UTV Overlanding Across Wisconsin || 600 miles Illinois to Lake Superior [Badger Overland Trail Pt 1]
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- Опубликовано: 3 июл 2023
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Inspired by the Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail, we set out to see if we could find a route for ATV/UTV travel that would take us from the Illinois border, across the entire State of Wisconsin, to the shores of Lake Superior.
This would be our toughest, most challenging adventure yet, as we would be faced with the difficulty of navigating a patchwork of legal road routes and trails to make the 600 mile journey. Of course, we'd be overlanding - so camping along the way, with two children, would add to the challenge. It would be the longest trip we've attempted so far, especially when you factored in another 500 miles for us to make it home again. If we completed it successfully, we figured our total trip would be over 1100 miles.
(And yes, our UTV registration was current... we just had not received our stickers in the mail before our trip!)
Rocky Mountain ATV/MC (purchasing through this link helps support our channel!)
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Viktos (I get lots of questions about my Hilux shirt! LOL)
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Northwoods Family Website - GPS files & decals from our trip
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I don't know which is better. The actual trip or how well you make a video. Keep em coming. Great video, great trip.
Very kind of you 🙏🏼 it’s been a learning process but we feel we get a little better with every video.
Great video as always , we leave Thursday for a overlanding adventure in the Black hills. Inspired for the most part from your videos ! Camping the 1st coupleof nights at Horse Creek to see the bucket list sights near there . Then we will be overlanding the same general path you took . Can't thank you and your family enough for the insperation ! we would have never tried this without seeing you and your family do it first .
That is the nicest complainant anyone could have given us. Thanks so much🙏🏼 Enjoy your trip! Have a great time, you’ll love it, the Black Hills is absolutely our favorite place to visit. Safe travels and thanks again for sharing!!!!
What a fantastic trip and another superior video of the trip and all that you encountered. I as others can't wait to see the map posted of your trip since as a frustrated cheesehead living just south of the border in Illinois, I also would love to make such a trip. I am thinking of doing the Wild River Trail this summer from Rice lake to Superior. Again great job and thanks for great video.
Thanks so much! We’ve got a little work to do to clean up the route and stuff, edit out some of the wrong turns and detours we took 😆 but we’ll have it up to share later this summer!
This is the first of your videos that I've come across, immediately subscribed and looking forward to seeing more.
This is an adventure the kids will never forget. Kudos to you.
Welcome aboard! We have one more video to finish from this trip and another coming up soon. Thanks so much!!!
Awesome video Northwoods family! Keep them coming!
Thank you! Will do!!!
Just wanted to comment and say this is an awesome video! I am actually driving the Tan General that you passed in the Black River State Forest that you have in the video! I remember passing you and admiring your sweet set up!! I notice you have many videos on the Black Hills, have been going there for many years.. such an awesome area especially to ride and camp!
That’s super cool!!! 😆 Our channel is just getting big enough now where a couple people have commented about winding up in our videos. Awesome! So glad you let us know. We love the Black Hills for riding and just visiting in general. We probably wind up there once a year. Thanks for stopping by!
22:18
Great video. I have wanted to build up the courage to make a similar trip. We live in S.W. Wisconsin and would start in the same area. We have driven from Hazel Green to Prairie Du Chein before and we crossed the Wisconsin river in Boscobel which is open to UTV's. That is the furthest we have done though.
Keep the great videos coming!
Thank you! Yes Boscobel is the other spot you can cross, forgot about that when I was talking on video. We’ll have our full route up in a few weeks. It’s a cool trip so if you think you can do it you should try it sometime! Thanks for the kind words!
Awesome job! I dig the suspenseful music. Your use of different cameras and angles is getting really good. I feel like I'm watching a high budget movie at times. The countless hours you've invested into editing is paying off big time. I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to watch the rest of this trip. Keep up the awesome work Adrian and fam. I share your channel every chance I get. I sure hope it explodes in popularity. Side note. When its time, any chance the General gets replaced with an Xpedition?
Hahaha! Awesome. Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the kind words. We tried a little different style of video and I think people like it. Definitely have learned a lot since we started.
Haven’t had a chance to look at the Expedition in person yet but a friend just got one. Always a possibility but for now we’re gonna keep rising our General for a while!
Been watching your vids love em! Quick note on the clutches, use compressed air every cpl hundred miles is ideal to clean them, you will get a ton of belt dust out of them. Also your secondary clutch has square pucks instead of the upgraded round ones later models now have, creates wear that is unfixable so you will want to replace it asap. Looking forward to more content! You're giving us inspiration to Overland with our fam
Really appreciate the heads up on the clutch! I do blow it out occasionally but was just reading I should do it more. Was not aware about the secondary clutch pucks. I will look into that ASAP!
We’re a little over 4000 miles… so I’m a little anxious when we may have to do some clutch work or replacement.
