Years Of Ownership
Bower has owned and ridden a number of ATVs over all those years. Some of those vehicles included a Yamaha 80 ATV (his first ATV), Yamaha Big Bear, an Action Age Scrambler 6 wheeler, Honda Odyssey, a couple of ARGOs (both a 6-wheeler and 8-wheeler) and two Honda TRX 300s, which he still owns.
He used all manner of devices and means to operate his ATVs, many of which had foot clutches he had to figure out how to use. He does have some movement on his left side so he could shift the Yamahas, but “I do remember reaching down with my hand sometimes to shift.” On his TRX he designed a half-inch piece of pipe three feet long that he welded right on the side of the foot shifter so he could use it to shift with his hand. However, he said, that didn’t always work well as he had trouble with it stripping out the spline. He came up with a new design that works well. His Odyssey and ARGOs were hand operated so that helped.
In May of this year, Bower bought his first side-by-side, the Maverick Trail. “I kind of wondered at my age about buying one of these things,” he said, pointing to his Maverick Trail.
Choosing the Maverick Trail was by design, he said. “I definitely got the 50-inch on purpose,” Bower said. “I live a mile from the forest and there are width restrictions.” He said he thought about buying a Honda Pioneer (the 500 is also a 50-inch model) but in the end he chose the Maverick Trail. “I read a lot of reviews about it and decided on the Trail.”
