Tested
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- November 18 2005
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Moose Racing
Rally Pack
$50
Available in gray and black.
Contact a Parts Unlimited dealer or visit www.mooseracing.com
THE GOODS The Moose Racing Rally Pack is the company’s largest “fanny pack.” It can be used for carrying essential trail items such as spare goggles, gloves, tools, flat kits, etc. The Rally is made from durable Cordura nylon and has a main fold-out compartment and two large side zippered pockets that allow you to take along everything but the kitchen sink. Inside the pack there are plenty of elastic loops to hold stuff in place, which is a nice feature. Bonus-it has two clasps that keep it securely closed when the going gets rough out on the trail.
THE VERDICT We’ve used the pack now on multiple rides, and it has become one of our favorite accessories. If extra carrying space on your machine is limited, the Rally pack can easily double as a spare trunk. It’s also more comfortable than we initially thought it would be-the Rally’s foam padded waistband is wide, so there’s plenty of support. We were able to pack ours with an assortment of tools and trail snacks (and car keys, extra gloves, and a flat repair kit.). At times, though, we packed it too tight, and it got a bit heavier than we wanted it to be.
HITS Tons of storage space-it’s a very versatile pack.
MISSES Holds so much you can easily weigh it down to the point of it becoming cumbersome.
ASV
C/5 Pro Series Unbreakable Lever
$125
Available in silver, blue or red.
CONTACT ASV Inventions; 877-ASV-7000 or www.asvinventions.com
THE GOODS ASV’s C/5 Pro Series Unbreakable clutch lever (with Pro perch) is made out of CNC 6061 billet aluminum, and comes with a quick-adjust knob. The lever’s claim to fame is its special pivot design-it allows the lever to fold out from the handlebars in the event of a crash or tip-over. Instead of bending or breaking, it springs back into place. It’s also fully adjustable to fit a variety of hand sizes, from small up to large “man hands.” The lever also features a Delrin nylon rotator sleeve between the perch and the bar that allows the perch to give a bit, which helps reduce damage in the event of any impact. Finally, it uses double-sealed bearings between the perch and lever to reduce play between the lever and perch as they start to wear. Oh yeah, it’s rebuildable, too.
THE VERDICT We bolted the ASV Unbreakable lever to our semi-race-ready 2003 Suzuki Z400. We had already pulled off the emergency brake for another project, so all we had to do was bolt on the lever and set the clutch cable (if you still have your e-brake in place, you’ll have to remove it). We had the thing on in minutes and it looked considerably racier than the beat-up stock unit it replaced. The quick-adjust knob felt smooth and held its position. As for the unbreakable claims, well, we can’t really verify that. We weren’t too interested in wadding up our Z to find out if we could break the lever in a crash. We did however test it by trying to bend it back by hand and we whacked it with a spare piece of 2×4 sitting in our garage-we’re happy to report the lever didn’t break. If we manage to have a nice get-off with the machine in the future, we’ll report back on how the ASV clutch lever held up.
HITS Super-smooth, high quality, and rebuildable.
MISSES You get what you pay for, but $125 for a clutch lever is a bit expensive.
Warn Industries
2.5ci ATV Winch
$414 (winch)
$80 (winch mount kit for Suzuki KingQuad)
CONTACT Warn Industries; 800-910-1122 or www.warn.com
THE GOODS Warn’s 2.5ci ATV winch is a compact-frame-mounted unit that comes with a 0.9 horsepower 12-volt permanent magnet motor. It’s rated at 2,500 pounds of pulling power, which is more than enough to get most quads out of sticky situations. The winch comes with 50 feet of 3/16-inch heavy-duty wire rope and a roller fairlead, which is desiggned to reduce excessive wear and tear on your winch cable (it also helps when doing angled pulls). For quad use, the winch also comes with an easy-to-use, handlebar-mounted mini rocker switch-that way you don’t have to get off the machine to start winching out if you’re quad is stuck. To mount the winch, you’ll also need a Warn mount kit made for your machine.
THE VERDICT
We mounted our winch to a Suzuki KingQuad. It took a few hours to get everything installed and working properly. It’s not overly difficult, but there are a few tedious steps along that get rather involved, like the wiring process (for help, check out the Winch Install How-To in our August 2005 issue). We took our time to make sure the routing of all the wires was as clean as possible, and then we used some silicone sealant to waterproof all our connections. We plan on using the quad in deep water and mud, so we took extra steps to make sure everything is as waterproof as possible.
Once the winch was installed and working properly, we put it to the test. We took our KingQuad out to a local mud hole, where we had buried the machine on a previous trip. We hit the same machine-sinking hole and buried it again. The last time we were stuck it took us close to an hour to get the machine moving again (and we were exhausted by the end of the ordeal). This time around, we were out in less than five minutes and we barely broke a sweat. The handlebar-mounted mini-rocker switch makes using the winch easy.
If you’re a mud or water rider, this is a must-have item. We’ll never worry about getting stuck again-and neither will our riding buddies.
HITS It is nice to have a winch when the going gets tough.
MISSES Requires some technical savvy to install.
Hinson Racing
Z400 Clutch Basket
$230
CONTACT Hinson Racing; 909-946-2942 or www.hinsonracing.com
THE GOODS Hinson clutch baskets provide superior wear and durability over stock baskets. They also provide better heat dissipation to keep the clutch from overheating during a long ride. That may be why you’ll find them in almost every pro’s race quad (including all the factory Suzuki and Honda riders). The basket is constructed from T-6 aluminum and is then akadized. What does this mean? It’s a metal treatment process that Hinson claims makes it last five times longer than a stock basket. When a stock clutch starts to chatter, it’s because the clutch basket has worn to the point at which the friction plates are constantly slamming against it. With Hinson’s durable basket, it’s unlikely you’ll ever experience this condition. This means less time in the shop and more time riding the track or trail.
THE VERDICT We popped the Hinson clutch basket in our 2003 Suzuki Z400 and replaced the old springs and clutch plates with new ones-it’s a good idea to do so while the machine is already torn apart. The basket went in without a hitch. Once everything was buttoned up, it worked just fine. The clutch felt as good as new but we didn’t notice any drastic performance advantage. The only thing we expect is the basket will last considerably longer than the stocker. Hinson also recommends using its pressure plate and inner hub if you’re looking to eliminate clutch chatter. We didn’t add anything else, but on the next teardown, we’ll report back on its condition and add the other items to see if we notice the difference.
HITS High-quality component that improves clutch performance.
MISSES Pricey for non-racers.
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