New England B.S. Thread

Maybe when I grow up... Trying to get my kids into ATVs now (read as, trying to convince my wife they're old enough). I'd love to get back into ATVs again. I lived on those and dirt bikes as a kid, I'd really like to get my kids out and into powersports.

 

I plan to try and make some trips out west with my truck, so I need an education how to keep it drivable. I do wish I trail rig.

 

Yeah, I have a Yamaha Grizzly 660 with diff lock and beefy ITP tires and the thing will go just about anywhere as long as you don't high center it. If you do have a traction issue (mostly just steep hills with snow or wet rocks) just hit it with some speed and you'll make it. If that fails, it's got a Warn winch. It's also a 2002 and isn't in perfect shape anymore. If something breaks, I'll buy the part and get to it when I can. If I cause some cosmetic damage, whatever, it's already got some plastic that doesn't line up perfectly.

Even when my 2011 Tacoma passed 100k, it was still too nice to take anywhere serious. Worst places I went were some beat up logging roads. I didn't want to go anywhere that I could damage something since it was my daily driver and worth too much to me. The F-150 barely sees dirt roads!

 

That would be cool, could be a family thing to do if your wife was up for riding. ATVs and SXS's are for the most part cheaper to fix any ways

 

That's a solid plan.

 

That Grizzly is a beast. I used to have 2wd sport ATVs and I took that thing through some pretty gnarly terrain. When doing that with a 2wd, you really had to hit it with speed and keep the throttle pinned. I didn't 'rock crawl' with it though, mostly mud, gravel and steep terrain. It was amazing what we could make it through between 3-4 2wd ATVs and some tow ropes. The ATVs were so light though, you could bounce them off just about anything, drag the belly across rocks, bump trees and nothing ended up breaking. Definitely not the case with a truck.

 

I want to get my kids into SCCA carting (autocross). When I had my track car and brought it out to autocross events the kids in the carts always cracked me up/ were adorable. For one thing kids fire suits and helmets are fucking adorable. For another it would give me an excuse to get another track car.

 

I've been looking at those. Cheaper to fix, not something I'd rely on as a daily driver but they certainly aren't a lot cost of entry! Some of those 4 seat versions are $20k! I'd almost rather have an old beater Jeep that could actually be driven on the road for 1/4 of the cost.

 

I've driven by. I have one route where I suspect it is, but nothing for certain.

 

Yea the 4 door ones get pricey quick. My buddy picked up a Canam maverick 1000 and that was still around 14k for a sxs one trim above base model

 

I've been looking at beater trail vehicles, you can get non-street-legal for like 2k easy. Won't pass inspection, but whatever. 5k for something that would pass inspection there-abouts. For a wrangler add about 1k to those numbers, but overall "doable". If we stick around (doubtful) I will definitely be looking to grab something else for bashing in the trails.

Edit: And can go to and from work as a backup if need be, and has heat and air conditioning, and can be used on the street vs a SXS etc. And more power, can hold more people, can tow more weight, etc etc. Not quite as nimble but a wrangler vs. some of those bigger SXS aren't that far off in their maneuverability.

 

The biggest draw to a SxS over a trail beater is the width limits. I'm looking at SxS that are 50" wide. Then I can go on any wheeler trail in the state. Buddy just got a Maverick and it's pretty awesome.

 

Yeah depends how serious you take your off roading etc. For me sxs wouldn't be worth it, I have contemplated getting an ATV with a plow/snow blower for the driveway though. But we only have a 3 car so that seems kind of silly especially since....now we want to go to Texas.

 

Depending on the state you can make a SXS street legal, they make kits for it. A lot of the N/A 1000cc ones are up toward 100hp and some turbo models are 160+. Yes a truck or heep would be "more for the money" but i do see benefits for both. Personally I'd opt for a yota pickup/4runner or 1st gen taco that I could get for $2k-$3500

 

Up here a lot of my buddies have farm plates. Can drive your SxS anywhere as long as it's daytime and within 50 miles of your house. We take the thing to downtown Meredith NH, it's hilarious.

I have been considering buying one but I am very concerned that I will get bored of it after a season.

 

The street legal kits are awesome! I'd love to romp through Boston in a SxS (assuming traffic is still light as it is now).

 

Fair. I mean, yeah they'd be fun. Just my approach I guess. I'd go for shortest wheel base possible, you can find wranglers in the same condition for the same cost as old yotas/4runners/tacomas. They're meh but still hard to beat on the trails.

Nice! Yeah I saw a ton when I was in the moutains in AK.

You could always get one of those giant snowblower attachments or a plow for it

 

i looked into it for a bit. would have to look up laws by town etc but at least in taunton it could only be used on like 30mph roads or less. something along that line

 

Not to mention if you do find one in stock the gun line is all backed up. Had to go back the next day a couple weeks ago they were so busy.

 

Spent a lot of time at Floating Bridge as a kid. I didn't live to far from there. It was closed to vehicle traffic for a while, but I think it's back open now.