I have a place in West Branch, Michigan and have a couple ATV's where I ride on my land and venture out on the trails nearby and to St. Helens. I am ready to step up to a SXS and am in the process of research not only the right machine for myself but what I want to ride on. I am at that juncture many have gotten to and that to get a machine which can ride on the narrow 50" trails or open it up on the routes and larger width venues. I enjoy the craggy switchbacks and plentiful 50" trails yet on the downside to get a 50" SXS makes for a cramped ride, I suspect. I am 6'4" and have yet to sit in some of the narrow trail machines yet anticipate the space limitation may get old real quick. I really like the space in the new crop of 64" SXS's as well as having more choice in machines. While I can ride my machines on the county roads north of West Branch to get to the trailheads, 2 miles away, the wider routes in the area are few until I get to the St Helen motor sports park and then inside the park, there are many 50" trails but a fair amount of wide trails and af course the sand hills. I plan on traveling with my new machine(s) with a covered trailer so can avail myself with the various trail systems and open area parks through out Michigan and the UP. In Oakland County where I live a new ATV/UTV/ORV park opened up, Holly Oaks which looks intriquing and I am aware of a large park around Jackson and of course the Silver Lajes Dunes and several others all of which are designed for the larger width machines.
I would appreciate it if riders who faced this same predicament on selecting a machine for the 50" trails or Not chime in with your story, how you ended up and advice.
PS. In my limited research, I have seen a slight movement for creating wider trails and/or converting some of the narrow trails into wider ones driven by the explosion of the SXS market. Anyone else seeing this? If this perceived trend continues it could be a significant factor in choosing a 64" wide machine.
I would appreciate it if riders who faced this same predicament on selecting a machine for the 50" trails or Not chime in with your story, how you ended up and advice.
PS. In my limited research, I have seen a slight movement for creating wider trails and/or converting some of the narrow trails into wider ones driven by the explosion of the SXS market. Anyone else seeing this? If this perceived trend continues it could be a significant factor in choosing a 64" wide machine.