Mark Rolland, Your article on the Double the 4x4 Fun in the August Edition of ATV Rider was Poorly researched. I was horrably disappointed in your review or lack there of on the X2. If you at all looked on Polaris' website or looked at any Media surrounding this machine you would never had claimed that it is "Cramped"...

THE X2 IS A TWO PASSENGER CONVERTABLE ATV. Meaning it has a single seat and a convertable 2nd seat that pops out of the Bed giving the passenger a seat, an adjustable back rest and amble room for comfort.... If you explored the ATV more than you did of the trails you would have found this out...

However your review of the Resort was very good but  it was followed up by a piss poor lazy attempt at a comparision of 2up atvs. This was my first time paying $5 for an ATV Magizine that I could not finish reading. If this is how this Magizine attempts to help in the buying decisions of consumers then I will not be getting a subcribtion or refering this Magizine.

My wife I ride with several couples with BRP max 2up rider ATVs and we could not be happier or more comfortable then we are with our 2006 X2.

My suggestion to you is to get a X2 and look at it closely the Back rest for the single rider tilts forward (towards the gas tank by griping a lever on the top of the pad) then lift up on the back of the now exposed passanger backrest and slide it into postion and push back and down the back rest of the single passenger that now becomes the bottom seat for the passenger. totall time less than 5secs. and even a journalist can do, and THAT will save your marriage. Good luck and I hope you redo the article to show how you missed a HUGE part of your review and mislead readers.

Sorry for the sarcasim but I love this machine and feel you dropped the ball on this unit.

Thankyou Andy from Kansas City.

By the way, if you want another look at the X2 beside some of the BRPs we are all going to Wisconsin over the Labor day and would be happy to show you what you missed.

Hey Andy,

We are glad to have readers that will actually take the time to write in, so thank you for that.  As for Mark Rolland, I can't comment because he is at a sand sports magazine now.  Just wanted to let you know that in case you were expecting a reply from him.  But we hope you stay tuned with ATV Rider, because we have some cool stuff coming down the pipe in the next few months, and you'll definitely want to read the whole thing from now on.  We also have a new web guy, Pete Peterson, who is working to make our web site better as well and keep it updated with fresh new material all the time.  I don't want to sound cocky or anything, but ATV Rider will make the works of William Shakespeare look like a pile of dog doo by comparison.  Okay, maybe that's going a little too far, but you get the point.  Just kidding!   

Brian Purtymun

Associate Editor

Brian- I am not sure what I am expecting by voicing my opinion about the way this article is reflecting on the ATV rider Magizine or how it reflects on a very popular ATV.

I will keep checking this site for replys, but I am not just trying to stir up dust and ruff up feathers. I am a very active Utility 4x4 ATV enthusiast and love traveling and riding in very different terrain and I am a member on many ATV Discussion forums and hate when ppl come on a start an argument just for the fun of it. I have noticed a flaw in this particular article, not just in his words,,, but the pictures with the article are good and I can see that the passenger is sitting on the seat that the driver is supposed to be utilizing and that the couple is no more than riding the ATV like a single Rider ATV with two people on it. The passenger should be sitting in a similiar fashion as on the BRP.

Whatever and however this is looked upon at I will look forward to an issue with a shoot out that will show the rest of the this excellent machine. Oh and maybe a mention that the most key feature of this unit was over looked.

Thankyou, Andy

Yeah, it was a mistake.  Not on the scale of the Chicago Tribune printing "Dewey Defeats Truman!" in the 1948 election, but a mistake nonetheless.  Next time the X2 will get more of a fair shake. 

We're not going to get our feathers ruffled, by the way.  We like to get reader feedback of any kind.  Except for letter bombs.  Ha!

Aside from that, what did you like or dislike about the rest of the magazine?  What do you want to see more of in the magazine?

BP

Thanks Brian-

I initially grabbed the Magizine off the grocery store shelf as is was mixed in with the usual Dirt Wheels, All Terrian and Quad Magizines. I do not recall every getting this Magizine and it had an Outlaw on the front. The Outlaw is an Awesome machine and the only Sport bike I would every consider owning due to the IRS. I normally do not get Mags that look as if they cater to Sport bikes as I am not interested in Sport bikes but due to the fact that I work at a John Deere/Polaris Dealership selling tractors, atvs, utility vehicles and Motorcylces I find myself forced to pay attention to areas that I have no interest in, ie Motercycles and Sport bikes. So, the Outlaw on the front and then the article on the 2up atvs caught my attention. The article on the Outlaw as good and I will have that article available for customers to review but we just do not get alot of Sport bike Customers.