@@TheNorthwoodsFamily I've had to replace both primary and secondary clutches on my 2017 rzr (last year of square roller) so I figured I'd give you a heads up, they make them throw away from factory, for the same price of oem you can get nice aftermarket ones!
I appreciate it! Any aftermarket recommendations? I just started doing some research and there’s a ton of options out there. Obviously we’re hauling heavy loads over varying terrain, but we do need to be able to hit 60mph at times on highways too.
It really depends on what fits your needs, I went with a hunterworks set up. You can call them and tell them what you want it built for, that's all they do is clutches
Maybe a full cab enclosure for a trip like this would be absolutely essential just for comfort! Awesome video!
With air conditioning it might be nice! Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video!
welcome back, you have been missed,
Thanks!!! Wish we could just do the channel full time 😂
I just got back from this exact trip! I did it in a Toyota though, it ended up being a 1600 mile round trip in 3.5 days. I love that you guys do this especially with the kids
Super cool! It’s a neat trip for sure. Going with kids definitely adds a new dimension to it… and a lot more stuff 😆
Blue River or Boscobel In SW WI are crossing points over the Wisconsin river. As a resident of the area I use them regularly. The area is beautiful. Biggest challenge is getting some townships within counties to open their roads. Without designated off-road trails like the more northern part navigation can be a challenge. The economic loss makes no sense.
It’s stunning. We love this part of the state. One of the tough spots navigating was north of the river. There’s a lot of holdout communities in Vernon county and we love that area so that was a bummer. With limited road routes legally crossing some of the state highways became an issue. For the longest time that’s what held this up.
You’re right about trails too. Even seeing more old railroad beds converted to trails down here would be great. That would be amazing to have some of those connect to more northern trails… I think it’s an investment that would pay itself off many times over.
@@TheNorthwoodsFamily The western part of Richland County has three townships that are off limits. My sister-in-law lives in Crawford County and is on the border of a township that's closed making it impossible to travel that direction without a big drive around. Good maps are essential with so many "dead ends" due to a few stubborn people. We also find it interesting that state highways are off limits but the Amish that pay no license fees or fuel tax are allowed to use them.
I've been waiting for this adventure, I can't wait for the future episodes!!
Awesome! More from this trip is coming!
Another fantastic video. Narration is good. Belt change was good. Glad that the problem and not something worse. 🎉
Thanks! We were relieved too!
So cool... I recognize some of the trails.
Awesome! Thanks!
Good video. it looks like you had your fair share of problems. It is good to have you back and I look forward to seeing your videos and adventures this summer. Thanks for your efforts!
Thanks Reed!!!
Awesome video thanks for taking us along have a great day be safe. Glad it was only a belt.
Believe me we were too!!! 😂 Thanks so much!!
I really enjoyed Part 1... Be Safe!
Thanks Seamus!!
We planned and did a black hills trip that was solely inspired by you all last year. We ended up doing riding 500 miles in 5 days but stayed in a cabin.
Awesome! Love hearing stuff like that! Nothing wrong with staying in a cabin, great way to enjoy the Black Hills!
Awesome guys, be safe! Love all your adventures. We live in ixonia but my wife is from Cobb (her dad Jerry may have sold you your machine at Ritchies lol) Anyways want to do this with my kids some day (they are 3 and 4yo) but we have 4,000mi on our 22xp4 after 13 months! We're currently in warrans for a week but I'm gonna shoot up through hatfield on thursday and check it out! Can't wait for the rest of your trip!!! Love riding in lots of areas you have been! Oconto, Forest, Marinette and iron ctys and Harrison hills recently! Be safe guys!
Awesome! Yeah I’m not sure if the clip made it in but we rolled straight through Cobb. Just down the road from us. Our machine came from a dealer in Minnesota but we had the Barneveld Ritchie’s work on our machine.
Sounds like you’ve been getting some good miles in on that new XP! Enjoy the Hatfield area!
Sounds great thank you!! We enjoyed the ride up there! Keep up the great videos!!! And stay safe!!! I'll watch for Cobb again lolol!
We enjoy your videos so much. Fellow wisconsinite here and just came back from a week in Hatfield at East Arbutus. Did you stop by Lake Arbutus then head up to Snyder County Park which is about 15 miles north of Lake Arbutus? They do allow ATV's in East Arbutus (Jackson County side) in one section of that park, and also West Arbutus (Clark County side). Looking forward to you next segment! I hope to do some overlanding one day as well. Also curious if you're looking at that new Expedition machine!
Hello fellow cheesehead! We did pass through Snyder County Park the next day - we’ve stayed there with friends several times at the group camp area. Haven’t been to East Arbutus but we’ll have to check it out sometime. We camped in the Clark County side of Arbutus this time, the only ATV sites are right on the trail with no hookups. But it’s nice they allow the access they do.
Next segment should be up soon! The new Expedition looks pretty cool! We’re looking forward to checking one out sometime but gonna be sticking with our General for a while I think!
