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The
Outlaw 525 Models come with Fox non-reservoi
front shocks, and the 450MXR comes with
piggyback Fox shocks. All three models
have 10" of wheel travel up front |
Onto the trails we went, and the first stop was
Pennsylvania, where I have my practice and test
tracks. I took some time to dial in the suspension
on both quads as much as possible. I tried to
get the ride height of the Outlaws down as low
as I could, as they sat high and felt over sprung.
The front shocks on both quads have single rate
springs, and I unthreaded the lockrings until
the springs were slapping around on the shock
body with the front end off the ground, but I
still could not get the front end down where I
thought it should be. A more progressive spring
stack would definitely help out here. The rear
shock on the S model is fully adjustable, with
compression and rebound adjustment in addition
to variable spring preload on the dual rate spring
stack. I backed off the spring preload until the
rear was a little lower than the front. The IRS
rear shocks have only spring preload adjustment
on the single rate springs, which makes the shocks
virtually unadjustable.
While I was watching someone ride the IRS Outlaw
around the MX track, I realized that it chirped
when he let off the throttle. Seriously, it chirps!
Due to some strange back pressure/spark arrester/end
cap combination it sounds like a baby chick on
steroids when you chop the throttle. Anyway, as
expected, the IRS Outlaw was the king of the rocky
and rooty trails. The stock radial tires made
it hook up that much more in the nasty stuff.
One thing that I can’t understand is why
the wheel studs aren’t the same metric thread
as every other sport quad out there. Also, why
is the front wheel lug pattern Yamaha and the
rear Honda? The KTM quads are the same way. Racers
and serious trail riders usually have a few sets
of tires for different conditions, and it is not
a good selling point that they can only use half
their wheels if they switch to a Polaris or KTM
from their Japanese quad.
The next stop for the Outlaws was the whooped
out sand trails of Southern New Jersey. A group
of us hit the trails, and as soon as we got into
the deep whoops, it was apparent that I could
get to the quad’s maximum safe speed limit
real fast. Even though I couldn’t go as
fast as my buddies on their modified quads, the
Outlaws made it clear when I was on the edge.
The S model could hold a faster pace through the
whoops, as the IRS was noticeably springier. The
rear shock on the S model has compression and
rebound adjustments, but they are in a limited
range, and I could only make it a bit better.
The IRS needs aftermarket rear shocks to make
it go faster through the whoops, with no adjustability
on the stock shocks. One of the novice riders
in our group loved the plushness of the IRS, and
as long as he didn’t get up to that magic
mph when the rear would start kicking, it was
pure pleasure.
