ATV's and Overlanding ....

  • HTML tutorial

Graeman

Rank V
Launch Member

Off-Road Ranger I

2,876
Catalina Avenue, Tucson, AZ, USA
First Name
Todd
Last Name
Hoffmaster
Member #

4284

Ham/GMRS Callsign
KJ7CRJ
Service Branch
Air Force
Short wheelbase with high center of gravity will do it every time. My friend was not hurt in this accident.
 

BensonSTW

Rank III

Enthusiast III

Where I live I can ride from my house and go for days at a time. I will have to get my camera out as these are some of the only pictures I have on my phone of my side by side. From my house it's possible for me to ride clear to Oregon and Idaho. I know I can make Utah if I tried.IMG_0512.JPGHere it is pulling duty as a power wheels recovery machine. My nephews ran out of battery in the street in front of my house. IMG_1111.JPGThis picture was one I took to show off my home built off-road shower. IMG_1125.JPGJust got my new doors in this one. Would anybody be interested in a thread for side by side builds for expedition vehicles, or maybe just atv/utv modifications?
 
  • Like
Reactions: MazeVX

britz

Rank VI
Launch Member

Off-Road Ranger I

3,089
Musselshell, Idaho
Member #

5767

Ham/GMRS Callsign
K6YTI
There's way more folks in my region (North Central Idaho) that run UTV's and ATV's for backwoods exploring. Where we run, 90% of any traffic we see are on these rigs. One big plus is there's a few spots that limit vehicles to 50" max, including a section of the IDBDR ( there is a bypass for bigger rigs), and I've stuffed an Elk on a side by side, better than dragging that beast.

I can see their pluses - cheaper for one, but everyone I see is eating dust all day long. I had to winch one out of a ravine after a girl exceeded her limits in drinking, driving and common sense last summer. Whomever said know your limits is right, we get calls several times a week for flipped rigs.
 
Last edited:

Overland A Far

Rank V
Launch Member

Enthusiast III

1,798
Rocky Mountain House, Alberta
Member #

9779

ATVing is big in our area. On public land which is most of Alberta there are few limitations so day trips or long distant weekenders are common. Some challenging trails in the mountains and muskeg areas so you need to be prepared and you learn a lot about recovery and winching techniques.ranger 1.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Winterpeg

Remington_PRO4X

Rank IV
Launch Member

Advocate II

1,171
Verona, WI
Member #

7031

I've been looking at getting an ATV just to goof around on while out an about. My Dad has a Polaris Sportsman that can go through just about anything. It would be fun to get out through some more tight areas. Some of the trails in northern WI are an absolute blast as well!
 

Desert Runner

Rank VII
Launch Member

Expedition Master III

8,507
Southern Nevada
First Name
Jerold
Last Name
F.
Member #

14991

Ham/GMRS Callsign
/GMRS=WREA307
I saw pretty bad to the bone 4wheeler decked out with storage all over it.... is there anyone here into such overland shenanigans? Clearly pavement travel would be a new animal... have to trailer it to a location and leave a rig parked.. "yikes"

i see the big decked out BMW all terrain motor bikes all the time... just wondering about ATV stuff... i guess location and permissions would be the biggest problem here... but on wide open Gov. land or what have you...

chew on it a bit and let me know what yall think
I have seen a lot of the BMW bike types out in and near Death Valley. It seems to be a mandatory area to explore. On the subject of UTV riders. that is more base camping from a set position, and not really over-landing, as your in a static place.
 

TNjohn

Rank I
Launch Member

Member I

233
Kingston, TN, USA
First Name
John
Last Name
Caudle
Member #

20973

It would be awesome to do we come across this old mate from Germany on a trip to cape york a few years back this thing was insane had everything you could ever need
I lived in a condo near St. Mary's Glacier in Idaho Springs, CO back in 2015. I had a RZR 800 that I didn't even have to trailer. I could pack it up and hit the National Forest roads right from the parking lots. I looked about like your friend when I would hit the trails for a camping trip. Side x sides can be a blast for camping.
 

