[big_john]

Well, the wife had to drive into town, so I opted to stay home and take the CForce out on the local BLM trails. 

Yeah, I am 55 years old and today was the first time I have ever ridden an ATV for more than 5 minutes.

Let me say up front, I wish I would have ridden with a very experience rider.  I had so many questions throughout the ride and it would have been nice to follow the line of a great rider.

Let me also say... I have a brand new CForce and I have no way of knowing if my riding experience is the result of a poorly tuned machine.  The day I purchased it, they literally pulled it out of the crate and threw it together quickly.  I am guessing the suspension is set to some neutral, generic position. 

Observations......

1. It ain't a dirt bike.  My trail/racing bike is a WR450, a beast with about 54hp the way I have it tuned.  I didn't grow up racing, but later in life, I really got into mountain enduros and my skills are pretty darn good.  I can predict what my bike will do in nearly every situation.  With the CForce, I was very uncomfortable with off-camber and ruts would tend to unpredictably throw me one way or another.

2. The longer I rode, the rougher the quad felt.  I wonder if it had to do with suspension and tires heating up.  Not sure....  It was plush when I started and a little stiff feeling at the end.  I need to study and read about the suspension adjustability.

3. I rode for about 2 hours and by the end I was much more comfortable with how it behaved.  I was faster and more aggressive with the throttle toward the end. 

4. Most of the riding, I kept it in 2WD and rode in High.  When I would encounter a steeper climb, I would stop, put it in Neutral, shift to 4WD and then shift to Low.  After the climb, I would stop and shift it back in to 2WD.

5. Man it is squirrely on pavement, running faster than 30mph.  The power steering is very sensitive.

At the end of the day, I fell in love with it and the 1000 Twin produces tons of power and the machine will Rip!   

[NMKawierider]

At least you got some seat time. Going from single-track to a double-track takes some getting used to. I was in the same boat..about 20 years ago...lol. But it also doesn't sound like your dealer took the time to do a full prep on the machine. Do read-up on suspension settings and check that the tire pressures are between 4 and about 8psi..no more. 6 is about right. Also one thing they almost never do is check the toe-in. They want about 10mm but somewhere closer to 1/16-3/16" is better. Also, CFM is known to not catch every not,bolt and screw so might take the tome to check the torque on things like the suspension parts, steering and mounts for the diffs and engine. The rest can be done as time allows.

[big_john]

At least you got some seat time. Going from single-track to a double-track takes some getting used to. I was in the same boat..about 20 years ago...lol. But it also doesn't sound like your dealer took the time to do a full prep on the machine. Do read-up on suspension settings and check that the tire pressures are between 4 and about 8psi..no more. 6 is about right. Also one thing they almost never do is check the toe-in. They want about 10mm but somewhere closer to 1/16-3/16" is better. Also, CFM is known to not catch every not,bolt and screw so might take the tome to check the torque on things like the suspension parts, steering and mounts for the diffs and engine. The rest can be done as time allows.

Yeah, funny about the nuts and bolts comment.  I watched a video last night of a guy doing a 2" lift to his Cforce and there were no nuts on the top shock bolts....  and he had put plenty of miles on it, in that condition.  I did check all the obvious and critical ones before I did my ride.

And funny comment about the dealer not giving this unit the full, once over.....   That whole dealership is a clown shown.  Management there should be fired.  Only reason I purchased from them, was because the other dealer option, an hour away, was a thousand bucks more expensive.

I do all my own wrench twisting, trusting my machines to no one.  Yes, I rebuild engines, do my own valve clearance checks, replace clutches, tune and rebuild suspension, etc....   You gotta learn all that as a motorcycle racer, because very few can afford a mechanic after every dang race.

It'll be a journey for me... but I am looking forward to it.  Tomorrow my oil filters should arrive in the Brown Truck and since I now have 30 miles on the unit, I am going to dump the fluids, to rid the unit of the break-in metal flakes. 

