The four wheeler offers a decent amount of wind protection for your legs, which are what get cold first, for me at least. That and I didn’t ride it super far, only short jaunts around town at the most.

Live just outside of Sioux Falls, lived in Brooking for 5 years during school and actually rode an ATV myself for 3 of those years. Street tires aren’t required by law (or if they are it isn’t enforced at all), street tires just happen to be much more controllable and predictable on the road and generally last longer.

Nope, the only restrictions on SxS in South Dakota are no interstates. They are able to be plated, licensed and insured. Generally people keep them on back roads and don’t even take them on state highways, but it’s pretty common to see them running around small towns with street tires. I can’t speak for other states.

Move somewhere where it is legal, like South Dakota, or Utah(?), I’m sure there’s others as well.

ATV = 4 wheeler, UTV = Side by Side

In some states yes, but in most no.

Depends on the state, South Dakota and several other states allow SxS on the road.

Depends on the state, SxS are road legal* in South Dakota, and several other states.

While those plastics are rugged and durable they’re still fairly soft and I suspect they wouldn’t hold up to the rigors of truck bed use (well, the targeted uses anyway). The carbon reinforced thermoplastic will be much tougher and much less susceptible to heat.

I agree, the whole benefit to having an aluminum body and bed is the weight savings, and far less corrosion issues. If I’m worried about the actual integrity of the bed floor a spray in or even drop in liner will be more than enough to handle any kind of abuse. GM came up with an amazing solution to a non problem, and…

It’s still a little clickbaitly though because the entire bed isn’t made from carbon fiber, only the interior panels, meaning the wheel wells will still rust out in 10 years just like every other GM truck.

I thought I’d heard it’s a carbon reinforced thermoplastic, which will be incredibly tough. Too bad the outer fenders are still steel and will rust out in under 10 years.

I’m actually really disappointed because the part that would benefit most from being carbon, isn’t, the outer fenders. They will still trap dirt and moisture, and being steel they will still rust out, just like every other GM truck. I should expect as much from GM though. Good thing I prefer Fords/Rams anyway.

I was basically that guy except in more of a cafe racer style*. I removed the mufflers, added pods, and knew nothing about carb tuning. I rode it in various states before the carb tuning got so bad that it barely ran, then the electrical problems started showing up as well. It got bad enough that I ended up buying a…

I agree, the XJ series was pretty advanced for the time (engine wise at least) with YICS (not on 650 models) and many electric monitoring systems. The power per cc was also really good at the time. The handling and brakes deserve the poor reputation they got, but then these were standards heavily leaning towards being…

I can attest to the carbs being a pain. My XJ750 has open pipes and pods, it took quite a while to get them tuned in, but once I did it runs great and I haven’t touched them for a couple years. Of course I still want to switch to non CVs, but for now I’m happy with it.

If you want something very similar to this look into the Yamaha Maxim (XJ series) , or non Turbo Secas, both essentially the same bike only with styling differences. Maxims are plentiful and cheap, and are solid reliable bikes. They can be had in 400 (2 cyl), 550, 650, 750, and 1100.

Probably not in Sioux Falls, but I did daily a 4 wheeler in Brookings for 3 years. It wasn’t all that bad.

With so many trails in that area, and a not big police presence, I’m not surprised, it’s probably one of those things that’s generally accepted and not really enforced.

There absolutely is. People who enjoy riding ATV’s on trails and dirt paths, wear helmets every time they ride, don’t tear up public land and actually clean up after themselves. That’s the type of ATV riding that I enjoy*, and I have a lot of friends who do the same.