PRODUCT REVIEWS

This section will feature reviews of some of the aftermarket equipment we have purchased for our atvs:

Champion 2000lb Winch Review
Ramsey ATV2500 Winch Review
Arctic Cat Hand/Thumb Warmers Review
ATV Storage Box on a Budget
MotoComm Headset/Ptt Communications System Review (Coming Soon)

Champion 2000lb Winch

When Torrone first purchased his atv, the first thing he wanted to do was purchase a winch. When he first set out, he was kind of shocked when he saw the prices that the Warn and Ramsey winches were selling for. He had just forked out a lot of money for his atv and did not have $400-500 to spend on one of these units.

One of his friends had seen a winch at Costco that was selling for $59.99 + taxes. Torrone went and picked up one of these winches, that ended up being a Champion Winch, and was very happy with the price he paid.

The Champion winch comes with:

• Approx. 50' of Aircraft Cable (5/32" x 49')
• Power In/Power Out Remote Control
• Replaceable Clevis Hook
• Hand Saver Strap

The only thing left to do was to find a mounting plate for the winch. Seeing how he was in a hurry to install the winch, Torrone decided to order a mounting plate from his local dealer.

The installation of the winch is very straightforward and took about 2hrs (the front and side plastics had to be removed).

The only downside to this winch is that the control box is fairly large and about the only place it could be mounted on the atv was on the front rack (taking into account length of wiring and ease of reach).

Now it was time to test out this new investment.

On our next trip to Herrling Island, Torrone got the opportunity to test out the winch more than once. Catnip and Crazy Paulie were doing their best to get stuck in some mud so Torrone can pull them out. This mud had a very nice "suction" effect to it. The Champion winch had no problems pulling the atvs out of the mud, time and time again. It performed flawlessly.

During our next two trips it performed just as well, although on one recovery in some deep snow at the Coquihalla Lakes area, it did have a bit of trouble trying to free a snow stuck atv (In all fairness the atv was stuck pretty good).

Overall he is very happy with the winch.

The Champion Winch will most likely not perform the same in extreme situations as the Ramsey or Warn winches, but for about 15% of the cost it will do a great job in many situations.

The members of Atvtrips.ca would recommend this winch to someone looking for a cost effective alternative to the big names in winches.

Pros of the Winch
- Cost
- Comes with full accessories
- Ease of installation

Cons of the Winch
- Very large control box
- Will not perform as well as Ramsey/Warn in extreme conditions

Specs
- 12V, 0.7HP. permanent magnet motor
- High power winch gear system for fast (153:1), reliable pulling
- Line speed: 6.5 ft. per minute @ 2000 lbs. 4.3 ft. per minute @ 1630 lbs
- Length of remote control cable is approx. 4'3"

Ramsey ATV2500 Winch

When Catnip bought his 2002 Honda trx350es, it was not equipped with a winch like his first atv was. Being the gadget nut he is, he set out to find a winch that had the newest technology on it.

While watching ATV television, he saw an ad for the new Ramsey winches that came with a wireless remote. The wireless remote adds a great deal of safety to any recovery, as the operator does not have to be on the machine in those dangerous situations. The remote will work up to 50ft away from the atv (however in clear sight we have used is further).

The Ramsey ATV2500 winch comes with:

• 50' of galvanized Aircraft Cable (3/16" x 50')
• Power In/Power Out Wireless Remote Control
• Replaceable Clevis Hook
• Toggle Switch
• Hand Saver Strap

The installation of the winch was fairly easy. The plastic in the front and side had to be removed in order to install the winch and electrical lines. The mounting bracket gets secured to the frame in four spots and then the winch is secured to the mounting plate with four bolts. The roller fairlead is secured to the front of the bracket.

The Ramsey winch can be operated by either the wireless remote or by a toggle switch that you can mount wherever you find it convenient. The winch uses a contacter to operate. There are positive and negative lines that run from the battery to the contacter. The winch is then wired into the contacter, along with the remote control receiver and the toggle switch.

There is also the antenna for the wireless remote that must be mounted to the atv. It has double sided tape on the back, however we found that it did not hold it very well, so we used our own double sided tape and also zap-strapped it just in case.

Catnip is very happy with the way the winch operates. He has had it installed for about a year and has never had a problem with it. It has always pulled him out of any situation he was stuck in. It also does not seem to bog down as quickly as some of the lower priced alternatives do.

The members of Atvtrips.ca would highly recommend this winch to someone looking for a feature packed recovery tool.

SPECIFICATIONS

For more information please visit the Ramsey website

Arctic Cat Hand/Thumb Warmers

When Catnip sold his old Arctic Cat and bought his Honda, the one thing he missed was the hand/thumb warmers he installed on his Cat. Next to a winch, this is a must have in his books.

Installation is fairly simple. You remove the existing grips on your atv and clean the surface. You then attach the heating elements to the handle bars. They come with a self adhesive backing. Then apply some grip glue and slide the new grips over the heating elements.

For the thumb warmer, you remove any existing coverings off the throttle, clean the surface and glue the thumb element to the back of it. Stick the foam piece to the back of the element and then apply the heat shrink tubing.

The toggle switch was mounted on the side of the display pod. The color coded wiring is all plug and play and very simple to connect together. The power lead of the toggle switch is spliced into a keyed power source, the 12v outlet on his particular atv.

The grips get very warm and do a great job of keeping your hands nice and warm. If left on high for too long, they actually get too hot and you will have to either turn them off or turn them on low. Riding in the rain is a bit more comfortable as well, as the warmers do their best to keep your hands warm and dry. After the rain stops, they will actually dry out your gloves.

The members of atvtrips.ca highly recommend the Arctic Cat hand/thumb warmer for anyone looking to keep their hands and fingers nice and toasty.

ATV Storage Box on a Budget

One accessory that many deem a must for your atv is a storage box of some sort. These range anywhere from a simple duffle type storage bag to the fancier storage/seat boxes.

He went, once again, to Canadian Tire and found a very sturdy toolbox on sale for $11 (and some change) and purchased the last one on the shelf. He also purchased four u-bolts to secure the box to the rear rack.

Installation was a breeze. Line up the four u-bolts on the rack, place the box on top and mark out the holes to drill out. Drill out the four holes, install the box through the u-bolts and tighten the nuts to the bolts. Make sure not to over tighten the bolts as it may cause the box to crack over those severe bumps/jumps you encounter on the trail.

So far the box has been installed for 5 rides and Catnip is very pleased with it. Torrone has also installed the same toolbox on his quad and has been equally as happy. Just make sure you stay away from the toolboxes that are made of the thin plastic. Crazy Paulie tried one of these on his quad, and it cracked on his first ride.

For a total investment of around $20.00, the members of atvtrips.ca would highly recommend this type of solution for those not looking to spend a lot of money on a storage box.

Also, there are sturdier and larger storage containers (rubber-maid, suv-storage boxes, etc...) available (Walmart,Home Hardware, Canadian Tire, etc..) that do an even better job, however the cost is a bit higher ($50+) than the tool-box solution.