CanAm
Outlander 500 ATV Links |
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2008
CanAm Outlander 500 equipped with ITP TerraCross
RT Tires & SS 106 Aluminum Wheels |
Union, South Carolina - For years I've been
wanting to try my hand at utility racing and at the
Big Buck GNCC in Union, SC, I finally got that chance.
I got the call on Thursday when I was driving down to
the event for work that I would be getting a 2008 Can-Am
Outlander 500 delivered to me for a race test. I couldn't
wait to hit the starting line in the 4x4 Lites class.
I received the Outlander Saturday morning about 2
hours before start time. The Outlander was completely
stock except for a set of the all new ITP TerraCross
R/T tires mounted on SS212 wheels.
First thing that I noticed while making my way to
the start line was that this thing is fast, with one
punch of the throttle the big 4x4 got up to speed
in a hurry. I don't have any experience on the 650
or 800 Outlanders but this 500 is the fastest 4x4
I've rode to date! Much faster than my old Honda Foreman
350 and Yamaha Wolverine, lol.
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Once
again, ATVriders.com recruited former Pro GNCC
ATV racer Jeff Stoess to race test one of our
Test Units, which happened to be the Can-Am
Outlander 500 Utility ATV, but with his over
20 years of ATV riding experience, it didn't
take Jeff more than the first turn to begin
to open up the throttle on the Can-Am and begin
his charge on the Outlander 500 |
When the flag fell, the Outlander fired quickly and
I was headed towards the first turn in a hurry. I
went wide and slowed down a little too quick thinking
that the suspension would roll under hard turning
which put me next to last. For the second turn I decided
I would see how far I could push it before it started
to dive or two wheel. With the throttle pinned and
a shift of my weight I went around the turn wide open.
To my surprise it stayed perfectly level and I pitched
the rear end out just like I would have done on a
sport quad, this moved me up into 3rd. My plan was
to take it easy the first couple laps to get a feel
for what I could get away with and what I couldn't
since I was unsure how fast I could ride a 600 lb
machine.