Once upon a time there were 3 little quads. A 99 Big Bear, a 98 AC 454, and a Honda 300 2wd. The other night we decided to take these 3 bikes out into the swamps and play around after dark. It was a 1 mile area of nothing but mud 2-4 feet deep water and leaf mold. Seeing as I was the only one who had never traveled this, I went last. I was the only one of us who had a winch. It was the first major mud and off camber test that I had really put the Cat through yet. The guy on the 300 had a come along that he had not tested yet, but assumed worked. Seeing as he had a 2wd bike he was stuck quite a bit. It really slowed us down, but gave us a good laugh seeing him waste deep in mud and water. This was also the first test for my winch, because the first time he was stuck he decided to hook the come along up to the back of the big bear which had Blackwaters on it.(these tires didn't impress me one bit). Of course as luck would have it. the come along broke. Good for another laugh when the guy on the bigbear fell into the water while laughing about the come along braking. The semi independent rear suspension on the AC definetely was a plus in there. I only had one time when I felt as if I were going to flip. I really congratulate AC for the job they did on this bike. It is a definite off road bike. Now if anyone actually made it through this boring story the moral is. "Don't take a 2wd bike into a swamp with a come along that you had never tested.

 

BIGBADCAT:
Loved the story! Brings back a lot of memories of my pickup. I built an '80 Chev shortbox over the course of a couple years, as I had the time and money. Absolutely loved the mud! Several of us with trucks that were capable, would head everywhere in search of mud, trying to get stuck, just for the recovery part of it. Ended up being stupid one night and lost it though. Pouring rain, 18 miles outside of town on a sloppy gravel/muddy road. Came around a corner at about 35 mph or so, and found part of the road washed out. I had four PIAA lights across the top, and two KC's in the grill, which was all I could do to cut through the rain and blackness. Well, I didn't have the hubs locked in, hit the washout part on the outside edge of the road, ended up rolling twice horizontal, till I hit a thicket of trees, that spun my *** around, where we then went end over end between 6-8 more times, and wound up upside down in the bottom of a canyon between a couple trees. Truck was completely beat to hell, and the roll-bar was the only thing that saved me. Guess the moral of that story is drive smart, use the four wheel drive when you need it, not when it is too late.
Mike