After watching others enjoy the Iron Horse Trail ( Alberta's Iron Horse Trail News Maps Communities ) which is virtually across the street from our home for years we decided it was time to get into the ATV hobby.

We just bought a new 2012 Polaris 850 Touring - a Polar White LE 2up model. We've only put a few K on it so far - took it up the road to the next town and back yesterday. So far it has been a blast. Hope to get out for a longer ride tomorrow.

Here's a picture of the two of us ready to hit the trail on our new quad, sporting almost matching Polaris helmets.

 

Welcome to the forums.

 

Glad you're enjoying riding. Welcome to the fourms.

 

We went into the city today (it's an hour and a half away) and stopped by a Honda Dealer just to see if they had some X-Small ATV gloves for my dearly beloved, she tried gloves on at the dealer where we bought the quad but none were small enough. The local Canadian Tire did not carry small, let alone X-Small. Well, the Honda dealer was having a sale on accessories, including riding jackets, they also had the gloves (Youth Medium worked jim-dandy) - but that turned into a $300 pair of gloves after the rest of the ATV fashion's were selected. We picked up some googles that a) fit over our glasses and more importantly b) matched our red & white helmets. I had 'mistakenly picked up blue googles - what was I thinking.

But I should have known better: when we bought recumbent cycles a few years ago, a trip to the specialty cycleshop in the city set me back several hundred in cycle apparel (official Team Canada Olympic wear at that).

Of course today I did get myself some fancy riding gloves too and of course those matching googles (which were $50 off regular price, which I could not believe was $115.00!). This is an expensive hobby.

and the coat, I think the picture below is the same one, or one just like it, it is listed at the same original price $350 - which we got for half price, but still a nice hunk of change for a coat eh? To be fair I tried on a few coats, but not fit me well enough to pry a couple of hundred out of my pocket.



and the gloves which is what brought us into the store.



But it was not all fashion, I also was talked into a specialty "fuel pack" that can be attached to the ATV; apparently they are safety rated so that they are less likely to spill or more importantly do not explode on impact. Of course this is after I had already bought a new 5 gallon regular gerry-can that I thought I could just strap onto the back of the quad. What was I thinking - well at least that one only set me back $6 - this one below was $50 - and it only carries 1.5 gallons! That's enough to go about 15-20 miles I hear on an 850 Touring.



Also grabbed some ATV small cargo netting (one 15"x15" & one 15"x30") which I figure will come in handy when piling stuff on the front deck of the quad or behind the rear seat. Also got some binoculars on 75% off - $12 for $50 binoculars sounded too good to pass up and a small bag to hold a few tools - so I can pretend to try and fix the thing should we encounter some problem on the trail, and a nice powerful but small LED flashlight, always handy to have.


Well - we'll err, well one of us will be well dressed for tomorrow's ride; going to set off for Glendon along the Iron Horse Trail, that's about a 40-50 Km ride one way. Better fill that Fuel Pack just in case.

 

One thing I saw but did not buy is a rear carrier that goes into the 1.25" tow reciever on the back of the quad. Sears has them for $120-$160 depending on the model. This is there $120 model:

How well do these work? I know I won't be plowing through any mud bogs or crossing the creek with my goodies in this basket, but for trail riding, I'm thinking this will hold our cooler and maybe some lawn chairs so we can relax after riding out into the bush. (Note to self - don't forget the insect repellant).

 

Nice Ride

Welcome