ATV pull results from Eagle Bend, MN

[Mopad]

I entered into atv pull on Friday night at Eagle Bend, MN. I was riding a 2004 Kawasaki Prairie 700 with kenda bounty hunters tires. The classes were by weight. The track was like a gravel road, very very hard surface. I entered in 4 classes: 1050 2x4, 1050 4x4, 1150 4x4, and 1250 4x4.

Results:

1050 2x4: I placed 1st, with second being 20 ft behind me.

1050 4x4: This is where I dominated. I took 1st place and the length of my pull was 293. I had to stop or else I would of hit a tar road. 2nd place was 217 That pull also gave me the longest pull of the night getting me a trophy.

1150 4x4: I placed 1st again. 2nd place was 6 feet behind me, and 3rd place was 20 feet behind 2nd place.

1250 4x4: I did not place in this class :-( I was the first one to pull in this class and right before this class they wetted the track down. There was puddles on the track when i pulled. Anyways the last puller in this class got first because the track was the dryest. Oh well..

The quads I pulled against consisted of Polaris 800, 700, 600, 500, Kawasaki Brute Force 750, Kawasaki Prairie 700's, Honda Rincon, Yamaha Gizley. and Arctic cats. The only brand that wasn't there was BRP. The 1050 2x4 had 6 quads, 1050 4x4 had 15 quads, 1150 4x4 had 12, and 1250 4x4 had 12.

Picture of me Pulling

Pic of awards at local vfw

I ended up wining 4 trophies and $116 .

[LMITOUT]

Holy cow! Looks like the cool drinks were on you that night.

[jltimm]

Great job! Them Prairies with the straight axle are bigtime pulling rigs!

[Mopad]

I learned that winning comes at a cost, especially when the awards are giving out at a bar :-).

The prairies are known to pull a lot if you know what you’re doing. I pulled against a couple prairies and they didn’t even place. I found out that knowledge is everything when pulling. It took a couple years to do what I did that night. Lots of learning on how to give it gas, where the weight should be placed, where you should sit on the quad when pulling, how to read the track, etc...

[LMITOUT]

Any tips for a rookie? May be pulling for the first time this weekend.

Stock only with no added weights.

ATV's broke down by engine class (400-499, 500-599, etc).

I've got a stock Grizzly with stock tires (not great) and it has 4WD-LOC which should help the front end situation instead of a one-wheel-wonder. Typically when they're broke down by engine size the heaviest guy wins so all those years in college drinking....pop....may pay off afterall.

Probably look at playing with the air pressure of the tires and adjusting the spring preloads on the shocks but not much else to adjust with those rules.

[Mopad]

When pulling in 2x4 get all of your weight over the rear wheels. When pulling in 4x4 get your butt up as far as it will go. Lean over the handle bars, get that weight out in front as far as possible. When taking off to pull, hammer the throttle don't be scared to spin those tires, get those rpms up. If you can, stiffen up your rear shocks as much as you can. Also fill your gas up to the brim. Any extra weight will help. I would run about 3.5lbs of air all around.

[LMITOUT]

Interesting about hammering the throttle off the line. I was thinking of easing it out of the hole for a short bit and then laying into it so that I don't spin out. It may be dependent on the track conditions as well. They mentioned that it was going to more of a clay track so getting up and going probably would work better.

I plan on adjusting the rear springs and also may soften up the fronts. Not sure if it'll transfer much weight ahead but it can't hurt.

Years ago a friend of my dad's asked if I wanted to pull with his Honda 4x4 and front weight was everything when running 4WD. Unfortunately the Grizz has a decent sized gas tank which makes it tough to get a good lean going without standing up. Some places don't allow you to be off the seat.

Thanks for the tips!

[Mopad]

Starting off the line is where everyone goes wrong. Doesn't matter what track your on, pinning it off the line will give you a longer pull. When i pin the throttle on my p700 off the line, it spins like crazy and seems like its going no where. Slowly I get traction and by that time my rpms are up and the engine is in its powerband. You will get traction trust me. When starting off the line slow, your engine never gets a chance to get those high rpms. Sit on top of that gas tank and get your shoulders in front of the handle bars. Look at the pro 4x4 trucks where their weight is. Think of your rear end as a teater toter. The weight of the skid is going to pull your back end down (this is where irs sucks) therefor pulling your front end up and transfering the weight to your rear wheels and also still having traction in the front. I know this may seem un-natural but you will pull farther doing these things.

[LMITOUT]

Well I pulled today for the first time and it was a tough track. Very loose and dusty. It wasn't a power track at all and it really boiled down to a tire competition. I don't think there were many people there with stock tires but I was one of them. The track wasn't flat either and almost every pull stopped when trying to come up out of the depression in the track at about 95'. Those that had enough traction to get over the ridge kept going. It would have been nice if it were flat so that it was a better event, but it was still fun.

I pulled twice in the 600-699 class and my second pull was 7' better than the first but the hump got me as it did everyone else but those two or three who crawled out. One guy took 1st in three classes and I don't know the brand/type of tire he had but nobody else had them. With the track not being sticky it was a given that he had to enter in the bigger classes since he had the traction and didn't have to worry about not having enough power. He wasn't a heavy guy either. Usually on engine class events the heavier guys have the advantage but not on this track. It was spin, spin, spin. Definitely a belt friendly track as you never powered out and smoked it! I never saw them add any weights for the bigger classes since it didn't matter.

[Dave]

Sounds like you had fun and learned something for the next event, however.

[LMITOUT]

Yeah, bring better tires and a Bobcat to level the track!