A cool change

[bvanderberg]

With apologies to the Little River Band, I'm changing up vehicles a bit and I thought I'd share. The truck (a '16 Ram 2500 4x4 with the Cummins) stays. There's nothing - nothing I'd rather drive on long highways to get to destinations. However, its size and weight make it impractical for the trails I want to drive. I experimented with a dual sport (Honda CRF 250L) and that was great. However, these don't provide the trail experience I wanted. Also, I like to go out alone and these seem to involve a lot of falling down on the types of trails I like.

So, I bought a Polaris Sportsman 570 SP Hunter Edition. It fits nicely in the back of the truck and is safe and easy to load and unload alone. These are stable, low, and fairly slow - all good things for me. It's got all the upgrades I would have done to a Jeep - winch, brush guards, protection for the axles, descent control, and even heated grips. It'll hold a couple of rifles (or fishing poles) and a lot of gear. I don't care so much for the camo paint job, but building one in a different color would have been cost prohibitive. Out the door, I came out $1 under our 10k budget.

The only downside I see is lack of access to many trails in Southern California. There are several good OHV areas nearby, but I didn't buy this as a sand toy. The desert is no fun in summer anyway. Once north of Big Bear (2-3 hours from me) and up into the Sierras, things really open up. Northern Arizona will be another frequent destination. I might even take it down to Mexico.

I'll pick it up tomorrow and will post updates as I take it out and make changes. I know this doesn't really fit into typical overland or expedition travel modes, but I plan to have many adventures and see everything I can on it so hopefully you all will forgive the little detour.

 

[Al Swope]

Sweet! Congrats! An ATV/UTV is a different bird. Be prepared to not work on it much and drive "hardcore" trails with ease. When you scuff the plastic, weirdly, it does not rust. Then at the end of a hard day on the trail, you are forced to drive home in a quiet, well mannered, full size truck with AC. There are a lot of negatives to watch for...

 

[bvanderberg]

Haha! Good to know. I'll watch out for those negatives.

 

[bvanderberg]

Got it home and off the truck without incident. Backing down the ramps felt exactly like that first step when repelling. OORAH
Transport mode (suspension setting) helped reduce the angle.
Used some tailgate supports, too. Really happy with those.

Made sure to put the wife on it as soon as I got it down. She likes it. Take note, young guys.

First add-on will be a GPS/mount wired into the electrical system.
When it's time to tow, I think I'll just remove the tailgate to provide clearance for the trailer.
Also want a headache rack. The front bumpers would go right through my window before the front tires hit the front of the bed.

 

[Al Swope]

...Also want a headache rack. The front bumpers would go right through my window before the front tires hit the front of the bed.

When I hauled a Sportsman 700 in my F250 with a 6.5 bed, I put a 6x6 timber ~5 feet long against the front wall of the bed. This kept the winch fair lead away from the rear glass. Hitting the brakes hard with a 700lb bike in the bed is no joke. It needs to be tied tight. Good luck, the machine looks fun. x2 on the wife buy in!

 

[justjames]

I had a Sportsman 500 for 19 years. Bulletproof bike as I had zero troubles with it and sold it recently for way more than I thought. Good idea on the rack, front bumper on mine went thru the rear windshield first time I loaded it, duh!