First of let me thank buckaroo50 for the post on improving the handling, I did all the things you suggested and my wheeler's hanldling has improved tremendously. I do have some questions on other items of concern. I was taken to the local pipeling and we went mudding, drove aroud friends big bear 500, and prairie 360. Loved it!!!
1) I am wanting to put a snorkel on an wanted any suggestions, pictures, etc. that might make it helpful for me to perform.
2) Is it normal for the 2006 650 V2 to have a ton of heat coming out of the left side of the engine? If I close off the opening, will I create over heating problems for the wheeler?
3) Is the Dynatek CDI woth putting on? What can I expect to see in gains?
4) My wheeler did ok with the stock tires, but I want more, confussed as to what to put on, there are so many choices. I ride trails and mud, liking the mud alot, but have some dirt and gravel roads we ride also, looking for a good combo tire.

All help is appreciated............

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Big Guy

First of let me thank buckaroo50 for the post on improving the handling, I did all the things you suggested and my wheeler's hanldling has improved tremendously. I do have some questions on other items of concern. I was taken to the local pipeling and we went mudding, drove aroud friends big bear 500, and prairie 360. Loved it!!!

1) I am wanting to put a snorkel on an wanted any suggestions, pictures, etc. that might make it helpful for me to perform.

2) Is it normal for the V2 to have a ton of heat coming out of the left side of the engine? If I close off the opening, will I create over heating problems for the wheeler?

3) Is the Dynatek CDI woth putting on? What can I expect to see in gains?

4) My wheeler did ok with the stock tires, but I want more, confussed as to what to put on, there are so many choices. I ride trails and mud, liking the mud alot, but have some dirt and gravel roads we ride also, looking for a good combo tire.



All help is appreciated............</end quote></div>

Glad to hear that you handling is there.

I can't help you with the snorkel or the Dynatech because I have neither.

I can comment about the heat. I fabricated a small shield from the inner plastic fender of a pickup and glued some aluminum foil on one side and attached the shield to the left side (exhaust pipe side) of the machine to keep some of the heat from getting to my leg. It works and it doesn't seem to bother with overheating or anything like that - basically nothing changed except I do have a heat shield on that side that keeps the heat off my leg.

With respects to tires, I can also comment in a general manner and also specific. Tires are a trade off, what you gain on one end so to speak you will loose on the other end. Such as, if you go taller then you gain GC but compromise handling, gearing etc. If you go to an all out mud tire then you will loose trail-ability. I would suggest two sets of tires, as the aggressive mud (only) tire would stink in most other applications.

With specifics, I can say that most tires are really hard to tell any dominance. It could come down to the machine and or driver skills. With my personal experience I can only comment on what I have had - the OEM Dunlops and what are on there now. The ones that seem to work the best of what I have is the rear tires - MudCats. They work really good in the mud, are smooth on the trail will grip about any surface and are a flat profile (advantage is that you can vary the air pressure and the foot-print stays about the same) Another advantage to a flat profile is less tire roll and a stout side wall. With regards to the ones that I have on the front MudGear - I would not recommend them, unless you have a specific need for side lugs. I have seen bikes flip because of side lugs, I have put my machine side-ways because of the side lugs. Only advantage that they offer is in slow articulate work to grab something on the side to get you up and over. They are not recommended for any fast trail riding.. If you are turning left and the side lugs grab something on the right they will want to climb out to the right (a very good attention getter). I may get a second set for the front - the second set will be MudCats... I don't believe that I will run any other tire, other than MudCats. They have impressed me that much...
And also there are not many 25" tires that offer 1" tread depth.
Let me sum up the tire thing with this. No matter what the surface (mud, rocks etc) when I enter the area, if I don't come out the other end, unlikely anyone else will either. (True I do have 13+ inches of clearance but tires do help).

Hope this helps

 

Look at Goodyear Mudrunners, ITP MudLites, Kenda Bearclaws, AMS SwampFoxes. All are very good Trail / Light mud tires. Some are more expensive than others, but more expensive is not necessarily better. Also look at plies and weight. A 6ply tire will have a stiffer sidewall, which is good for puncture resistance, but bad for mud because it will sink down in the mud; rather than flatten over the top of it.

And of course, heavier tires take more torque to turn in the mud, and more HP to turn fast.

 

Mud or muddy water?

Mud - you need to sink down and get solid traction - you are not going to swim in mud (this is why people get stuck) - you need good GC, heavy machine and heavy wheels and tires.

Muddy water - yes you can float around and swim with your ATV (muddy water, dirty water, clear water etc) - you need a light machine with fat light tires.

Snow is similar to mud - heavy machine and heavy tires with good GC.

