Scott Optics has taken a step forward with the introduction of the Lounge Sunglass. These shades combine contemporary styling and a wide range of frame and lens colors such as Matte Black, Brown Forest, Dark Blue, Black Yellow Fade.
The Lounge is a sunglass which will keep you looking good at the track or when you’re just hanging out with friends.
Visit scottusa.com for more details.
The Canadian Powersports Dealer Expo (CPDE) set for March 11th and 12th at the Toronto Congress Centre has added another incredible incentive for dealers across Canada to attend this premier event. Retail Design Associates (RDA) of Roseville, California, President and Founder, Jim Rasmus, will deliver two information packed retail seminars per day covering retail store design, retail marketing, advertising and maximizing sales and profits for Powersport Industry dealers. Jim has been a featured speaker at the Indianapolis, Indiana, Indy Dealer Expo the past 11 years.
Rasmus commented on the Canadian Powersports Industry: “I am truly excited to be able to communicate with Canadian Powersports Retailers at CPDE. I’m convinced Canadian dealers can benefit from the concepts and principles I’ve shared with thousands of Powersports retailers across the continent. Each seminar is an intense 90 minute presentation which is sure to trigger inspiration and ideas with dealers in attendance. Come ready to learn and increase your profitability!”
Rasmus and RDA have provided services to notable businesses like Arlen Ness, Honda Lafayette, Snake River Yamaha, Ground Up Customs and are currently working with Kawasaki USA, American Iron Horse, the Spader Group and many other powersport entities.
There will be four 90 minute seminars – two on Friday, two on Saturday – available only to pre-registered and pre-credentialed dealers. There will be no walk-in registration for these Seminars.
Jim Rasmus has offered one more incredible value as part of his attendance at CPDE this year – the first 10 Powersports Stores to contact RDA directly at (916) 784-6600 will be able to book a one-on-one appointment with Jim for a private 30 minute consultation on your store!
This is an incredible opportunity to have the industry’s foremost expert on retail design, marketing and promotion evaluate your business and offer his advice – FREE OF CHARGE! Rasmus asks dealers to contact his office directly as time and numbers are limited on this offer.
Visit CPDE.ca for online dealer registration.
We thought it might be fun to take one of the meanest looking ATVs on the market, the Yamaha 660 Grizzly, and kick it up a notch.
After hours of deliberation, the answer was clear: new wheels and rubber! How about four black-finished C-Series 9-inch ITP Rims surrounded by the fattest, most aggressive, claws-out, trail-hungry tires available on the market: ITP Mud Lites! Remember the way your mouth waters when you’re about to eat a thick, juicy steak? Yep, that’s the feeling you get when you see these bad boys!
Keep in mind, the stamped aluminum stock rims are pretty nice, but if you really want to mark your territory on the trails, zip up! ITP has this one taken care of.
Let’s start with ITP’s newly expanded line of C-Series one-piece aluminum wheels. The third variance of this highly successful wheel line has a vibrant black powder-coat finish that does more for your quad’s appearance than you could possibly imagine.
These wheels are also available in machined and polished options and the addition of a 9×8 size in two common bolt patterns opens up the customization window for owners of Sport machines who prefer a wider range of rear tire selection.
Mud Lites are all-purpose meats, extremely competent as both mud and trail tires.
They allow you to rip through the trails with complete disregard for bogs and mud pits yet their unique center tread provides an even and smooth ride.
Angled shoulder lugs help them shine in the dirt. Computer aided technology has resulted in one of the lightest mud/trail tire lines available on the market.
Visit ITPtires.com for their full model lineup.
It’s strongly rumored Polaris is working on a two passenger ATV to be introduced by next summer.
Of course, we’ve commented many times on the likelihood of Polaris joining Bombardier and Arctic Cat with a 2-up version of the capable and popular ATP 500 HO.
However, we suspect if Polaris is working on a competitive offering (and why wouldn’t they be?), it will likely be based more closely on the IRS equipped Sportsman chassis.