Desert Runner

Rank VII
Launch Member

Expedition Master III

8,507
Southern Nevada
First Name
Jerold
Last Name
F.
Member #

14991

Ham/GMRS Callsign
/GMRS=WREA307
I lived in a condo near St. Mary's Glacier in Idaho Springs, CO back in 2015. I had a RZR 800 that I didn't even have to trailer. I could pack it up and hit the National Forest roads right from the parking lots. I looked about like your friend when I would hit the trails for a camping trip. Side x sides can be a blast for camping.
In today's world, it comes down to how friendly your State and County is to UTV/ATV use in public areas. AZ is great for them, on roads, as long as they are made street legal,....lights, blinkers, horn, mirrors etc. Other States also have more moderate laws vs some. Places like national parks do not. Even when made.... aka....street legal like in AZ. For example, North rim of the grand canyon, or along the shore area of Lake Mead (NV/AZ) within the parks boundaries. Places here in Southern NV, like in the Logandale/Overton area have made corridor's thru town to help with the passage of UTV/ATV use, while for now avoiding them being used on the city streets. Unpaved Side streets are ............mmm...unenforced, shall we say, as long as discretion is used. Out West BLM use is larglely open for multiple uses, and only posted areas are limited. The days of breaking trail was over decades ago. Trail Lightly/Tread Lightly is and should be the credo in this day and age.

In Utah you have a large expanse of trails, many of them linked, which allows you to base camp from a town, and hit the trail in all directions. Fuel, time, and days allotted to exploration are your only limits. I have seen many camping videos off the back of a ATV, where the riders planned fueling stops into a town, was the only limitation.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: TNjohn and MazeVX

M Rose

Local Expert
Mod Team
Member

Advocate III

5,584
Northeast Oregon, United States
First Name
Michael
Last Name
Rose
Member #

20990

Ham/GMRS Callsign
W7FSB
Service Branch
US ARMY Retired
I have seen a lot of the BMW bike types out in and near Death Valley. It seems to be a mandatory area to explore. On the subject of UTV riders. that is more base camping from a set position, and not really over-landing, as your in a static place.
Not overlanding? 4 years a go, my brothers family and mine logged close to 3000 miles in a week long trip around eastern oregon. I trailered my quads to his house, then rode strait from there to the first set of trails, that eventually took us around the north border of the
 

Attachments

grubworm

Rank V
Launch Member

Member III

2,358
louisiana
First Name
grub
Last Name
worm
Member #

17464

Service Branch
USN-Submarines
my brothers family and mine logged close to 3000 miles in a week long trip around eastern oregon.
wow! that is a LOT of riding! Thats about 430 miles a day...i'd need a week to recoup after that! bet it was some great scenery, though
 

tjZ06

Rank V
Launch Member

Advocate I

2,268
Las Vegas/Palo Alto
First Name
mynameisntallowed
Last Name
Adams
Member #

20043

This is one of the RZRs I've had:








It obviously was a 4-seat, but I deleted the rear seat and added storage as well as fuel and water. It ran a 33x10.5" tire and would go just about anywhere. We geared-down the final drive in the trans about 10% which made the gearing about like stock (stock ran 29" tire... so a 33" is right around 10% taller).

I had big dreams of Overlanding it... but it never came to fruition. This RZR was also Z1 motor swapped (1056cc turbo motor from a snowmobile) and pushed 40psi of boost and was somewhere north of 300 HP. I was mixing purposes, and it just ended up headaches.

I would love to have basically the same setup again with a bone-stock Polaris XP Turbo motor in it... but it just doesn't work out great for Overlanding anyway. In CA we can't make these street legal, so you have to plan accordingly and your trip is still going to involve a truck and trailer. At that point I'll just go to a ride-out destination with my 5th wheel and do day-trips with the RZRs.

-TJ
 

M Rose

Local Expert
Mod Team
Member

Advocate III

5,584
Northeast Oregon, United States
First Name
Michael
Last Name
Rose
Member #

20990

Ham/GMRS Callsign
W7FSB
Service Branch
US ARMY Retired
wow! that is a LOT of riding! Thats about 430 miles a day...i'd need a week to recoup after that! bet it was some great scenery, though
It was a great trip, closer to 500 miles a day with all the exploring we did along the way. I wish I still had more pictures of the whole trip. we were going to do the other half of the rout the fallowing summer, but my brother and I both got divorced and sold all our quads.
 
  • Sad
Reactions: grubworm