 

Thanks for the info, but you said that the mudcats are flat surface tires, seems this will have some possibly serious steering issues up front? I am new to 4 wheelers, but I am just picturing this being a concern, but then again it may not be. Several people I am riding with now have stock up front, and big, wide open tractor cleated tires on the rear. I don't think this is the best combo, need some grip up front too.
As for the snorkel, I am not looking to be one of those mud, soup swimmers, but I do go down some pipelines and get into some fairly deep stuff. I do get splash up over the front fenders on some entries into the mud/water holes. This is why I thought about a snorkel. None of the others I ride with have any, and have been doing this for years with no issues. Still thinking about this project, may not do it.

I started reading all the adds for tires, and performance add ons, man if you believe all that they say, you can double your power, and almost walk on water with a few plugins and exhaust. Thanks for your imput, I like it when I get information from experienced riders.

 

Roll-under - is to have the tire roll on it's side to some degree,
One of the biggest issues with handling is roll-under from the front tire. The idea is to stop the roll-under and to keep the tire as flat to the surface as you can. My feelings are that a flat profile would assist with this. I am not positive because I don't have them on the front, however, I am thinking of changing my front tires for the reasons mentioned in another post. If I do put different tires on the front they will most definitely be MudCats.

 

You can't go wrong with ITP Mudlites, they are a good mud tire that doesn't sacrifice too much on the trail. Since v2rider hasn't jumped in here yet I'll say it for him, check out the Swamplites also. I know he loves those tires, fairly aggressive in the mud but still a pretty good all around tire.

My buddies 660 Grizzly (lighter machine) and his ITP Mudlites (lightest mud tire available) kick the crap out of me in the mud. The stockers are just junk in sticky mud. His tires self clean and mine don't, that leaves me in the mud when he goes through. Getting deep for traction is only good if your tires will actually grab, and the Goodyear Rawhides don't grab mud worth a crap.

Mudlites or Swamplites is my recommendation, if you are truly looking for a combo tire, then I would go with the Swamplites.

Dynatek CDI will increase takeoff power tremendously. There is a huge difference as anything under 7mph has a heavy timing retard. The cdi changes the timing throughout the powerband, but you will most notice it down low. It is definitely worth the cost. Other improvements include the constant reverse override and a slightly higher rev limit.

There are quite a few fairly easy ways to squeeze some ponies out of the V2, if you are looking for more just ask. Lots of people here either ride V2's are know about what you can do to them.

Also, buy new clutch springs and get your belt in spec. It is likely that your belt is too loose and you risk burning the belt. Make sure it is adjusted properly and get some new springs in there. I recommend the EPI Pink/Black for mostly trail riding.

 

I think that just about any medium aggressive tire will be ok.

I kind of evaluate tires this way. If the tread is grouped relatively close together in the center of the tire then it should be smooth on the trail. If the tread is spaced wide on the outside of the tire then they should work pretty good in the mud and clean good. Then it comes down to compound, soft compound will grip a variety of surfaces better but will wear out quicker than a harder compound. (that is not bad in itself - if you don't like a specific tire then it will wear out quicker and you have a good excuse to get different ones and don't have to live with them for a few years - lol)

Tread depth is important obviously

I am not even apposed to 4 ply if you can keep the tire pressure on the front (especially) to eliminate the 'roll-under'. Heck even a good 2 ply (maybe with tubes) would be a good economic compromise.

 

my buddy has a 660 grizz with mud lites on it and them are great in the mud. i got the itp 589's on mine and they are extremely heavy but they say they are the toughest tire on the market and they don't wear down very fast. i got almost 2000 miles on mine and they still look new. i went with 27 inchers and the power decrease is very minimal. get the dynatek cdi it is worth it's weight in gold. as for a snorkel i heard it will rob you of power as the air has to travel further to get to the carb and i dunno where you are at but here in minnesota they are actually illegal (bastards). if there isn't anyone you ride with that has a snorkel i wouldn't worry bout it cause then you will be finding yourself going into deeper mudholes cause your buddies will coax you into doing it cause you got a snorkel.

 

Thanks for all the info, I have only had my cat for 2 weeks, and I am just going crazy as to what it can do. We rode Sunday and got what I hope are some good pictures, will post once I get them developed and scanned. I don't know what it takes to get this thing stuck, but I haven't been through it yet. I think I agree with Weez440, no snorkel.

As for tires, I got to see some in the mud, Mudlites, on a 450 Grizzly, 27". He is not happy with them, to much for his machine, I hope he doesn't read this, but I may get his at a real good price. My V2 came with 26" as stock, so I don't think going up 1 inch will cause a great big loss. I have been asking around and the Dynatek CDI seems like it would give me back at least what I loose in the tire increase.

Before I do this I do have another concern though. Breaking Axle's, I don't want to much bight that I start breaking thing. I think that once I get all the excitement out of me from this new discovery of mud ridding, I may settle down and not be so crazy in the mud. Acting like a 16 year old kid again, and really loving it. My wife went this past Sunday and went through everything I did, only she just took her time, not me I had to blast it. Couldn't let those 25 year old's out do me. Sling mud, blasting the mud holes, and busting them wide open. At least for now.

Thanks to all, and keep the info coming.