Well, you can find out by reading the article below as it originally appeared.…

-- By Ron Lawson -- My dad really wants a UTV. He just doesn’t know it yet. He doesn’t quite know what a UTV is, even though I’ve tried explaining it to him on a number of occasions. Me: “They’re like little 4WD cars, they usually have two seats, and they would present a great way for us to get out together and do stuff.” Dad: “You took my car away. Now you want to give it back?” Me: “Now we made that decision together after you got stuck on the center median in front of Walmart. You’re 87 years old now, and…

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