OK here's the deal. I'm getting the hang of riding my V. I'm climbing the big hills at Rowher Flat, El Mirage, Gorman, climbing all the walls and dunes and blasting the big bowls at Pismo and Glamis, and occasionally doing a little jumping.

But when I try to power slide my V I just suck at it. I'm shifting my weight way over to the left when turning to the left, getting the rear wheels loose, sliding the turn with my wheels facing out of the turn, and then it just seems squirrely and easy to tip.

Then I get on my brother's DS-650 Baja X and it seems easier to turn and slide.

Is this mental? Is it the seat position? I'm not ready to blame my machine but something isn't right here. Maybe it's me. I know the V isn't more top heavy than the DS, but it really seems that way when I go back and forth between the DS and the V.

If I can't figure out this turning thing my V force is going to be for sale so I can go by a raptor or a DS. And that will break my heart. So any advice or information on my problem would be appreciated.

 

Just out of curiosity, does your brother's baja also have holeshots on the rear as well? I know that when I intsalled my holeshots onto my warrior, I had to put alot more throttle into her in the corners in order to get them to break loose. Prior to them, I had no problem sliding a corner.

If he does have the same tires, I am at a loss.

 

Flash, I think it is the tires. I have a set of razr's and they are a much harder compound than the holeshots. They bite forward fairly well, but when you move laterally, they will slide for days and have been like this since they were new. The holeshots are a softer compound that will give just a bit and allow for forward and lateral (i.e., powersliding) bite.

We used to be able to powerslide my cousin's P650 with the stock tires until a month ago when he put on his Mud Lite's. Now if you try to power slide it, the damn thing will almost throw you off!!

If you MUST powerslide, try a harder compound tire sport tire. My experience has been that you will give up some forward bite, but it will usually slide pretty well.

good luck

 

The V-force is harder to slide around cause the Gas tank sits over the rear axle,and the Auto tranny wont let the motor Rev out of its power range. It keeps going up on its gearing until the gearing is so tall ,that the motor starts coming down in RPM's causing the V to loose power and then the rear tires hook up, then the motor starts biulding power agian once the gearing adjusts itself to the speed your actually going.

On a manual quad, you can leave it in gear and hold the throttle open and it will maintain its RPM's until either you run out of power, or your speed catches up to your gearing.

Example: Try sliding the BAJA then in the middle of the slide shift to forth gear [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]. You will see that the motor has left its PEAK RPM range Thus causing lose in power and your Sliding is over with quick.




BIgger.

 

I have found similar handling traits in my Prairie. Yesterday, I was riding in the dunes, on somewhat wet sand. A lot of care has to be taken to avoid tipping it, but the bike will slide really well, <u>as long as you're on the gas</u>. Let off the gas in the turn, and look out, because it's gonna grab a handful of traction. I just had to learn to ride it aggressively, and it handles great. I make a point of steering out of the turn before letting off the gas.

 

mine didn't want to slid for one of my riders and a rider (younger and better shape) didn't have a problem sliding but it was real tiresome so change the rear shock to one made for tt racing and now it slids easier. no effort to slid.

 

The baja does not have holeshots, and it does not have 22 inchers either. That sounds like part of it. The stuff about the gearing also sounds reasonable. Thanks guys. If that's the case then one of the solutions would be a smaller tire, but shoot the thing already has the monstrous low end and what it needs if anything is better mid to top and that's only going to be hurt by going to smaller tires. Sounds like a trade off... power sliding set up or off the line zip. Guess I'll take off the line zip, keep the 22" holeshots, and take it easy on the power sliding.

I do not have to powerslide, but I sort of felt like that was part of being able to ride the thing competently. It's entirely possible that I didn't stay hard enough on the throttle, but on the Baja I just don't have to be that careful in a slide. That's what is grating on my nerves.

I was having an AWESOME time at Glamis on friday night and saturday until my powersliding accident which ruined the whole day for me. And it was totally unnecessary as I was screwing around in front of camp waiting for my buds to get their acts together so we could head back out when it finally stopped raining. Re-busted all my right side plastics (mostly the zip ties broke).

I have decided to replace my LE plastics (matrix carbon) with regular orange. If I was confident I would never wipe out again I'd go with the LE, but I just can't justify it.

These forums are outstanding. Thanks for all your participation.

 

i was having trouble doing the same thing. sliding was like maybe roll maybe not. anyhow i changed to 20 in razors and sliding was helped 200% and i drag race alot and the take off was not hurt it helped some to get to speed quicker. the 20 in tires are the only way on dirt for me. mark

 

Body english will help you stay on the bike through those high traction areas. I just got back from Glamis. Great trip and great weather. Great traction too. The wet sand was fun. The kids could climb hills that they usually couldn't. Wiley, what dunes did you hit?

 

In my opinion, it is the tires. The Holeshots are awesome tires, they have TOO much grip. I run 22X11X10 Maxxis Surtraks on the back of mine, it now slides like a sprintcar with a healthy dose of throttle. They are also way better in the mud and sand. They can also be turned around for better traction in sand and snow. Even though they are the same size tire, I think they are slighty smaller diameter. the ITP tires run big for some reason. Happy sliding[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]