Side By Side’s these days can reach speeds in excess of 70 mph, right off the showroom floor. These are not GoKarts or toys, but highly advanced off road machines. The most important part of having a great experience is being safe. We created this video for new off-roaders, or those who are interested in joining this lifestyle, and strongly encourage you to make sure you consider all of these items before you go riding. Coming from a motorcycle background, we always try and respect the terrain and surroundings, but are also prepared if something goes wrong. This is especially true if you have no prior off road experience.

First on the list is 4/5 point harnesses. Although they take more time to get in and out of, we do NOT drive & ride in these machines without them. We recommend 3” size harnesses for the front, and 2” for the rear (if you have a 4 seat SxS) for smaller riders. Here are some links of harnesses we’ve used and recommend:

PRP Harnesses: https://www.amazon.com/PRP-Point-Harn…

Dragonfire Harness Pass Through: https://www.amazon.com/14-18-POLARIS-…

Second is a helmet and eye protection. Yes, these vehicles have a roll cage, but you only have one head, and we HIGHLY recommend wearing one. The best setup is a car driving/ sport bike helmet style with a shield, these do a great job of keeping dust out of your eyes, comfortable for sunglasses, and some work with fresh air systems. Motocross helmets and goggles work great as well. Here are some links of helmets and “closed cell foam” goggles we recommend:

PCI HJC CS-R3: https://www.pciraceradios.com/collect…​

Impact OS20: https://www.impactraceproducts.com/Im…​

Fox V1: https://www.amazon.com/Fox-Racing-Off…​

Oakley Sand Goggles: https://www.amazon.com/Oakley-L-Frame…

Communicating with your group can make a ride safer, easier, and far more enjoyable. This is really the only way to go on big group rides, to direct the group, look out and keep tabs on each other, and warn others of issues if they arise. Check the links below for the radios we use and love:

Rugged RH-5R https://www.amazon.com/Rugged-Radios-…​

PCI Ultimate 2 https://www.pciraceradios.com/collect…

Knowing where you are going, where you’ve been and where you need to be can prevent lots of issues and potential safety concerns. In this day in age, it’s easy to have a basic setup that will prevent you from getting lost, running out of fuel or food, and assist in recovery if needed. Not to mention, it never hurts to have more than one group member paying attention to where you are headed, especially if it’s a new trail or riding area. SxS’s are designed for exploring, checkout these options below, that we use and love:

Ride Command Smartphone App: https://ridecommand.polaris.com/​

LeadNav Tablet App: https://leadnavsystems.com/​

Lowrance Elite 5 GPS: https://www.pciraceradios.com/collect…

It’s important to know your surroundings, especially when backing up, or riding in an open area like the desert or sand dunes. Some SxS’s (particularly the Can Am X3) are difficult to see out of, especially if you are adding on accessories that block your field of view. Check out our mirror options here:
Chupacabra Offroad: www.chupacabraoffroad.com

Finally, don’t head out on an all-day ride or weekend trip without some additional light. That ride that should end aby 4pm, might go a little longer (especially if you are having fun). Stock lighting is barely passable, and having at least one additional light makes a massive difference. Also, if you are in large groups, in dusty conditions, amber chase lights drastically increase safety for everyone, as they are the only type of lights that can penetrate thick dust. Here are some options we’ve tried and approve of:

MicTuning 30” LED Lightbar: https://www.amazon.com/MICTUNING-150W…​

Baja Designs XL 80: https://www.bajadesigns.com/products/…​

Baja Designs S2 Amber Dust: https://www.bajadesigns.com/products/…​

Hopefully these tips help you have many safe, trouble free riding experiences!

#RZR​ #CanamX3​ #safety​ #offroad​ #adventure

Transcription:

If you own a side-by-side here’s six things you need to think about to increase the safety on your next ride hi I’m nick olson founder of chupacabra off-road first item on the list are four or five point seatbelt harnesses now if you do have a stock Polaris RZR you’re going to either need to cut holes in your stock seats or upgrade it’s extremely important that you are secure and the standard three point harness is just don’t cut it in my opinion for vehicles that can do 75 miles an hour straight off the showroom floor I recommend some wider three-inch shoulder pads for the front and smaller two-inch in the rear if you have a four seat vehicle as they tend to work well for smaller riders second on the list is a helmet and goggles now I’ve tried all different types of variations a lot of helmets are not required in most states but strongly recommended and we really believe in them my personal favorite is a helmet with a flip-up shield similar to a sport bike or car racing style helmet this ends up being really comfortable you put some sunglasses on underneath when it’s sunny and it definitely does a great job of keeping the dust out of your eyes if you’re using a traditional motocross helmet with some goggles make sure you get some goggles that are specified as sand goggles these have a closed cell foam which works better for keeping the dust and sand out of your eyes third on the list is communication riding with big groups it’s amazing to be able to communicate with each other to warn your buddies or friends of an oncoming car or vehicle and just let someone know if you’ve had an issue the best setup is if you and your riding group are all using in-car intercom systems from brands like PCI and rugged with everybody on the same Channel we have the easy ability to communicate from miles apart warn others of issues potential hazards and I can’t tell you how much more enjoyable makes the ride when you’re back from your leader you can listen to any potential dangers and just ride and your experience another budget alternative setup is a handheld radio popular with companies like rugged you can plug those into your helmet or headphones easily have them in your door bags or in your pocket and use those to achieve the same thing and communicate with other people who have intercom systems next on the list is a GPS now you can go with the free downloadable app that works really well like the Polaris ride command use right off of your smartphone or if you have a tablet mounted in the dash you can go with a Laurens system which is very popular or a lot of people have been using tablets and downloading popular apps such as lead nap all of these have options where you can program routes you can leave breadcrumbs you can see where you’ve gone if you’re doing an out and back a turn you might have missed or wanted to make sure you new and drop some waypoints and popular spots you need to like to visit again in the future or mark for future reference in a new riding area right now I’ve got an iPad linked up with the lead nav app and I’m loving how it works whether you’re on a race course or you’re just going to ride a new area the amount of layers and information you can get with the mapping technology is great it’s very intuitive and easy to use and download new maps and it’s always going to update as software updates are available fifth on the list are side and center mirrors these are very important to have if you’re trying to keep tabs on your riding buddies behind you just be able to see when you’re backing your vehicle out of your garage or in and out of your trailer and most of these mirrors like our chupacabra side mirrors have a breakaway function so they’re gonna move out of the way if you hit some brush without breaking or cracking the final item on the list you need to consider is additional lighting the stock lights are barely good enough for nighttime riding and they’re not bright enough for the speeds these vehicles can do I highly suggest some additional lighting in the front whether it’s down low which works better in the dust and/or fog if you ride in large groups and dusty situations like we have in the southwest rear-facing amber chase lights are a complete GameChanger and make life so much better for the riders behind you to see which direction of trail might be flowing if they can’t see the trail all the products are linked below in the description or if you have any other additional questions send us an email sales at chupacabraoffroad.com