ATVConnection.com

The Situation:

Springtime riding has arrived. What was piles of snow a few weeks ago is likely now piles of mud. Those April showers bringing on the May flowers have caused streams to swell, puddles to become swamps and turned trails into endless ribbons of muck.

Is This a Bad Thing?

Absolutely not. So long as you don’t mind getting good and dirty. We here at ATV Connection often have to return ATVs to the dealership when we get done with them and quads that look more like statues than modern machinery are generally frowned upon in the situation. We also hear there are riders out there who simply like to keep their ATVs clean and sparkly. Either way we discovered a detailing product that delivers the goods.

Bike Clean?

Enter Formula 1 High Performance Bike Clean Motorcycle Cleaner- yes we realize that nowhere in this product’s title will you find the terms ATV or UTV; take comfort in knowing that many of the same materials that comprise the modern street bike can be found on your quad or side-by-side.

The Process:

Shake it up a little bit, point the 16-oz bottle toward your machine and pull the trigger. Formula 1 Bike Clean is a liquid in the bottle but it foams up as it traverses the air between the nozzle and your ATV. Let its frothy goodness settle on the surface of your machine then wipe it off with a clean rag. That’s it, no water or hosing required.

Performance:

Just because the words High Performance are found within its title, we don’t just assume it means we’ll be dazzled by its performance. Fortunately, it’s not just hyperbole in the case of the Formula 1 Bike Clean. The stuff flat out works. Because it’s formulated to target stuff like road tar and splattered bugs, rest assured that it loosens up caked on dirt, grime and grit without any presoaking or scrubbing.

What’s really nice is that foamy liquid has a tendency to work its way into all of your machine’s many cracks and crevices; into those spots where no rag and fingers can possibly go. Surprisingly, we’ve had great success in using the product to eliminate that unwanted layer of surface dust and waterspots after a good hosing with the pressure washer. Because the stuff adds a nice deep shine to plastic, it works as a detailer as well as a cleaner.

Any Complaints?

No, not really. We usually pick the stuff up at our local Autozone for about $8 a bottle and it lasts us anywhere between three to a dozen+ cleanings (depending on how crudded up the machine in question happens to be). The spray & wipe formula is really nice if you happen to be camping, away from civilization or out on the dunes. There are times when caked on mud is going to have to be sprayed off before using Bike Clean but by and large, it cuts through most of the stuff you could possibly pick up in your travels. A light misting and a quick wipe down not only restore factory luster to plastics, it may actually surpass it with reflectivity. It doesn’t fill in scratches but it does make the surface shiny enough for them to be quite unnoticeable.

Contact:

Hit up www.formula1wax.com for more information.

When it comes to engine break-in, rumors, rituals and horror stories abound. There is no denying that this is a particularly critical moment in the life-cycle of any engine on account of the fact that wear rates are at their absolute highest.

Years ago when machining processes weren’t quite as refined as they are today and oil formulas didn’t offer the type of protection of today’s blends, damage to engine internals during improper break-in were quite common.

We here at ATV Connection aren’t big on instilling a false sense of security when it comes to such matters, but we have undoubtedly witnessed massive improvements in terms of engine break-in troubles throughout the years.

Further aiding this positive trend along, we recently had an opportunity to sample a product from AMSOIL specifically designed to make that break-in period even more painless while providing priceless peace of mind.

Called AMSOIL Break-In Oil SAE 30, we picked up a few bottles of the viscous red fluid from our local dealer at a very reasonable $7 per quart.

So what makes Break-In Oil different from standard synth oil you ask? The answer is high levels of zinc and phosphorus, which are proven to provide additional anti-wear properties.

Piston-ring sealing/ seating is another major benefit to running the break-in formulation as well as increased film strength to coat and protect the rod and main bearings.

If all of this sounds like nothing but marketing hyperbole, think of it like this: A freshly homed cylinder may look smooth to the naked eye but it in fact contains countless peaks and valleys. A strong film of no-friction modifier heavy oil levels it all out, providing the piston/ rings a perfect surface to slide upon. Additionally, providing the rings a tighter seal actually increases horsepower.

