A gps is good to have on night rides. We did a ride that had us spending the last 3 hours of the ride in pitch black. It was good to have the gps zoomed way in to tell if we missed a connector that we needed to take to get back to the truck. Everything looks way different. You're only seeing maybe 50 feet ahead instead of being able to see for miles all around like during the day. Be careful to have plenty of clothing. Temperatures can drop very fast once the sun goes down. Especially in deserts. If you're going to camp I hope you have friends with utility machines. Tent, sleeping bags, food, etc. can really add up.

 

We enjoy going on night rides. Heed all the cautions the other posters have given you. Even local trails you have ridden for years and have memorized will look different and can disorient you. More creatures are out at nighttime so don't hit them.

 

Nothing quite like the excitement of having a dark brown moose step out in front of you when you're rounding a blind corner at 30 mph near dusk.

 

Get ya some cheap lLED lights for yer quad....easy to install and look cool on the trails.
also when ya stop for a break ya don't wanna really leave yer headlight run due to battery drain but with LED's you can run them for "ambiance" at the rest stops without fear of battery drain.

All of our quads are rigged with LEDs

 

Hey, Solo, got any pictures of the light output at night? Where'd you buy yours?

 

I never encountered a moose on the trail, however, black bear and white tailed deer abound. Only came close to deer twice. clench material for sure.

What GPS do you use? I'm looking to add one to my quad this spring.

 

I use a Garmin Nuvi 500. It has both road maps and topographic maps. I liked it when I first got it. Both modes worked very well. I got an update from Garmin and things got messed up. So, I just left the topographic maps on the gps and bought a street specific one for regular use. I recommend you get a RAM mount for whatever gps you decide to get. Holds it in place very nicely.

 

Thanks. do you have the Nuvi hard wired into the bikes electrical system? And +1 on the RAM mounts. Only kind I use.

 

I haven't hard wired it yet. Thinking about it. For now I just wrap a rubber band around the 12V cover on the quad and the 12V plug on the gps. It's worked well enough for the time being.

 

I thought of that too, but being the **** retentive type I am, I'd be wary of the cord rubbing on the paint