Description:
Hi, My name is Mike Walker, I'm the manager of a manufacturing plant in southern Minnesota... I joined most of the forums, in mid year '03... I'm currently active on 5-6 of them... I've been doing ATV's for 5 years, & raced Jeeps for 10 years before that... one of my hobbies / home business, is designing equipment, my Jeep had only 1 - 2 stock parts on it when I moved on to ATVs...I'm a big guy, & have an aggressive riding style & am not afraid to throw a little body english to get my quad to move like I want it to...My first project I worked on was the rear rack shown in the first pictures, it contains; a full set of tools & spare parts, a full first aid kit, fire extigusher, 3 power outlets, a spare tire mounted on a rim with a special valve stem allowing it to be mounted on the front or the rear ( pumped up to 35psi, for use as a portable air tank as well as a spare ), a tire plug kit, a special hose for filling tires off of the spare, a tow strap, a set of jumper cables, 2 lockable 2.5 gallon gas cans... Oh !! & a water / mud proof AM / FM / CD stereo... one of the advantages of this rack is that it balances the quad out like a 2 X 4 & it jumps like one... During "extreme field testing" I found that I had to replace the stock cast aluminum rear rack supports, & strengthen the gusseting at the mounting point to the frame... I've since completed working on a patent pending air induction system that will replace the stock filter & seperate water from the incoming air ( so long as the quad doesn't go completely under water )... this new system will mathamatically flow 3 times more air than the stock set up... I've also been working on a totally new style of wheel spacer that is adjustable from 1/2" to 4.5", & is lighter, as strong, & requires much less machining ( means cheaper & easier to make )... I really found out during "extreme field testing" of the rear rack, that I like high speed, big air... one of last years projects, that I completed is a custom 3 shock rear set up to spread the landing forces over a broader area of the rear axel housing, instead of the 2 - 3 inches of the stock mono shock... I intended to take the quad to the next level this last year, & competed in every type of competitive ATV venue that I could find... I had intended to race 12 hour race in Fort Dodge last October, I had a team registered, & 2 weeks before the race, I had a serious motor cycle accident... there will be very little that could keep me away this year ...More photos coming after I get things put back together this spring... Update for '06... check out the pics of the new 9" lift, 2 to 1 gearv reduction hubs, & 37.5" rice & cane tires... I snapped the cam chain on T-Rex, just before heading down to the '06 Mud Nat's, so I was glad I built the hubs as a bolt on kit, so I bolted the whole set up onto mommas new & totally stock 650 Brute... was able to take a 1st & 2nd in the pulls, a 3rd place in the open class Mudda Cross race ( a deep water oval track race ), & 3rd place in the open class Mud Bog...