[smitty42]

Suggest you locate a local ATV club in your area and join them.
The members I'm sure would be very informative and helpful.
Also you would not be riding alone.
FYI I search for ATV Clubs Albuquerque and the New Mexico 4 Wheelers popped up.
https://www.nm4w.org/

[big_john]

Suggest you locate a local ATV club in your area and join them.
The members I'm sure would be very informative and helpful.
Also you would not be riding alone.
FYI I search for ATV Clubs Albuquerque and the New Mexico 4 Wheelers popped up.
https://www.nm4w.org/

I plan to do that and the local club is one of the largest in the nation....   Western Slope ATV.


Having exceeded 30 miles, after this last ride, I dumped the factory fill of oil, put in a new filter and filler her up with Rotella T4 15w40.  As expected, she immediately ran smoother.


But hey.... !!!!!  I found out why the ATV was handling kinda crappy....    All four tires had 15 psi from the dealer.  I dropped them to 8 psi and the machine was immediately better.


.......

[NMKawierider]

8psi is still a little high for an ATV. Try 6

[big_john]

8psi is still a little high for an ATV. Try 6

I have to purchase a proper... low psi.... air gauge.   But yes, I will drop it to 6.

I do have a question...   If the wife is 2-up with me and we have gear in the boxes and on the front rack...   do I need more than 6psi?

[NMKawierider]

8psi is still a little high for an ATV. Try 6

I have to purchase a proper... low psi.... air gauge.   But yes, I will drop it to 6.

I do have a question...   If the wife is 2-up with me and we have gear in the boxes and on the front rack...   do I need more than 6psi?

If you are at or very near it's load capacity then 7 or 8 but just yourself and average load 4-6. The other consideration is the stock tires. Most are a 2-ply with a 4 ply rating. You will want a little extra in those verses tires like mine with 8-full radial plys. Although I do run 7-8 in those, the sxs is much heavier. I had the same tires on my Brute and ran 4-5. 

[big_john]

8psi is still a little high for an ATV. Try 6

I have to purchase a proper... low psi.... air gauge.   But yes, I will drop it to 6.

I do have a question...   If the wife is 2-up with me and we have gear in the boxes and on the front rack...   do I need more than 6psi?

If you are at or very near it's load capacity then 7 or 8 but just yourself and average load 4-6. The other consideration is the stock tires. Most are a 2-ply with a 4 ply rating. You will want a little extra in those verses tires like mine with 8-full radial plys. Although I do run 7-8 in those, the sxs is much heavier. I had the same tires on my Brute and ran 4-5.

My tires are 8 ply....     




....

[big_john]

Correction... my tires are 6 ply.

Did my biggest ride yet today..... a tad over 60 miles.  The ride was much better and the handling better, but it was still a bit harsh.  As fate would have it, the Brown Truck delivered my Low PSI Air Gauge when I returned.  Each tire had 9 PSI.  I immediately dropped the Front Tires to 6 PSI and the Rear Tires to 7 PSI.... took it for a quick spin and there was additional improvement and much smoother.

Can't wait to take the wife on our first 2-Up ride.  It will be similar to what I rode today, as the sights were spectacular!

[Ulfthednar]

I saw a pretty neat trick the other day. something worth doing and worthy of taking notes on.

Lay down a sheet of cardboard in front of your tires (or behind) and paint about a 6-10 inch band across the tire.

Drive over the sheet of cardboard and check your "fingerprint"

Under your load condition you want your tread to make full contact across the tire.

Light on the edges means too high, light in the middle means too low.

Works like a charm.

5psi front and 6psi rear for the tires I'm running right now with my typical load.

[big_john]

I saw a pretty neat trick the other day. something worth doing and worthy of taking notes on.

Lay down a sheet of cardboard in front of your tires (or behind) and paint about a 6-10 inch band across the tire.

Drive over the sheet of cardboard and check your "fingerprint"

Under your load condition you want your tread to make full contact across the tire.

Light on the edges means too high, light in the middle means too low.

Works like a charm.

5psi front and 6psi rear for the tires I'm running right now with my typical load.

Yep, I learned that with my FJ Cruiser when taking it off-road.

Just as effective is....   right after coming off a dirt road onto pavement, ride a 1/4 mile and you can clearly see the contact patch.