[slaterancher]

Hello all! I am from North Central Indiana (near South Bend). I don't currently own any ATVs, and I never have. I have ridden a couple in the past, both a Polaris Sportsman and two Honda Ranchers. All three of those were owned by friends. I am hoping to buy an ATV for myself for my birthday in about two months. I'm currently saving up, and currently planning to purchase a 2017 Honda Rancher DCT EPS in Slate Blue. I'm super excited to own an ATV, and hope to both learn from and contribute to this forum! From what I have seen before joining, this forum is great!

EDIT: I almost forgot to say why I want an ATV! I live on a small farm, and will be using the ATV for mostly fun, but a little bit of work. I'll be using it to plow in the winter (long driveway), buzzing around the farm, and fun riding with friends. Once I get a little more experience I hope to go on some trail rides as well!

 

[SamUK]

Welcome to the forum from sunny England,UK!

 

[mrbb]

welcome to the site, and a Rancher sounds like a perfect atv for what you want to do , has both some work and play in it to do all you want!

ride safe and wear a helmet, something so many don't do any more on ATV"S
, you being a NEW guy, its a much better idea , opp's and accidents happen to even experienced riders!
as they say better safe than sorry!

 

[slaterancher]

Welcome to the forum from sunny England,UK!

Thank you!

welcome to the site, and a Rancher sounds like a perfect atv for what you want to do , has both some work and play in it to do all you want!

ride safe and wear a helmet, something so many don't do any more on ATV"S
, you being a NEW guy, its a much better idea , opp's and accidents happen to even experienced riders!
as they say better safe than sorry!

Thanks! I will definitely be wearing a helmet when I ride! I am looking at getting a neck brace as well since I have heard they are quite important too!

 

[_Wilson_]

Welcome to the forums from TN.

 

[mrbb]

safety gear I highly recommend is, helmet goggles and gloves
as for a neck brace?
unless you plan to ride very aggressively, there really NOT needed, SURE won't hurt to have one on if a crash happens, but, normal easy going riding, I doubt you'd need it, and find it some what uncomfortable to be honest, which could cause you more problems than not!
if I had to pick extra gear, it would be GOOD foot wear, sneakers and flip flops are NOT proper riding gear, yet many will wear it????
20+ yrs of racing things off road and such, and being in and seeing FAR too many crashes, from minor to deaths
I have seen what works and what doesn't
a LOT of things come down to HOW you ride, but an accident will always be just that an accident, and no one know';s when one will happen, or we'd all prevent it LOL
but the name of the game in crashing from MY experience is this
your ATV /motorcycle STOPS< you don't, thus you get launched forward , off the back(in flip overs) or off to the side
and then gravity comes out in force LOL

humans seems to fly like lawn darts in crashes, HEAD first MOST times LOL

so, that's where that helmet comes in
NEXT< we as humans when we HAVE the time, we tend to STICK out arms out in front of us to help with the impact, and that's where them gloves come into play, and then your RIGHT back to that helmet
as most crashes over 7 MPH< the average HUMAN< cannot support themselves with there arms to STOP an impact, SO< hands hit the ground first, then arms FOLD< due to G force, and then your head hits that ground,
googles will help here as they will keep many things OUT of your eye's and allow you to see what's coming
so, thus, the best 3 things to wear while riding, is a helmet, goggles and gloves!, the first 3 things used in MOST all crashes
getting tossed of an atv/motorcycle, BOOTS give ankle support, and that can save you from breaking them ankles and even toes and such, as IF you crash and start to FLIP, odds are your landing on an ankle at some point LOL
or just tossed off and sort of land on your feet like<<


neck braces,they work, and come in real handy on BIGGER impacts and crashes, MX and sport ATV guys on tracks, there almost mandated in most places any more, big air, leads to HARD landings if landing wrong

higher the jump, or faster the speed, better they can save your butt
BUT a Rancher and riding about a farm and doing some work,and basic trail riding at normal pace?
most will never need one and just find them annoying to wear, and when ANYTHING is viewed as annoying to wear, its real easy to NOT wear one
its why I gather SO many DON"T wear helmets, as they get in the way of there drinking LOL
or find them HOT or??

I'm guilty at times of NOT wearing one on the farm or back yard, but come trail time, I feel lost without one, guess wearing one for 30+ yrs of riding, it just feels ODD to me not having one on, and I know they saved me far too many times to NOT have one one!
many crashes are NOT your fault, but them of others??
so skills/experience ? don't always mean you don't need one?

sorry on the long read, just offering a new guy some advice here!

