Some people think it's dumb to do things to your
quad that may be only "for looks." But I totally disagree. I think
how your quad looks is a big part of racing. Especially if you are
interested in getting and keeping sponsors to help you continue
racing at all. You want to draw spectators to your quad - they see
your sponsor stickers, they associate your sponsors' products with
your good-looking quad, your sponsors are happy.
There are hundreds of things you can do to your
quad to make it look cooler, but very few things you can do to the
front of your quad other than add an aftermarket bumper. How do you
improve the look of your quad from that angle? Your numbers have a
lot to do with what it looks like up-front, but now there are also
a few companies that are creating very trick-looking carbon fiber
hood designs for the YFZ. I think the best looking one out there
right now is from QuadTech.
They have two different designs. The first is
called the Lo-Pro, a shorter hood that goes along with the curves
of the YFZ. The Hi-Pro version has a taller grill and stands quite
a bit up off of the plastic. I personally think the Lo-Pro Hood
looks better, but an advantage to the Hi-Pro is you don't have to
cut your plastic, which may be a significant factor in your choice
if you want to preserve your original front plastic. With the
Lo-Pro, you have to cut a small triangle of plastic out for it to
fit because the hood dips slightly. There is a difference in the
grill insert style too, so your preference may be based on
that.
Since we were installing the Lo-Pro, the first
step was to cut the hole in the plastic. Quadtech supplies you with
a template so that you know exactly where to cut. With the template
taped onto your plastic, we followed the rough cut line with a die
grinder. (We do recommend practicing a little on scrap plastic, if
you have it available. It is pretty easy to accidentally go
off-course.) After it is cut, file the edges to remove the plastic
shreds left behind.
With the nose cut out, line up the hood, screw it
on, and then drill two additional holes. These holes are for
plastic rivets to help anchor the hood. With the rivets in, you can
sit back and stare at your awesome-looking new hood. This cosmetic
modification to your quad will cost you about $200, and is worth at
least that for the "customizing" effect.
After the hood was on, we put on a new set of
numbers (the same shape as the stock graphics), though we did have
to trim the tip of it off for it to fit right on the new carbon
fiber. A standard square number background will fit fine.
A young gun from way back, Justin began racing ATVs and writing his impressions for Off-Road.com at 12 years old. Now an experienced hand with a wrench or a computer keyboard, he's a key contributor to several sections of Off-Road.com. His current 4x4 series includes Project "Off Road Toyota."
Articles by Justin Waters
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