WINNER: Polaris Sportsman Touring 850 HO

This category has been heating up the past few seasons with informed buyers making the choice to purchase safe, purpose-built 2-up rides.

In our opinion, nobody else has done more to make the passenger experience comfortable and safe than Polaris with the XP based Sportsman Touring.

The “Comfort Ride” system, employing a small coil over shock under the passenger seat is simply without equal in the industry. It’s interesting to note the XP’s ultra narrow rider ergos actually play a role in increased passenger comfort as well.

The bodywork is motorcycle narrow and no other manufacturer comes close to the comfort afforded by the XP’s fore-aft oriented drive train and rear mounted CVT.

The deluxe 850 HO touring has nice upgrades and driver grips, hand guards, mirrors and a new-this-year replaceable rear rack filler to convert the Touring into a one-up ride.

Of course the proven 850 parallel twin powering this ATV is the icing on the cake. Smooth, quiet with incredibly linear power delivery and a near-perfect CVT transmission.

The Sportsman Touring 850 HO capably takes BIC!

RUNNERS UP:

Can-Am Outlander Max 650

There’s no escaping Can-Am’s leadership role in the development of the 2-up ATV. Can-Am was the first in this segment and continues to provide innovative and passenger-friendly models in ever more power variants. This year, the 650 Max gets the nod for runner up in this hotly contested category.

There’s exceptional ride quality here and the linear gentler power from its Rotax 650 Twin is formidable. Can-Am also offers the Max in an XT-P version with a long list of performance and visual enhancements.

Arctic Cat TRV 700i

Arctic Cat is fully engaged in the 2-up ATV biz offering myriad models in almost every power segment. Here’s the good news: These are very good 2-passenger ATVs.
Certainly the big-power 1000 is worth a look but we much prefer the more subtle power output of the 700 for 2-up riding.

Arctic Cat is making its twofers even more attractive by offering valuable upgrades like EPS and factory installed touring packages that include locking luggage and windshield/fairings.

We look for even more innovation from Arctic Cat as it continues to establish itself as a legitimate leader in the 2-up segment.

The worst thing we can do is put off things that keep our off-road rides safe and reliable, but it does happen.

With the spring riding season upon us riders will either wait until their ATV or side-x-side breaks or choose to perform some preventative maintenance to keep their ride on the trail.

For many, maintenance is the ugly part of the ATV owner’s life, but it doesn’t have to be a dreaded chore if you just stay on top of a few simple things.

One particular task I recommend before you store your ATV for any period of time – even if its just a couple of weeks – is to drain the fuel in the carb.

Begin by turning the fuel petcock off and then start the ATV to allow the machine to run out of gas. This gets the fuel out of the carb and prevents the fuel from varnishing the inside of the carburetor.

I recommend draining the gas tank as well, but its not absolutely necessary unless you know your ride is going to be out of commission for a while.

Varnishing occurs when the remaining fuel in the carb begins to break down and forms a thin layer of funk on the small jets and pin holes in the fuel system, which will most definitely prevent your ride from running its best.

Once this happens there will be moments of panic and maybe even a few more of sheer desperation with the end result being a pricey trip to the dealership to have a mechanic clean your carb professionally.

The last thing you want to do is spend money on something to reverse a simple maintenance task you could have made time for.

Dealers everywhere are waiting and might even be betting on your arrival at their shops, but if you want more money for food and gas, a bit of prevention will take you a long way.

Where would we be without the technological advancements in our offroad adventure community today?

As I look back through the last few years I can vividly remember many things that five years prior I would have thought to be completely impossible.

The invention of the Go-Pro camera for example has to be one of the most sought after, fastest growing adventure capturing devices known to man right at this moment.

A young Nicolas Woodman had taken a 5000-mile car camping surf tour in Australia in 2002 and the idea for GoPro was born. It forever changed the way we remember our greatest outdoor adventures. Will there be another company that will try to top that little gem? Who knows, but I do know this – never-say-never.

I have seen it before many times in the great “race to be first” between manufacturers of our fine off road vehicles. One prime example is electronic fuel injection.

The fact that ATVs and side-x-sides now have fuel injection really makes me realize that we are living in an age of constant advancement that seems to be whirling out of control. When was the last time you rode a non-fuel injected off road vehicle?

Yes, there are still a few left in the world and carbed engines are still available, but most new buyers would prefer fuel injection for its extreme advancement in power and fuel management.

Then we have the big rush of the major brands to add an “industry similar” but somewhat different style of power assisted steering. Who would have thought it could happen to a four wheeler? It won’t be long before every ATV or side-by-side will be equipped with power steering.

Technology moves forward and what was once considered, an option, like fuel injection is now becoming a standard feature most won’t live without.