 

[slaterancher]

safety gear I highly recommend is, helmet goggles and gloves
as for a neck brace?
unless you plan to ride very aggressively, there really NOT needed, SURE won't hurt to have one on if a crash happens, but, normal easy going riding, I doubt you'd need it, and find it some what uncomfortable to be honest, which could cause you more problems than not!
if I had to pick extra gear, it would be GOOD foot wear, sneakers and flip flops are NOT proper riding gear, yet many will wear it????
20+ yrs of racing things off road and such, and being in and seeing FAR too many crashes, from minor to deaths
I have seen what works and what doesn't
a LOT of things come down to HOW you ride, but an accident will always be just that an accident, and no one know';s when one will happen, or we'd all prevent it LOL
but the name of the game in crashing from MY experience is this
your ATV /motorcycle STOPS< you don't, thus you get launched forward , off the back(in flip overs) or off to the side
and then gravity comes out in force LOL

humans seems to fly like lawn darts in crashes, HEAD first MOST times LOL

so, that's where that helmet comes in
NEXT< we as humans when we HAVE the time, we tend to STICK out arms out in front of us to help with the impact, and that's where them gloves come into play, and then your RIGHT back to that helmet
as most crashes over 7 MPH< the average HUMAN< cannot support themselves with there arms to STOP an impact, SO< hands hit the ground first, then arms FOLD< due to G force, and then your head hits that ground,
googles will help here as they will keep many things OUT of your eye's and allow you to see what's coming
so, thus, the best 3 things to wear while riding, is a helmet, goggles and gloves!, the first 3 things used in MOST all crashes
getting tossed of an atv/motorcycle, BOOTS give ankle support, and that can save you from breaking them ankles and even toes and such, as IF you crash and start to FLIP, odds are your landing on an ankle at some point LOL
or just tossed off and sort of land on your feet like<<


neck braces,they work, and come in real handy on BIGGER impacts and crashes, MX and sport ATV guys on tracks, there almost mandated in most places any more, big air, leads to HARD landings if landing wrong

higher the jump, or faster the speed, better they can save your butt
BUT a Rancher and riding about a farm and doing some work,and basic trail riding at normal pace?
most will never need one and just find them annoying to wear, and when ANYTHING is viewed as annoying to wear, its real easy to NOT wear one
its why I gather SO many DON"T wear helmets, as they get in the way of there drinking LOL
or find them HOT or??

I'm guilty at times of NOT wearing one on the farm or back yard, but come trail time, I feel lost without one, guess wearing one for 30+ yrs of riding, it just feels ODD to me not having one on, and I know they saved me far too many times to NOT have one one!
many crashes are NOT your fault, but them of others??
so skills/experience ? don't always mean you don't need one?

sorry on the long read, just offering a new guy some advice here!

Thanks so much for the advice and time put into this! I may forgo the neck brace then since I definitely won't be doing any aggressive riding for a long while! Maybe years down the road, but I can get a neck brace then if need be. And that will give me more money for other gear.

Would you consider leather farm boots (like steel toe boots) to be adequate ankle protection? Since it's mostly farm stuff I would need the farm boots for the work type stuff. I guess I could get riding boots for when I am doing trail riding. I have size 17 feet, so finding boots in my size can be difficult sometimes!

Thanks again!

 

[mrbb]

yes I would all decent work boots good enough for most day to day working and riding, and better than I bet most wear to be honest
Actual MX type boots , again won';t really be needed unless you riding very sporty like
so, YUP< decent work boots will be fine
ONLY advice on the, is watch the shoe laces, you DON"T want them getting caught on foot pegs or brake petal, or foot shifter (pending what atv you get)

 

[slaterancher]

yes I would all decent work boots good enough for most day to day working and riding, and better than I bet most wear to be honest
Actual MX type boots , again won';t really be needed unless you riding very sporty like
so, YUP< decent work boots will be fine
ONLY advice on the, is watch the shoe laces, you DON"T want them getting caught on foot pegs or brake petal, or foot shifter (pending what atv you get)

Thank you! I will keep my shoelaces short or tucked!

 

[mrbb]

yeah, reason I say this, is, I have seen more than a few folks get lases caught and when they go to get off atv, FALL, or, in a crash, get STUCK to the machine unable to get away from it,
as they say, some times its the little things that get you LOL

 

[Goober]

Welcome!
I wear muck boots cuz no laces and I don't like wet muddy pant cuffs
If you had neck surgery your doc might recommend a neck brace--wearing a helmet for the first time might cause you discomfort as well. Most people don't think about it.