Wouldn’t it be interesting to see a full-on 600, 700 or 800 twin twofer? Stay tuned.
L. B. Manufacturing Inc. entered the market with Yamaha Rhino cabs and Rhino accessories. These new Beaver Pro products are in growing demand and customers are finding the hard cab with removable doors enclosure very useful for work or play. It is perfect for the hunting, farming, fishing, commercial and recreational enthusiast.
L. B. Manufacturing Inc. is continuously launching new Rhino accessories so keep checking rhinoaccessories.com for updates.
Contact information Luc Babineau, Marketing Manager at lucb@beaverpro.com or call 506-388-3335.
The long-awaited results are in from our All-Terrain Vehicle Magazine photo contest (See Volume 6, Issue #2 for photos).
From a whopping 14,009 votes cast, the results were as follows:
1. A – (6937 votes – 49.52% )
2. D – (6683 votes – 47.71% )
3. E – (144 votes – 1.03% )
4. B – (70 votes – 0.50% )
5. C – (54 votes – 0.39% )
6. I – (32 votes – 0.23% )
7. F – (27 votes – 0.19% )
8. H – (27 votes – 0.19% )
9. G – (21 votes – 0.15% )
10. J – (14 votes – 0.10% )
Thanks to all participants and continue to send your photos to us and share your adventures with the rest of the ATV community!
The ATV tire biz is getting bigger. Why wouldn’t it? With annual new unit ATV sales hovering oh-so-close to the one million unit mark the past three years, the aging fleet of 4-wheelers burning their skins off has to be well in excess of five million units in North America.
Kenda has become a major player in the ATV replacement tire market, offering utility, deep mud, radial and high performance skins for ATVs in every segment. In fact, Kenda has a sizable piece of the aftermarket sales pie around the globe. Here’s interesting news.
While at this writing we are not at liberty to disclose names, we hear from a solid source Kenda is about to launch an OEM tire program supplying their revolutionary Bounty Hunter radials to as many as three OEMs. Stay tuned.
When it’s time to inspect the leisure-use vehicles you’ve stored during the off-season for spring use, you probably inspect the most obvious items that come to mind such as tires, batteries, belts, hoses and fluids.
Typically you check tire pressure and condition, making sure that you have the necessary fluids, gas, coolant etc., and a charged battery. The battery inspection is often performed through the most fundamental method; you try to start the vehicle with the ignition. If the vehicle starts, you may feel that you are good to go for the upcoming season, but in many cases you may be headed for trouble.
Unless you’ve maintained the battery during the storage period, it may not be able to deliver its peak performance and service life for the upcoming season. To ensure that you get the best performance your battery can deliver, it’s recommended that you perform a few simple checks. Remember, before performing any inspection on your battery, make sure there are no open flames or possibility of sparks around the battery and absolutely no smoking. Always wear eye protection, protective gloves and clothing.
For a Conventional style battery (those with the liquid electrolyte), you should visually inspect the battery for any apparent problems. These can include dirty or corroded terminal connections, low fluid levels, physical damage such as broken or missing filler caps, or dirt and moisture on the battery. If you need to service the battery, it’s best to remove it from the vehicle. First make sure that the electrolyte levels are properly adjusted.
Using distilled water, fill each cell until the level is above the minimum level line on the battery case and at or below the maximum line. Never overfill the battery or leakage will occur. If you discover that the electrolyte levels have fallen below the minimum level lines, there is a possibility that permanent damage may have been done to the internal lead plates in the battery and a new replacement may be required.
After adjusting the levels, make sure the filler plugs are secured and the battery is free of dirt and corrosion. If you need to clean the battery, use a mixture of baking soda and water to neutralize any electrolyte that may be on the outside of the battery. Simply brush this on the battery and terminals using an old paintbrush or tooth brush and rinse it off with clean water. Dry the battery using an old soft rag or paper towel and make sure the terminals are clean and free of corrosion. You can clean the terminals with a small wire brush if the corrosion is significant or just brighten them up using a piece of emery cloth.
