2006 Dealernews Powersports Dealer Expo

Every year thousands of powersports industry insiders converge on Indianapolis, IN for the Dealernews Powersports Dealer Expo.

They come to see mountains of new products, meet professionals representing every corner of the powersports industry and... well... there are beautiful girls there wearing painted on Daisy Dukes. But, since there are a lot more new and exciting products than there are hotties, we will focus the rest of this article on what's important - hot, new products for your ATV.

Maxxis - www.maxxis.com

One of our first stops was the Maxxis booth. Maxxis always has a terrific display that includes custom ATV's, beautiful models signing autographs and GNCC Champion Utility Class ATV racer, Mike Penland.

Mike isn't as pretty as the swimsuit models but he our hero because he is one of the few guys that professionally races 4WD ATVs and with 11 GNCC Utility Class titles under his belt he has proven that he is pretty good at it.

The big news at the Maxxis booth was that they will be releasing a brand new mud tire that you can also use on the trail. They were very tight-lipped and wouldn't let us take any pictures of their cool new MudBug R's but they promised that they would let us know as soon as we could give you more information. We expect them to be available in early summer of 2006.

Suzuki - www.suzuki.com

Our friends at Suzuki were one of the only manufacturers on hand to display their wares. While they didn't have any new utility class ATV's to show off they did have a new camouflage option available for their king of the hill KingQuad ATV. We figured the KingQuad was so fast you really didn’t need to hide if from anything but apparently there is a demand so Suzuki is offering it.

ATVWagon - www.atvwagon.com

The folks at ATVWagon had several of their extreme-duty ATV trailers on display. ATVWagon builds super-rugged trailers with features you won’t usually find on an ATV trailer such as all-terrain tires, electric brakes, torsion-bar suspension, brake lights, and manual or electric dump mechanisms.

ATVWagon builds fully enclosed, water-resistant aluminum trailers designed for hunters, ranchers or fishermen or anyone else who needs to keep their gear dry. They also build powder-coated steel, open top trailers for landscapers and farmers. Both types are available with single or tandem axles.

Look for a full trail test of an ATVWagon trailer in an upcoming article.

HJC Helmets - www.hjchelmets.com

The folks at HJC were showing off their CL-X5 series helmets. These mid-priced helmets feature many of the features you find in more expensive helmets such as a fully removable, anti-bacterial liner and Advanced Channel System ventilation. We thought the flat orange finish on this example looked very trick!

ITP - www.itptires.com

ITP was busy showing off their new Terracross tires. These trail oriented radials are specially designed for UTVs (also known as side-by-side utility vehicles).

ITP Also won the award for our favorite custom ATV. The tricked out Artic Cat they had on display was loaded to the hilt with rescue gear including a removable winch (mountable on the front or rear), custom racks with auxiliary lighting, additional recovery ropes, an axe and a shovel mounted on special retainers, and, of course, very attractive ITP wheels and tires. Just like one of those cartoon St. Bernards with the cask of brandy around his neck, this search and rescue ATV was ready to charge up the Alps to rescue stranded skiers and snow-bunnies. The biggest difference is that the ATV has much better breath!

Blackline - www.blackline.us

Blackline was on hand to demonstrate their ATV plow system. The big difference with this system is that it mounts using a receiver hitch type mechanism so it only takes a few seconds to connect and disconnect. When the unit is disconnected you are left with a standard receiver on the front of your ATV rather that a proprietary mounting system. The Blackline plow system also features an electric motor to raise and lower the plow and they offer an optional hydraulic system to control the plow angle. Up/down and left/right controls are all housed in one easy-to-use handlebar mounted switch. Unlike winch-controlled plows the electric-motor-controlled Blackline plow can exert up to 500 lbs. of down-force and you won’t wear out your winch cable.

ATVCocoon - www.atvcocoon.com

One of our favorite new products on display was the ATV Cocoon by Cocoon Solutions. You wear this device like a poncho and when you mount your ATV you simply snap the bottom of the poncho to your ATV. The water-resistant ATV Cocoon keeps you warm and dry as you ride. Worried about getting squished if you roll your ATV while wearing the ATV Cocoon? No problem, if you fall off the snaps simply disconnect and you can fall clear of the machine. The ATV Cocoon is available in red, green and camo.

Tucker Rocky Distributing - www.tuckerrocky.com

The folks at Tucker Rocky took some time to demonstrate their Quadboss tire sealant then they turned us loose with a sharp object and a tire (always a bad idea). Unlike other tire sealants, the Quadboss Tire Sealant is biodegradable and designed to work for the life of the tire. Perhaps even more importantly, the Quadboss Tire Sealant is designed to plug tread holes of up to 1/2" in diameter and sidewall holes as large as 1/4". Other tire sealants only plug holes half that size. Actually, we just thought it was fun to drive an ice-pick into their demo tire over and over and over. We don’t get out much.

Tire Balls - www.tireballs.com

Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be another way to protect your tires from flats - Tireballs gives us small inflatable cells that you insert into your tires. If one of the puncture resistant cells manages to get popped, the other cells shuffle around to take its place. It would take dozens of punctures to significantly incapacitate the tire. These devices also allow you to run lower tire pressure for improved traction and still keep your tires from spinning on the rim.