You’ve heard about the incredible cooking options from Camp Chef. You’ve witnessed the HD video capabilities of the GoPro HD Hero2. Now for the real reason we love to visit Glamis… incomparable ATV riding at it’s absolute finest.

Sure, the dunes are great but what makes it incomparable is when you ride the very best of the best… at Glamis.

The Machines

Yamaha’s Raptor 700 and YFZ450R. Could you ask for anything better than these two beasts? The answer is, no you could not.

Depending on your riding preference, you’ll definitely prefer one over the other as they are completely different vehicles to ride.

Our field of experienced journalists and test riders were nearly split down the middle on which quad they preferred in the dunes however nobody had a “love one, hate the other” type scenario. In reality, you can’t go wrong with either of these choices so the response was mostly which ATV you loved more.

For me, perhaps because I’m officially one of the older media guys now, the Raptor is King of the Dunes as far as I’m concerned.

The motor just snorts along like a stallion in full stride while the suspension provides luxurious comfort allowing you to park your butt on the seat for the duration without bottoming on big drops or sending jolts up your spine over washboard bumps.

You know you’ve got more than enough power to climb anywhere or lead the pack if you wish, and the comfort to go full out all day.

The YFZ450R is definitely more rigid, lightweight and has a lower CG. You feel like you’re wearing the 450 like a pair of pants which gives you the confidence to throw it around a wheelie at will.

Make no mistake about it, the YFZ is a veritable rocket-ship on four wheels and is built to perform at a level not right for everyone. When I say, you can’t buy a better stock sport quad today, I stake my reputation on it.

If you’re in the market for a serious, race-ready performance ATV and you’ve got the skills and experience to saddle it up, then this is all the quad you need and more.

I’m a seasoned rider for sure, but much better riders than myself, like Yamaha’s Phillip Lash and racers Dustin Nelson and Josh Row (yes they were riding with us), put on a clinic jockeying the YFZ450R in the dunes.

Some of the things these guys can do with this quad looks so easy but a few attempts to duplicate their techniques will leave you humbled and in awe.

The new YFZ450R’s we got to ride looked pretty slick as well, sporting a brand new yellow/black color combination.

Owning the Sport Segment

Let’s be perfectly honest. The sport ATV segment probably makes up less than 20% of the total ATV market but Yamaha rightfully owns it.

You have other choices, but no other OEM puts as much of its heart and soul into this segment than Yamaha and the results speak for themselves.

We know you can’t possibly ride every sport quad available today, but I’m willing to bet my colleagues and anyone else who has had the opportunity to compare will tell you the same thing: Yamaha makes the best sport quads, hands down.

Visit www.yamaha-motor.com

Well here we go again boasting about another incredible off-road adventure most people would kill for.

Although it might seem like we’re rubbing it in, we’re really just anxious to tell you about some great products you can use to upgrade your off-road excursions to the next level and get the most out of your ATV experience.

Our recent trip to Glamis Dunes was fit for a King but in reality, the average-Joe can do the exact same thing we did without taking out a second mortgage on their home.

Yamaha USA came up with another astounding plan to get the media in the saddle of award-winning, Best-In-Class quads such as the Raptor 700 and YFZ450R.

Here’s the scenario; fly to California and drive down to the world-famous Glamis Dunes. Sleep in fully equipped trailers, ride the industry’s best sport quads by Yamaha, eat delicious food prepared by Camp Chef and capture all the excitement on new GoPro Hero2 cameras.

How could you say no to that? Needless to say this was a recipe for a good time and we were going to make the most of every minute.

Play Hard, Eat Well

Camp Chef was on hand to show us how camp life cooking can be perfected, while at the same time schooling us on the fine art of the horseshoe toss.

Their slogan is “The Way to Cook Outdoors” and we couldn’t agree more. Camp Chef’s extensive line of outdoor cooking products and accessories can honestly put most home kitchens to shame. They’ve got stove tops, camp ovens, smoke vaults, fire pits and cast iron products for any recipe you can imagine.

You need to see what we’re talking about here so do yourself a favor and visit www.campchef.com

Caught in HD

We had heard Go Pro was going to be on site but what we didn’t know was that we would be getting our very own GoPro HD Hero2 Camera with all the accessories to video and photograph every moment of our riding in the Glamis Dunes. Check out the video link here.

The new GoPro HD Hero2 shoots television quality, high definition video and takes crystal clear photographs up to 11 megs. We’ll be using some of the photos captured on our GoPro HD Hero2 this year in Dirt Trax Magazine and video on Dirt Trax TV.

Visit www.GoPro.com to find out more about this amazing product. Every offroad enthusiast should have one of these.

Return to this site to get more details on our Glamis adventure and what we thought about the Yamaha Raptor 700Rand YFZ450R.

Make sure you visit www.yamaha-motor.com.