I really liked the reviews of places to ride and Lodging around the states, that is the main reason I am involved on many ATV based Forums, to find places and people to ride with. I have been to Montana, Tennesse, Missouri and Utah. I plan on going to Wisconsin this weekend and after that I do not know. I think I will plan on Colorado to Taylor park next summer with folks from another forum but I will be going to Utah again hopefully soon.

X2,

I won't double up on what Brian told you, but yes it was an embarassing oops on the 2-up story. Call it a case of cranium-rectum invertus. Happens to us all - some more than others.

As for the magazine, we try to pay attention to both crowds - sport and 4x4 as we like both and think each deserves its own unique attention. Appreciate the feedback and we are planning some Colorado stuff in an issue soon.

Bryan

Andy-

First off, I wanted to say thanks for picking up ATV Rider off the shelf. Primedia takes a great deal of pride in their covers and I'm sure they like to hear it was enough to peak your interest into the content of the magazine.

As you all know, I'm no longer with ATV Rider, I left Primedia just before Memorial Day and started at Sand Sports shortly there after. My first ATC (3-wheeler) experience was in the sand, and it's where I have the most fun on an ATV now. Regardless of the publication, I have a deep passion for off-roading.

Also, I just got wind of this thread tonight from Brad Bowlin. He and I still talk from time to time and he thought I had seen the thread and was curious as to why I hadn't responded. I never really said so before, but I spend little time on forums. Just not one to chat it up on the keyboard.

Now, onto the subject at hand. Talk about a pooch-screw...You can only dream what my face looked like when the Polaris factory rep got me on the phone to tell me that the seat on the X2 wasn't in the proper position during our 3-day ride, (and in all the photos in the magazine) Oh crap weren't my exact words, but you can imagine.

And, believe it or not (not even trying to make excuses) blaim is not to be put on one person. The situation was simple, looking back at how it happened. Myself or anyone else at the magazine wasn't given the 5 second "how to" flip the rear seat back into "passenger" position. When we unloaded the quad in Utah, I had been told to look for a loose connection on the seatback and in the 10 minutes we looked for something to be wrong (never did find a problem) we couldn't seem to figure out that the seatback changed position.

I'll be the first to agree that this may seem like the blondest of cheerleader moments, however, my good friend and I,( who has years of Dealership experience) couldn't figure out the secret to flipping the seat into proper position. There is no need to get excited about who is to blame for this. Is it the lack of education I have in mechanical engineering, (maybe) was is not designed so that the dumbest editor could figure it out before telling the world about it (perhaps) or was it a combination of...OEM, Dealer and journalist not having a 10 minute how-to presentation of all the features of the ATV...BINGO!

You can rest assured that all parties that had anything to do with this fubar felt like Gomer Pyle meets Fred Flintsone. Or a really bad episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, where he managed to screw up the simplest thing. We all learned from it and chalked it up to a somewhat embarassing learning experience, that we don't want to do again.

In the article I may have said it was cramped, and it was if you don't have the seat in the correct postion, but I think I remember saying it turned very well and braked very well. Keep in mind that if it felt like it was low on power to me, I'm 225 pounds and with a passenger, it didn't have the git up and go as the Can Am did. (but you can't compare a 500cc to a 650 either)

The idea for this article was about two friends going on an adventure ride. It was intended to make you want to call a friend that you hadn't ridden with in a while and say, "hey man...lets go ride at such in such over the next holiday weekend, I hadn't seen you in a while and wonder how ya been". Don't get me wrong, I wanted to ride the two-ups just as much as the next guy, but since we couldn't get a unit from Arctic Cat for those dates, we didn't want it to seem like some kind of shoot out of two-ups.

The comment that saving a marriage, that my friends wife said was thruthful, when she said it, the four of us burst into laughing. It was her way of saying that the wife might like to just sit back every now and then and not have to worry about trying to keep up with the guys and their egos on the trail.

I don't know if this was the kind of reply you were looking for, and I am sorry it took so long to get to you. To be honest, you and I have something in common. You quickly wanted to defend your thoughts and feelings towards the X2 and I feel the same way when people bad mouth the DS650 for being too big and top heavy. It fits me like a glove and I've had some great memories while riding it. I agree with those who say it has no place on the MX track, but it did win its class in the Baja 1000 in its first year of production. (and I think twice since then)

Not that it's worth anything...but I'm also from your neck of the woods. I grew up about 4 hours south of you...in Newton. Exit 131 on I-35. When my career took a left turn, I ended up in southern California. Talk about a change of pace...Holy crap.

If you ever find yourself headed west and want to experience the Glamis dunes, let me know. You can find me at sandsports.net (Just understand that you'll find sand in all your clothes for weeks after the visit).

Be good and ride safe,

Mark Rolland