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Yamaha brought a truck load of their sport ATVs to Glamis, and I was determined to ride them all.  After a great day on the awesome Raptor 700, I really didn’t want to give up the easy riding dune monster, but I thought I should get in some quality time with YFZ 450R as well.  

Part of the fun in any outdoor adventure is cooking out, and it seems everything tastes better outside.  For the past few years, Yamaha has been partnering with Camp Chef to provide the cooking gear for our desert oasis and they could hardly do any better.  Camp Chef has a huge lineup of high quality outdoor cooking equipment.  Whether you’re grilling brats at a pre-game tailgate party outside the stadium, making flap jacks for the crew at the hunting cabin, or warming up a single can of soup on your climb to the summit, they’ve got the perfect tool for you.   

If you’re going to ride, you’re also going to wrench now and then.  Most of the time that means nothing more than changing the oil, cleaning an air filter, or simple adjustments.  Every so often though your mechanical buddy will need a major rebuild, the most common of which is replacing piston rings.  On a two stroke this was no problem; pop the cylinder off, hone the bore, install new rings, and get back to riding, often times in the same afternoon.

Detroit’s Downtown Athletic Club seems like an unlikely location for a new model introduction.  It is more of a combination art museum and monument to captains of industry, as member plaques ring out names such as Ford, Dodge, Chrysler, and Briggs.  It’s easy to get the feeling that without a major factory with your name on it, you don’t get in.  The Detroit Athletic Club is about as far from a trail as you can get, but what we had come to see was unlike anything on the trail anyway.