Don't disagree with you Moose. But it would at least give everyone a target to shoot for.

Scooter, I am predicting that Polaris will go bankrupt if they play in that realm too long. Military contracts are very finicky, and payment is extremely slow. Which means you needs buckets of cash just to carry the $ owed to you for months, sometimes years. I agree that is not an ATV/SxS anymore. As for producing a street version for the general public, well making a vehicle and making one that can pass all the government regulations is two very different things. Again, I don't see them having the $ to do the R&D it would take to get everything certified. Don't forget they have the Polaris brand to think about, and then there are the Indian MC, and Victory, and the outboard motor companies that they have invested in lately, all of which take a lot of capital to keep afloat. Nah, I just don't see whey they got involved in the first place. Working for DOD to develope a new tactical vehicle may be flattering, but in teh long run, it will be a losing proposition financially.

 

I am personally 100% against widening the trails - where do you stop?? They were originally 42", then 46" and now 50".

Hatfield and McCoy Trails are on private property and the owners can do anything they want.

Our 50" trails pass through US Forest Service and BLM roadless areas where congress passed laws that prohibit roads - 50" is a trail and not a road.

If you want to ride the 50" trails then buy a 50" machine - seams pretty simple if you ask me.

Why don't you get the horse owners to open up the equestrian parks and trails to motorized vehicles??

Or get the bicyclist to allow motorized vehicles on their bike paths??

There are no plans to widen any of the 50" trails within the state of Utah - in fact several new 50" trails have been built and opened within the last few years.

Several states like Colorado have been closing trails right and left and Utah opens new ones every year - who's doing it right??

 

I don't want to give the wrong impression here. I am not advocating either way. I know that much of the onus falls on the manufacturers, but they also have a tough job meeting the demands of their customers as well. Yamaha's Viking is an example of that. Their customers wanted 3 wide seating without buying an over grown golf cart. I get it. And I understand that they want to use them in other ways than just another field hand, which is where this is definately aimed. Utility work around the job site and farm etc. UTAH has ALWAYS been against side by sides. That much is pretty clear. I get it, they have their reasons. As long as that is the case, then people who have the bigger machines will take them and their recreation dollars somewhere else. No biggie. BUT, understand that as we age, some of us would like the benefit of a cage over our heads. And I and Mrs DB like to do things together and find that our new SxS is a great way to enjoy the day together. We will just have to avoid Utah and the Paiute trail system. Yes, I could unload the ATV's, but the question is why? If they clearly don't want us for one, they can't have us for the other. It is simple, hope Utah get's it...But I am pretty sure there are places where Jeeps are allowed within a few hours drive that I CAN take my Side by Side.

 

No trail width or off road vehicle laws up here or what can ride down them.
We park the 4wd trucks because the trails are just to narrow and rough for them to go any further, but if you want your $30,000 to give it a try your welcome to give it a shot.
Their are many trail sections were a ATV just fits through and a SXS sure will not.

Never heard of a maintained ATV trail before or a trail with a fee.

 

Over $300,000.00 goes into maintaining, improving and protecting The Paiute Trail every year and they do an awesome job. There's over $500,000.00 in signage alone in the Fishlake National Forest.

13.4% of the nearly 900 miles of the Paiute Trail are width restricted. That's less than 120 miles out of the 870 miles. That's not a lot of restricted miles in my opinion.

Fishlake National Forest which is where the majority of the Paiute Trail exists has nearly 2700 miles of roads and trails with less than 600 miles of width restricted trails. There's plenty of trails here for everyone and still more than most every other state.

And again it's not a Utah thing - Congress passed the laws - they are Federal and not State.

If you don't think that 2100 miles of trails in just one forest is enough to ride on then go right ahead and look somewhere else.

We actually put maintaining and protecting the greatest trail system in the country over the all mighty dollar. We believe that we have found a happy medium between the two.

Over 77,000 people from all across the country if not the world come here every year to ride the Paiute Trail and they spend millions of dollars. The vast majority of machines are still ATVs. If you want a SxS and want to ride on the 50" trails then buy a 50" SxS. We get it yet soo many others don't.

We have 52 trail counters plus nearly as many trail cameras to see and monitor who and what's riding the trails and we have been doing this for years.

We promote our SxS friendly trail system. We're just not going to destroy our awesome 50" trails for the larger machines.

They are the most desirable trails to ride because they are TRAILS and not roads.

We get it.

 

I have never understood why soo many people think Utah is SxS unfriendly.

We probably have more SxS friendly trails than several states combined.

 

The Paiute Trail Committee meets monthly and rotates the meeting location to 4 different counties. Yesterday's meeting was held in Beaver Utah.

The Paiute Trail Committee members include representatives from the BLM, US Forest Service, Utah State Parks OHV Program (second largest financial supporter to all OHV recreation in Utah), County Commissioners, County Sheriffs, business owners and individuals who donate their time to preserving, maintaining and improving the Paiute Trail.

Once again the 50" topic came up and we were reminded WHY 50" "TRAILS" exist and we were once again assured by the US Forest Service and the BLM that we will NOT see this these trails opened up to wider vehicles in our lifetime.

These 50" trails are what makes the Paiute Trail soo attractive to soo many people. ATVs are still by for the most popular mode of transportation here on the trails.

If the 50" trails were opened up then all we would have is a bunch of roads and no one here wants that.

One of the main topics is getting more aggressive in catching and fining those who don't comply with the rules. The Committee will hire and pay Utah State Park Rangers and County Deputies to patrol the trails on their days off.

And when people talk about the economic impact Utah suffers by not opening up the trails remember that a large portion of the Committee members are local business owners who make their entire living from our guests who come here to ride The Paiute Trail and they are also against opening up the trails to wider machines.

 

Well it is good to see that the rider associations/clubs are working with the local governments and federal authorities to maintain the trails. It is not always the case. I guess my openions were formed from stories I have heard from others who have visited the area. Being that it is a couple thousand miles from my home base, I have to do a bunch of research and obviously I have been swayed by some negative comments. I recall a discussion thread several years ago that also was quite negative. But thanks to goys like you that are in the know, it looks like what we were getting was some sour grapes that didn't adequately depict the area. So I am sorry if my comments followed suite. Obviously I was incorrect. I have ATV's too. That isn't a big problem. Given that most of the trails out East are made on recovered Coal mining sites with roads making up the majority of the systems, It stands to reason why trails out here are wider. I have friends in Michigan and Wisconsin that confirmed a reluctance to go wide there as well. And I even own land in Wisconsin but won't ride there because they want me to pay Sales Tax a second time to get a permit. Not in my lifetime unless I move there.

 

Dragginbutt - if you would like to message me your address I would be MORE than happy to send you Forest Service land use maps that show all the trails and designate which ones have width restrictions.

MooseHenden has been here - he knows.

And if you do ever make it out this way I would be more than happy to do anything I can to make your visit an "Adventure of a Lifetime".

 

We rented quads and 50" RZR's when we went out in Aug. of 2013. While there are width restrictions here and there the major trails that were wider still had at least as many miles if not more than the restricted trails on the actual Paiute trails. Personally, I'd go from a wider side by side to a RZR just so I could ride all of them if I had the time.