just posted so i dont know if they have been approved yet

 

there not there yet

 

Welcome to the ZukiKrew, 2c3. It won't ride as smooth as that sportsman, but it's a whole lot more sporty. I think you definitely made the right choice. Did you get the auto or manual? One thing, if your like me and try to push over trees w/ that front POS bumper then I suggest you getting something aftermarket, or go ahead and buy a spare for when it breaks.

 

How do you like your new MUDHOOK Xxtremes????? Compare them to ITP mudlites and 589's. BTW....they look great on your quad.

 

Congratulations on the Vinson. I concur on getting an aftermarket front bumper. I cracked mine the first trip out and bent the front frame section. A couple of more tree hits and I had to replace the front plastic grille and the front frame. Also, get an inline fuel filter to install between the tank and the carb. I had my main jet get clogged twice last week. There is currently only a mesh wire filter that gets big stuff, but lets the small stuff through. My fuel filter only cost about $4. Worth the money to not have to take the carb apart to clear the jet, let alone getting stuck on the trail with no power.

Again, enjoy the Vinson.

 

Thanks for the complement Vtwin. I can't compare them to the 589's since I have no first hand experience. But, from what I've read I've deduced that the MudHooks don't ride as rough at slow speeds as the 589's. They handle mud better than the lites (WV coal and clay mud anyway). I'm very happy with them. I wish they were a little lighter. They're borderline requiring a clutch kit, but the Vinny has low range so it hasn't been an issue yet. Also, they don't offer any sort of bead protection which I think is a shame considering how aggressive the tire is. To put this in perspective, my regular riding buddy has Vampires on his poortrax (sorry BigRed fans, had to poke fun) and I go everywhere he does.

In short:
Pros:
Good for almost any terrain (haven't used them on snow yet)
Comes out of ruts easily.
Cleans well.
Slings fistsized mudballs at your buddies behind you. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

Cons:
Heavy
No bead protection
Has a "leap-frogging" effect in some situations. Hard to explain. I like to hillclimb in 2wd and it seems sometimes the rears will grab and launch the bike forward 6" only to do it again.
Steering behaves strangely at high trail speeds. Sometimes it just pushes, other times it gets twitchy, and rest of the time it does fine.

 

thanks guys. mine is a manual shift. i havnt seen any need for low range yet and proly wont. lots of low end in high range in first and second gear. gota love manual shift. i want to get a front bumper but the after market ones ive seen looks like crap. i like the one suzuki sells for the vinson. will it hold up or have yall had trouble with them breaking also. how about the plastic skid plate underneath how are they holding up. i thought about taking mine off before it breaks and draw out a pattern of it. a friend suggested making a skid plate out of a old road sign. love the quad but i want bigger tires and better body protection. id like to put 28s under it but im going to have to find out if i need a lift kit to do it.

 

You may want to stay away from a lift kit. Unless you fork out the extra money for some Gorilla axles. Vinsons don't like being lifted. RockyMountainAtv sells a diamond plate replacement for the plastic bumper. You'll have to get the catalog as it's not listed on their site. Warn makes a killer bumper for it as well, although it looks like overkill to me. The add-on Suzuki bumper isn't worth the money. It bends too easily. A road sign would make a good skid, that's what my riding buddy suggested, but I don't want metal skids for two reasons. One, noisy as hell bouncing off rocks and trees. Two, metal bends and won't bend back without a hammer. I also think it's easier to puncture a metal skid as opposed to a plastic skid. I know this will start an argument, but try throwing a rock at a milk jug. I've got a Perfex lexan skid on order, hopefully it'll be here this week. I think the Vinson would handle 27's without being lifted.
On a side note, I've beat the !@$# out of the stock skid so far and haven't had a bit of trouble. I just haven't had it over any sharp rocks yet.

 

Hey MeYHymN,

Pardon my ignorance, but what is "BEAD PROTECTION?"

 

There are certain tires that offer a Bead protector where the tire overlaps the rim of the tire to protect the lip of the rim from rocks etc. It should be called a lip protector I think, but I don't make tires. According to Bridgestone they have one, but apparently they didn't put them on my set of tires, go figure. Actually they have what they call a bead protector as the tire actually comes out over the lip and is flush w/ the face of the rim. But they're not near as protective as the Titan 589's. Here's a pic and if you look closely at the pic you'll see the tire actually sticks out past the lip of the rim.