I bought a 2012 Sportsman XP 850 Touring EPS last month and I'm looking for ideas and answers to a few questions... First I figure you need to know what type of riding I'm doing...
The areas here range from sea level to a few thousand feet, swampy mudpits to mountain trails with plenty of rocks and obstacles thrown in. I literally go from sinking my 800+ lb machine up to the frame in sticky gumbo to a rocky 60-70 degree climb in less than 100 yards. Hills, rocks, and mud, all slam-packed one after the other...
I'll also be using this machine to haul a meat wagon on extended hunting and fishing trips, but just about any quad with a decent tow rating can do that, so I'm not really worried.
I haven't done any modifications yet, I cranked the coilover stops to the second-highest position and I noticed that I didn't scrape rocks on the skid plate nearly as much on the trail vs the factory (lowest, smoother setting). And it didn't feel like I sacrificed much, if any, ride quality.
My biggest problem is that I get stuck pretty easily in gumbo... I struggle to clear some spots that my buddy's Grizzly 550 clears with relative ease... But I guess that's to be expected for a machine that outweighs his by 300 lb.
My second concern is the amount of shifting in between High and Low... Most of our riding is around 10-15mph, with the occasional 25mph straightaway thrown in. So most of my riding is right at the split between High and Low gears. Obviously, I'm shifting to Low for the steep grades, but for smaller hills, I look down and I'm doing 10 or so mph and I feel like I should be shifting to Low gear for that.
This winter, I'll be looking at upgrading from the stock tires (Maxxis M9805 & M9806) this winter to something a little better for mud, because I do like to dive off into a mudhole every now and then, but I don't want to lose trail durability. The shale rocks here can get sharp, and you don't want a blown tire 15 miles from the truck in the backwoods of Alaska. I would like to step up the size a bit to a 27", or maybe a 28" if I can get it to fit (I understand I'll have to trim the metal passenger footrest support either way). What's the deal with radial ATV tires? If I'm understanding it right, radials have more tread contact with the trail, right? That sounds good to me, I'm just not very knowledgeable when it comes to ATV tires... I've thought about spacers, but I keep seeing posts about "I've been told to stay away from spacers" why is that?
I've also read a bit about clutching... Not sure exactly what all of this entails, though I do have a rudimentary understanding of how the CVT works. If I'm stepping up my tire size, do I need to do a clutch kit? Would this help me get more low end power in High gear? I've taken this thing up to 40mph only once... And I'll likely never ever ever do it again. It scared the crap outta me. So I'm not too worried about losing top end speed, better low end performance is what I think I'm needing and I'll sacrifice all the speed I need to in order to get it. So would a clutch kit help me out with this?
I've heard a lot of different things about a lot of different winches... I'm leaning towards Superwinch 3500lb synthetic line... I would rather have a Viper, but those aren't Prime eligible, so I'd have to eat the shipping cost.
So, to sum it all up, I'm doing mostly technical trail riding, with a healthy dose of mud thrown in because life is short and slinging mud is fun.
I need some recommendations for tires, because shipping to an island in Alaska ain't cheap and I need to get it right the first time.
What's the final verdict on spacers? Good or bad? Safe? Reliable? I'd love to squeeze a 28" tire under this thing without lifting (I'm afraid lifting would hurt me on these steep uphill climbs).
Will a replacement clutch kit help me get more low end performance out of this beast so I don't feel the need to shift down to Low gear for smaller hills? Recommendations for manufacturer would be appreciated.
Superwinch 3500 lb a good winch? Good or bad experiences?
If I can buy recommended items from Amazon, that would be great... Free shipping to Alaska if it's a "Prime" item... You have no idea how much money that saves me. For instance, I was going to order 2 1000ft spools of 550 paracord from an online retailer, $50 a roll, $85 shipping. Amazon was $55 a roll, free shipping. See what I'm working with here?
Thanks for any and all input, my apologies for such a lengthy post. I'm glad to have a place to go with these questions... There's only one dealer here on-island, and they don't like me much... I just about stole this quad from them... It took me 2 weeks to wear them down from $13.5k to $10k... Thanks again.