We’d love to tell you that we dissected our freshly rebuilt Raptor 660 engine to verify the molecular miracles taking place here but alas, we have to take the AMSOIL engineers’ collective word for it. What we can state with certainty is that the Break-In Oil cost roughly the same as the synthetic we usually run and the break-in on our freshly rebuilt high-performance engine went without hitch. This is cheap insurance!

More info can be found at AMSOIL’s site: www.amsoil.com

Admittedly, your ATV Connection editors are in no way affiliated with the fashion police. After all, we voluntarily wear brightly colored pajama wannabe outfits out in public each and every week.

However ATV/ UTV operators in general are known as a rough and tumble lot. We don’t panic when there’s work to be done on the farm, in the woods, around the yard or in the garage. As surprising as it is to us, sometimes the sweatpants you like to wear to watch Sunday football aren’t good enough for the job.

Enter Duluth Trading Co. These guys have been around since 1991 and have established a well-earned reputation for quality; after all, they began life as a manufacturer of fabric based tool transportation when a pair of tradesmen realized there had to be a better way. Throughout the course of the ensuing 20+ years, they’ve maintained that no-nonsense attitude and rep for durability. Their guarantee says it best: “If you are not 100% satisfied with any item you purchase from Duluth Trading, return it to us at any time for an exchange or refund of its purchase price. Simple, unconditional, no nonsense, NO BULL.” –Tough to argue with that!

We picked up a pair of their Men’s Flex Fire Hose Work Pants (#45507) in desert khaki color for $69.50 and set about throwing a few long days of riding, trail working, and downed limb removal at them. Would we flush out a weakness? Before we get to the results, let’s take a look at the feature set of this particular pair of pants:

· All the features of our regular Fire Hose Work Pants
· 8-oz. Fire Hose cotton canvas is 30% lighter than the originals, just as abrasion-resistant
· 3% spandex provides incredible flex as you work
· Prewashed, broken-in feel right out of the box
· Treated to resist stains and water
· Hidden crotch gusset for extra ease
· Mid-leg utility pockets and back pockets with tuckable pocket flaps
· Triple-stitched seams

Let’s begin by discussing fit- these pants are surprisingly comfortable right out of the box. Unlike casual khakis though, don’t expect a real relaxed feel, especially from the knee down. The Flex Fire Hose feel initially a lot like a good pair of cargo jeans, slimming and form fitting. However, the real charm of this configuration isn’t revealed until you crouch, squat or bend over. That 3% spandex all but eliminates that restriction/ fabric bunching so often associated with quality work gear.

In the field, the pants proved even more impressive. The design of the pockets, loops and flaps certainly speaks on behalf of this company’s heritage. Whether hanging a tool belt from the waistband or dropping a hammer into the side loop, it’s tough to find a single complaint about the storage solutions presented.

Additionally, don’t let the relatively light color we selected shake you, these babies are resistant to stains and water – and if you somehow manage to supercede the fabric’s natural repellent qualities, the pants are machine washable and tumble dry. No special regimens required and after a washing, there is no evidence we’ve ever worn the pants to report (much less did field work in a very swamped out NY during the fall in them for two day straight). We did experience a small degree of post watch shrinkage that quickly dissipated once we put the pants back on.

We’re also quite impressed with their ability to resist rips, tears and abrasions, even in those real high stress areas (like the knees and seat of the pants). Again even after much heavy use, ours look like they were never even worn.

Finally, and this may not be as important to everyone as it is to us, the pants have style! No we don’t mean “style for workpants”, we mean they look good enough to wear for casual use. In fact, a favorite trick of ours is to finish up on the trails, change jackets, and go straight to the restaurant to refuel after.

In all, it’s pretty tough to find a single complaint about the Men’s Flex Fire Hose Work Pants, they simply did everything as advertised and more and that’s not even including what is perhaps the most impressive guarantee the industry has to offer. This is money well spent!

For more information on these pants or all of Duluth’s product line, click here.

We’re big on commonly replaced parts that claim extraordinary service life. With that line of reasoning we bolted a 42-tooth Ironman ATV rear sprocket from Dirt Tricks to our Honda TRX400EX test sled and here’s what we discovered.

What Makes the Ironman Sprocket Unique?

Dirt Tricks sprockets are constructed of heat treated, nickel/chrome plated, chrome-molly steel that is 2.5 times stronger than stainless steel; and nearly 3 times stronger than 7075 aluminum.

