Anyone here know that in WI an ATV must maintain a wheelbase under 48". My LT-R450 comes stock at 50.6 inches. What a kick in the nuts. Do you think they would give me trouble with that?

 

I doubt it, but you never know! The reason for that width is the width of the trails. Imagine two huge quads meeting on the top of a hill at top speed! They would smash since the trail isn't wide enough for both at the same time. I can picture in my head a perfect place where this could happen. The trail is sunk in a bit at the top of the hill, so there are "walls" on either side. It's only 8 feet wide too. Even going slow, two regular ATV's almost rub tires.

Shame on Suzuki for making it that wide. But I bet it's stable!

 

I have wheel spacers on my Scrambler which push the rear wheels out a little over 50" if I remember correctly. I have never been hassled by a DNR warden or a police officer when I have been trail riding. The only time I noticed the width was when riding around some areas on the Jackson and Clark County trails because they have steel gates up that allow areas of the trails to be closed. The gates are a little over 50" wide so it was close going, but I made it through and did not rub.

If worse comes to worse you can always go around the gates if needed.

 

Yea, I just put offset wheels on my Quad and its over 50" We rode last summer and never got hassled in WI.

 

Yes the new suzuki is illegal in WI. This question was brought up at the Wisconsin ATV Associations website. You can read about it here.
http://forums.watva.org/Topic1338-36-1.aspx

 

I also live in WI and i had no clue about that lol...They shouldnt give you any trouble unless you give them a reason..

 

Ok i just looked at some other quads wheelbases out of curiosity....all of these are over 48"...Z400, 450R, 400EX, YFZ, 700 Raptor..thats just a few i checked out and im sure there are plent of Utility ATV's that are over 48"...kinda wierd....

 

Hey guys, thanks for all the input, but hoyt34 your looking at the wheelbase, not the width. The lt r450 is the only one with the width over 48. wheelbase is front to back. Anyone have any idea how to shorten if by an inch?

 

I wasnt trying to argue the width here. I just remembered reading about in on the WATVA site. I thought you guys might find it interesting. I think the DNR doesn't want to have to police the manufacturers, or the dealers. That would be hard for them to do with all of the models out there from each manufacturer. I'm sure the dealers are not going to tell you it is an illegal quad as it may affect some of their sales. Sometimes I wish they would change the width limit, but if they did that the manufacturers would increase the size of the machine. It would be a never ending cycle. There is a great forum thread on this very issue on watva's site. You can read it here.
http://forums.watva.org/Topic5419-12-1.aspx
The real reason I even registered on this site was to put the announcement on here about the online atv petition for Vilas County Wisconsin. Please if you guys havent checked it out please do so. It is in this section of the forums as well as at WATVAs site. Please send an e-mail to all ATV enthusiasts you know. Please help support our sport.

 

They make swing arms that are shorter.