Now that your battery is clean, it’s time to check the state of charge. When using a voltmeter, the battery terminal voltage should read at least 12.6 volts. If your voltage is below this or you’ve adjusted the electrolyte levels, a boost charge is required. Charge the battery in a well-ventilated area away from kids and pets. The variety of chargers you can use to endless but it is recommended that you use an automatic taper type charger specifically designed for Powersports batteries. Don’t use a high current or fast charger for the boost charge unless you are familiar with their operation or permanent damage can occur to the battery.
When servicing a Sealed MF style battery, you obviously don’t need to inspect the electrolyte levels since the battery is permanently sealed and must never be opened. The cleaning method and charging methods are the same as for the Conventional style batteries. The one feature to note about the Sealed MF battery is the battery terminal voltage. The full charge voltage should read about 12.8 volts. These batteries have a slightly different electrolyte, which influences the terminal voltage.
After you’ve performed this maintenance, you still may require additional help with your battery. While the battery may exhibit good terminal voltage, it may not be in the best state of health. Deteriorated from corrosion or sulphation, the battery could be seriously short on capacity.
To check this condition, you may choose to reinstall the battery in your vehicle and perform a very fundamental start test or you could take the battery to a service center and have a capacity test performed. Most battery dealers will perform a simple electronic or electrical resistance test on the battery and be able to tell you the state of health. By knowing the state of health, you can determine the useful life expectancy of you battery. With this information, you can decide if you should replace the battery with a new one or reinstall the existing one in the vehicle.
To ensure maximum performance and service life for your battery, we recommended that you use either the Interstate Batteries’ 1.5 Amp or 900mA Automatic Battery Charger for battery maintenance. Both chargers deliver Mistake-Proof Technology to properly charge your battery and both are designed to switch to a float mode once the battery has reached a full state of charge and maintain it there. This feature allows you to attach the charger to your battery for an extended period of time without concern of an overcharged or discharged battery.
Also, both chargers are supplied with a Quick-Connect ring terminal harness that can be permanently attached to your battery while installed in the vehicle. This allows you to instantly connect or disconnect the charger from the battery without having to access the battery terminals. This can be a great time saver for those hard to reach battery locations.
It’s important to remember, even with the proper care and maintenance of your battery, it will eventually wear out. As with any of the parts on your vehicle, it’s usually easier and more convenient to replace them before they fail unexpectedly. With this in mind, you may want to simply replace your battery every few years with a new one.
Written by Dave Beidler
Director of OEM Engineering & Technical Support
Yuasa Battery, Inc.
Canadian ATV enthusiasts can get involved this spring 2005 with the Canadian All-Terrain Vehicle Distributors Council (CATV) and participate in their just announced Clean and Green event.
By participating, ATV enthusiasts and their friends can help clean up and clear local multi-use trails across the nation.
This program is an extension of the well received ATV Nature Watch information and environmental initiative.
Clean and Green will involve ATV federations, local clubs and individual riders across the country.
All-Terrain Vehicle Magazine (Canada) will keep you informed of more information about Clean and Green as it becomes available.
Keep informed by going to atvnw.ca.
A few issues ago we covered a unique multi-purpose ATV trailer called the MUT in our new products column.
We’ve been using one of these interesting conveyances here and have found it to be nothing short of remarkable.
The MUT is more than just a dirt and wood carrying device. It can capably skid logs, it can be used in tandem with another MUT, can haul another ATV and even dump its contents when fully loaded.
There’s a myriad of options available for the MUT as well. Contact: muttrailers.com
DIRT TRAX TV is an international award winning offroad motorsports program that continues to answer the demand of ATV and UTV enthusiasts across North America with National broadcast coverage on OLN and Sportsman Channel in Canada and on Outdoor Channel in the United States.
For all media, sponsorship, and other queries, please visit our Contact Us page.
© TRAX MEDIA INC 2022