Are They Heavier Than Aluminum?

A bit, but nothing to get excited about. A Dirt Tricks sprocket typically weighs 18- ounces versus 14-ounces for a comparable 7075 aluminum unit.

How Does Durability Compare?

While we haven’t had our test unit in action long enough to definitely report on long-term durability, we have found the Ironman to be very well constructed and take confidence in Dirt Tricks’ unconditional one-year guarantee: one of the only companies we know of that replaces sprockets for tooth wear (and not just rivet degradation or due flaws in manufacturing).

How Much Do They Cost?

$37 for fronts, $109 for rears (like the one we tested here).
Dirt Tricks also offers Regina Gold Quad Z-Ring chains for $99 as well as chain & both sprocket combos for $189

How Was The Mounting Process?

Quick and painless. The Ironman unit mated perfectly to the OEM boltholes and looked trick to boot. This is certainly a plug & play modification.

Performance:

We would be lying if we told you our testers are sensitive enough to detect changes in our ATV’s handling or performance on account of a fresh rear sprocket but that isn’t to say there isn’t solace to be found in knowing that a commonly replaced item comes with a pretty solid guarantee on wear.

We’ve been running ours for close to 40-hours of performance riding now and can detect absolutely no discernible wear of the sprocket teeth.

Conclusion:

You will pay a bit more initially for the Dirt Tricks’ heat-treated, chromoly steel, nickel plated, laser cut sprocket but suspect the investment will pay off many times over for riders with a habit of wearing out aluminum sprockets but aren’t willing to accept the usual weight penalties associated with running steel.

Dirt Tricks’ website shows photographs of very little worn sprocket teeth after 1000 hours of hard use.

Purchase Info:

Ironman ATV sprockets can be purchased directly from Dirt Tricks’ website.

When it comes to working on your ATV, there are only two types of situation concerning a bolt that refuses to come free: Those of us who have encountered this frustrating situation and those of us who will.

When that happens you can do as we do (swear, throw things then proceed to round out the bolt in question) or you can do things the right way and invest in a breaker bar. We decided to drop the $20 on a Byrneos Nut Flex last week when we found a particularly tricky nut on the underside of a Yamaha Blaster’s front fenders. Read on to find out if it was money well spent or just something else we could throw across the workshop after rounding out another of our machine’s bolts.

What Is It?

It’s a breaker bar with a screwdriver handle and a little trick up its sleeve and by sleeve we mean its handle: A plethora of common sockets (8, 10, & 12mm) stay hidden away there until called upon.

How Does It Work?

The magnetic socket storage/ switching process is surprisingly intuitive. The top socket allows you to yank the hidden sockets out of the handle. You select the one you want to use then stack up the others to put back inside. The handle’s end cap slides sideways to make the swapping possible. It’s quick, painless and the magnets are actually powerful enough to do the job asked of them.

The actual function of the breaker bar works incredibly well! The tool turns flicks of the wrist into smooth, usable torque. We not only removed the rusted out bolt/ nut on the fenders in question, but we were able, thanks to the variety of sockets included, to completely disassemble the machine using little more than this tool.

What Makes It So Efficient?

Aside from the fact that it comes equipped with most of the sockets you would need to wrench on modern ATVs, it allows the user to bend the tool to 90 degrees for maximum leverage, then straighten it once the nut breaks to be spun out with the speed of a screwdriver. Very nice!

Will It Work With Your Own Sockets?

Absolutely, so long as your sockets are ¼ inch drive. We were delighted with its ability to offer similar benefits using screwdriver bits, hex keys, torx keys and so on. So long as you have ¼ inch drive bits (or an adapter), the Nut Flex accepts anything you throw at it.

How Much Does It Cost?

The Pro model (which includes the 2 spare sockets) goes for $21.95 and can be ordered directly from the company’s website. The standard model includes only an 8mm socket and goes for $14.95

What Do We Think?

We think stripping out or rounding off bolts really ruins our day. Breaker bars are always a wise investment in preventing this but the Nut Flex goes a few steps further in terms of portability and ease of use. Now that we’ve witnessed how well the product works in the garage, we’ve got ours in our ATV’s under-seat tool kit for potential trailside snafus. The Nut Flex Pro is money very well spent!