I've ridden my ATV around on the dirt roads in my neighborhood, all the way up to 30 mph. Wow! I have 4 hours on it and very inexperienced.

I'm new to ATV riding as you can tell. Can you give me some advice on what to expect for speeds when I finally do a trail ride this summer?

I read some folks select low range and ride along at 20 mph or so. Then I see videos of folks riding along at 40 mph or so, drifting around corners, spinning tires while accelerating.

I have a feeling my group of retired folks will ride more like 20 mph except on a long, straight section where higher speeds are logical and safe. I'm sure we will pull over and let the faster groups "play through" as it were.

What should I expect for speeds on my first trail ride? I'd hate to hold my group up.

David

 

Just ride at a speed that is within your limits and don't worry about the numbers. Out here in the tight northeast 20mph is only going to happen in the field or on roadways. When we go in a group, the fast guys are in the front and just stop to wait every so often. No sense riding over your head and getting hurt.

 

That depends heavily on what your bike is and what your group is riding, what level of comfort you have with your bike, What terrain you drive on and how twisty the path is, Also there are groups that bring their wives or kids with them and other groups that have no passengers and drive ***** to the wall.

Assuming your driving a 4x4 ATV in a group of 4x4s of around the same Class you should be fine. Especially if your with people whom you know as they will wait for you. If your driving an automatic 4x4 skill only helps so much, knowing your limits is a whole lot more important to estimate average speed.
For example I have a KFX400 and I will drive at 80-90 KPH (like 50MPH I think) on the hard pack trails around my house but my friends who drive 500-1000cc Sportsmen and Outlanders who will go for the more muddy trails and do 40-50. Its all Terrain and vehicle dependent.
However you really shouldn't worry about it because if your trying to maintain an average speed your not comfortable with you probably will crash and hurt yourself.

 

A friend has a RZR Turbo and likes to screech down the trail at 80 mph, asks why I never go riding with him. I'd rather go at a speed that I can see the beautiful scenery, 20, maybe 30 at most. If I ride 2 up with the wife, she's not going to enjoy ***** out riding. Also, a lot of trails that I ride on are very rugged and wild. Last Saturday I was riding my Arctic Cat diesel, was thinking this is a perfect speed, looked down at the speedo for 1 sec it was 20 mph and whoosh, 4 large deer ran in front of me so close that I had to slam on the brakes. Don't want to think what it would have felt like, if I'd been going 45 mph and plowed into them. If your friends drive like idiots, they may be lucky enough to have you tow them home when they wreck.

 

My trail speed is probably 20 MPH average. That means I'm going slower some of the time, like 10-15 MPH. When I get on the road sometimes I'm going 50+ to try to keep my friends in sight. It's really stupid when you think about it. If you have any kind of wreck you don't have any protection like you do in a car. Once I was talking to a young guy who totaled out his grandpa's Sportsman 500 when he hit a deer. That's a very heavy steel frame that was no match for a deer, and you never know when one of them will pop up. Besides, you need to learn to crawl before you learn to run.

 

It depends on how tight the trails are. 15-20 mph is normal speeds on the trails I ride on. I ride at the fastest speed I feel I can control the machine in the situation I'm in.

 

I'm going out on a limb here and going to say a lot of guys overestimate average speed. When I race xc the local club has the ability to how average speed over the 1.5 hours or so you are in the course. I rarely averaged over mid teens in mph unless it was a national, wide open track like Unadilla. That is with plenty of wide open, ***** to the wall field sections on a racing 450 or occasionally my trusty 250r.
Again, travel at a comfortable pace that leaves you some skill and control left over for when the unexpected happens and you will be fine. Accounting for skill and equipment within the group is important too. Speed doesn't always equate to fun btw.

 

On the wooded trails, I was lucky to get into 3rd gear. What feels like 40 was probably closer to 20. Put a trail tech on one of my quads. Never could tell how fast I was going on the trails. Too busy looking ahead.

 

David,

This is another one of those questions where there is no right answer. The trail and your comfort level will dictate your speed. Never feel pressured to go faster than what feels safe for you.

Couple of common CO, and other locations, trail etiquette items:

On multi-use trails, you are supposed to always yield to hikers, equestrians and MTBers, regardless of uphill/downhill. I have found situations where some OHV riders don't agree with this and they do whatever they want. My opinion for those types is they can leave our beautiful state of CO and never return. By not yielding, they are only causing more elevated tempers where other trail users try and close trails to OHV. Not being polite to other trails users is just wrong and will not bode well for trail access to OHVers.

There are many times where hikers, equestrians and MTBers will step off trail and wave you through. In that scenario, I will slowly pass them, acknowledge them with a friendly wave and provide the behind me rider count. The thought here is to be friendly and mindful of other trails users for continued OHV trail access.

Providing behind me rider count. Hold up your hand and indicate how many riders behind you there are with your fingers. 1=1, 2=2, 5 =5(+), fist =0. This is common curtesy for all OHVs since OHVs are noisy.

On the trails out here in CO, you will find MX and Dual-sport bikes a lot and they have a tendency to ride quicker. Not limited to motocross, there could be an ATV/SxS coming up behind you as well. So, always be willing to pull to the side and let them pass when they approach from behind.

For OHV on dual-direction trails, when approaching another rider from the front, downhill rider should always yield to the uphill rider. That is for the specific section of trail you are on, it has nothing to do with the direction on trail you are traveling even if that is considered the ascent direction for the trail.

Many times you will come up on fellow trail riders and they will wave you through regardless of who has right-of-way. In this scenario, I will go ahead and slowly move through giving them the a hand signal with behind me rider count.

When riding in groups. Group riding in dusty conditions will result in riders spreading out a lot to not eat dust. Very normal. When approaching a trail split, the first rider to the split should always stop and wait for the rider behind them. Once the rider behind them is there, the first rider can move on down the trail. The second rider waits for the rider behind them, then moves on. All subsequent riders to do the same thing so that all riders maintain the group. I have been on rides where this didn't happen, tempers flared and became an uncomfortable ride later in the day. The people who got upset verbally stated they would never ride with so and so again because of it. The CO back country is vast and people do get lost even with all the GPS and paper maps available today.

I do want to say that I didn't mention all of this to be bossy. I know some may not agree with what I have written. But, for someone new to trail riding and trail riding in CO, these are very common for trail etiquette in CO and other places. Hope this helps.

 

Don't worry about numbers. You need to ride at a responsible speed that if you run into oncoming riders you can pull to the side and stop if necessary. remember speed can kill as stated above animals can jump out in front of you. I know of a person that was killed last year hitting a moose. Also know another rider that had some serious damage done to a machine from a young rider that was riding beyond his limits. Rider hit him head on because her was going to fast for his skills.
This may offend some people but i don't really care their are people that ride the trails with their children. Riding ***** out on a trail is just plain stupid iv had way to many close calls from people doing this. Im usually the one that has to aim for the weeds to get out of their way