Top Five Free ATV Mods
By Jason Giacchino
June 23, 2009
Who was it again that said the best things in life were free? There’s a good chance they rode an ATV. After assembling our Top Ten ATV Mods article, we were inspired to do another pertaining to the modifications that will benefit most every ATV without putting a dent on your wallet. In fact, here are our Top Five Free ATV Modifications.
Tire Pressure
Grab a tire gauge and don’t be afraid to get a little dirt on your knees. There are few factors that affect the handling of your machine like its tires and there are even fewer ways to screw things up than to run the wrong pressure or uneven pressure numbers. It’s also cheap insurance against suffering a fifth-gear blowout or slow speed pinch flat.
Cable Man
Another small, simple little process that can make all the difference between an enjoyable day on the trails and pushing your machine to the nearest highway for pickup. A proper cable oiler can aid in getting the lube deep into the cable sheath, which will vastly improve lever/cable feel not to mention make your cables last longer. Lubing the control pivots themselves is often a bit more time consuming but since we’re talking about leverage here, the improvement in feel will be significant and immediate.
Chain Gang
Think your crusty old chain isn’t hurting anything? Think again- Not only does it increase wear on your sprockets, a dry, rusty or grimy chain wastes horsepower in transfer. Not to mention an improperly adjusted chain creates driveline lash, which can be quite damaging. Adjust it, lube, it and check it often.
Throttle Action
Thumb been bothering you after long days in the saddle? Feel a bit of lag when accelerating hard out of a corner? This is the perfect opportunity to adjust the amount of slack in your throttle cable. Too much slack deadens throttle response by making you have to peg her wide open to get moving while too little slack can cause you to find the rev limiter too early in each gear.
Remote Control
Position your quad’s various controls where they fit you best. Don’t for a minute think that you have to keep everything the way the dealer had it set up, they’re forced to position all of the levers/ pedals in the meat of the curve so as to fit nearly everyone. It’s your quad after all, so to get the most out of your riding experience, set up the reach and pull so that it’s comfortable for your body.