The areas here range from sea level to a few thousand feet, swampy mudpits to mountain trails with plenty of rocks and obstacles thrown in. I literally go from sinking my 800+ lb machine up to the frame in sticky gumbo to a rocky 60-70 degree climb in less than 100 yards. Hills, rocks, and mud, all slam-packed one after the other...
I'll also be using this machine to haul a meat wagon on extended hunting and fishing trips, but just about any quad with a decent tow rating can do that, so I'm not really worried.
I haven't done any modifications yet, I cranked the coilover stops to the second-highest position and I noticed that I didn't scrape rocks on the skid plate nearly as much on the trail vs the factory (lowest, smoother setting). And it didn't feel like I sacrificed much, if any, ride quality.
My biggest problem is that I get stuck pretty easily in gumbo... I struggle to clear some spots that my buddy's Grizzly 550 clears with relative ease... But I guess that's to be expected for a machine that outweighs his by 300 lb.
My second concern is the amount of shifting in between High and Low... Most of our riding is around 10-15mph, with the occasional 25mph straightaway thrown in. So most of my riding is right at the split between High and Low gears. Obviously, I'm shifting to Low for the steep grades, but for smaller hills, I look down and I'm doing 10 or so mph and I feel like I should be shifting to Low gear for that.
This winter, I'll be looking at upgrading from the stock tires (Maxxis M9805 & M9806) this winter to something a little better for mud, because I do like to dive off into a mudhole every now and then, but I don't want to lose trail durability. The shale rocks here can get sharp, and you don't want a blown tire 15 miles from the truck in the backwoods of Alaska. I would like to step up the size a bit to a 27", or maybe a 28" if I can get it to fit (I understand I'll have to trim the metal passenger footrest support either way). What's the deal with radial ATV tires? If I'm understanding it right, radials have more tread contact with the trail, right? That sounds good to me, I'm just not very knowledgeable when it comes to ATV tires... I've thought about spacers, but I keep seeing posts about "I've been told to stay away from spacers" why is that?
I've also read a bit about clutching... Not sure exactly what all of this entails, though I do have a rudimentary understanding of how the CVT works. If I'm stepping up my tire size, do I need to do a clutch kit? Would this help me get more low end power in High gear? I've taken this thing up to 40mph only once... And I'll likely never ever ever do it again. It scared the crap outta me. So I'm not too worried about losing top end speed, better low end performance is what I think I'm needing and I'll sacrifice all the speed I need to in order to get it. So would a clutch kit help me out with this?
I've heard a lot of different things about a lot of different winches... I'm leaning towards Superwinch 3500lb synthetic line... I would rather have a Viper, but those aren't Prime eligible, so I'd have to eat the shipping cost.
So, to sum it all up, I'm doing mostly technical trail riding, with a healthy dose of mud thrown in because life is short and slinging mud is fun.
I need some recommendations for tires, because shipping to an island in Alaska ain't cheap and I need to get it right the first time.
What's the final verdict on spacers? Good or bad? Safe? Reliable? I'd love to squeeze a 28" tire under this thing without lifting (I'm afraid lifting would hurt me on these steep uphill climbs).
Will a replacement clutch kit help me get more low end performance out of this beast so I don't feel the need to shift down to Low gear for smaller hills? Recommendations for manufacturer would be appreciated.
Superwinch 3500 lb a good winch? Good or bad experiences?
If I can buy recommended items from Amazon, that would be great... Free shipping to Alaska if it's a "Prime" item... You have no idea how much money that saves me. For instance, I was going to order 2 1000ft spools of 550 paracord from an online retailer, $50 a roll, $85 shipping. Amazon was $55 a roll, free shipping. See what I'm working with here?
Thanks for any and all input, my apologies for such a lengthy post. I'm glad to have a place to go with these questions... There's only one dealer here on-island, and they don't like me much... I just about stole this quad from them... It took me 2 weeks to wear them down from $13.5k to $10k... Thanks again.