HI--we were riding Saturday with "someone" from this Forum (I won't say who) and the damndest thing happened that may have turned out worse...after riding for hours, we stopped and built a fire and had some lunch--it was like 30 degrees more or less. Anyway, we were sitting at the base of this huge mountain where you could see there was a path up the side of the hill probably used for motorcycles. Well, none of us would be stupid enough to attempt this hill on an ATV so we all just kind of looked at it...

Now, as we were preparing to leave, this "person" on a Lakota charged up the first part of the hill just to goof around and pretend as if he was going to attempt the climb, which I'm sure we've all done at some point. I'm talking about the initial part of the hill that you can just sit there and say to yourself "I could never climb this."

We all looked at him sitting there (only about 10 feet up the hill) while we suited up. What happened next was amazing. As he started to slowly back down from the hill, and I say SLOWLY because it was just that, I guess he hit the back brakes and locked them up and WHOOPS--the ATV flipped!!! The front end came up so slow it looked like slow motion. It totally flipped again this time pulling my friend's body up with it over the handlebars. I thought he had gotten squashed. He jumped off to one side and the Lakota just slid down a little and came to rest! I didn't even know what I had just seen. Again, all he was doing was backing slowly down from a slight incline leading to a huge hill climb!!!!

MORAL: DONT TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED! Here is a very experienced rider almost getting crushed.

You can say all you want about how Polaris uses the one braking lever for all brakes...well, I'll tell you what. This probably would never have happened if the Lakota had the same brake setup as the Polaris.

That's all I have to say. It was just amazing. It happened in the blink of an eye.

 

I have seen a 400EX do the same exact thing. (not naming names...)

 

"Amazing" story, Pflueeb!

How would single-lever brakes prevent a quad from flipping in this situation? The front tires aren't sticky, like tape, are they? I'd assume the Lakota rider was grabbing for all the brakes he had, front and rear. Looks like a matter of center of gravity; maybe the rider could keep his weight better forward; better still, not back down hills!
Tree Farmer

 

nope Jim---the "rider" specifically told me he had laid on the rear brakes only just out of fright?>!>?

 

Thanks, Pflueeb, for the clarification!

Regardless, we may have an OPERATOR, in contrast to a DESIGN, problem here, however!

Still, one must admire the daring and courage of the rider, attempting a challenging hill like that! I mean, no "easy," gentle trails or logging roads for this guy! I'd like to meet him some day.

Tree Farmer

 

This guy (I'm guessing a guy) has to be a real moron for doing something stupid like that. Let's just climb a hill and just for fun go backwards. Then, at the right moment, jam the rear brakes so the front-end comes up and over.

I have seen strange things from time-to-time also...like this guy at Cochranton driving around with a winch cable wrapped around his whole freekin' bike!! You should have seen "that". Anyway, Pflueeb, the important thing is that your friend is okay...that must have been a sight.

Also, there was this time I saw this guy run his Sportsman 500 full speed into a mudhole...and in the process breaking his throttle lever completely off the bike. If my memory isn't slipping too much, I think this guy came along in a Lakota and pulled this dude about 2 miles to his truck! Those Lakota's must be really good bikes.

 

Yup, Lakotas Rule. They take crashes very well too. The form fitting handle bar thing doesn't look too good though. I myself preferr the brake system on the lakota to the polaris set up.

 

30 degrees! Brrrrrrrr here in the usa in August!Glad I live in So.Cal! It was 107 yesterday!I saw cold once.....on tv it was snowing somewhere.......definatly not my kind of weather!

 

I did the same thing once only I did not flip over . I rode part ways up a hill on my Lakota and figured out real fast it was to steep . You have to see this hill to beleive it . I backed down using front brakes only and feathering the rears some . I then noticed the scattered debris of other ATVs at the bottom of the hill . A guy tried to climb the hill a few weeks ago on a 400 prairie and ended with a wrecked quad and a concussion . It has tracks up it but I dont want to ever try it its that scary and I am not afraid of to many things .