Hunter works belts lasted me over 5 k miles of traveling long distances. How that happens is the chuck is taken out when the belt slacks into the belt box exhaust port on the top above the secondary. There is a part you can install to prevent this OR you can sand down the edges of the clutch exhaust port.
That’s impressive. We’ll have to check them out!! Thanks!
Great video. I would have changed the belt tho. I've learned it's way faster than limping them back😂
In hindsight you’re right. But in the moment I couldn’t look weak in front of the wife and kids. Had to stubbornly press forward even though I knew I was wrong 😂 😉
Awesome video!! I have lots of questions so I’ll ask in the overland UTV group 😁
You betcha! We’ll catch ya over there.
Happy Family👨👩👧 3:59
Thanks!!
Not sure anyone has mention it yet, so I will. Easier to remove the secondary to install a belt. OR use your belt tool in the glove box to expand the secondary sheaves to allow the belt to slip on.
This video covers all tools and procedure.
ruclips.net/video/6Yqndp4whjY/видео.html
I have not done that - remove the secondary but I’ll take a look. I have RMATVMC belt kit with a similar tool (it does work better than the factory one though that one works too…) it’s always a struggle to get the thing back on though over the secondary. So I may look at your first suggestion. I actually am planning a clutch upgrade anyways so I need to learn how to do it. Thanks!
I definitely want to do this on my ATV. When your done would be awesome if you could share this to the community!
You bet! We have some work to do and another trip coming up but I think in August we’ll be able to post it.
Great video. Someday I hope to do the Transamerica trail via side-by-side. Question with all of the gear that you guys pack did you have to upgrade the shocks on your machine?
Thanks! You’ve probably seen it but if you haven’t check out the channel “Al Roden.” I think his videos inspired all of this!
Negative on the shocks. I’ve adjusted them a little but they are the factory Fox shocks. We figured we’d run them until it was time to replace them and then maybe would upgrade. Maybe I shouldn’t put this in the universe but at about 4000 miles we are on the first clutch too.
Oh yea I have seen his channel as he is from my home state of Az! Yes, he was a great inspiration to me. Well, that is great that you have gotten so many miles on the original clutch and shocks. Stay safe and look forward to seeing the next video.
Hey, what about the other half of the trip
I to really enjoy watching your trips
🍻
it’s coming soon! hold your horses! 😜
For that long of a drive, if you think 1 spate belt will be fine, bring 2 more on top of that.
Yeah, we’re going to bring at least two spares along on each trip now, and be more careful about inspecting it beforehand. We also installed a new clutch and are going to be a little more careful about varying our RPMs. It’s just hard to do on those long boring stretches of road or RR bed trails.
Great video! Does that Polaris have a belt temperature gauge on it?
How many miles were on that belt that failed?
Sometimes that belt material gets caught up in the exhaust piping then doesn’t allow the belt heat to escape and it will destroy a new belt pretty quick.
It does not. I’ve thought about adding one. I don’t recall the belt mileage… 1500-2k maybe? But before it broke we had a long couple hours of higher speed highways. Probably should have slowed down and varied the throttle more. I’m sure that contributed to the failure. That is a downside to the CVT transmission on these kinds of trips
I would have never guessed a belt could cause misfire codes. Now I know if it should happen to me.
Yep! First time it happened it was a very minor chip in the side of the belt and it shouldn’t have needed to be replaced, but it’s also nice to get a warning it’s going bad instead of just breaking.
Are there Alignment Marks on Pulleys?…Is there a Tensioner?…Great Video…Great Family Trip…
Great video as always, Cant wait for part 2. From another General riding Cheese Head
Thanks brother!! 🧀
Love your trip…but for the life of me I can’t figure out why people buy Polaris product….
There constantly broke down….the 6 seat pioneer would have never let u down…
I live in Utah we live on sxs….6000 miles a year…good video tho
Thanks! Lots of machines out there and everyone has pros and cons. One thing to consider, which I learned working in a similar industry is Polaris has huge market share. When a certain model or brand is sold in higher numbers, even if they have the same failure rate, you’re going to hear about more from people and on the internet. While I think to an extent there are machines which earn stellar reputations for reliability, between us and our friends who own one, the idea that Polaris always break down just hasn’t been true in our experience.
Not saying they’re perfect. Some decisions the company makes with products makes me scratch my head, but overall we’ve had a good experience. The only issue we’ve really had is shredding a belt, and our clutch was going after 5k but we aren’t riding like normal folks 😆
Thanks for watching. Appreciate the comment and we loved riding in Utah! Can’t wait to get back :)
Have you seen the new Expedition enclosed side by side? Any thoughts on that?
Yep. It’s a really cool machine. I’d love to take one on a trip and see how she does. You can set it up right from the factory how you want it. Being able to keep your gear enclosed is awesome. I’m curious how they handle with the extra weight, and the cost is definitely something to watch. $45k is easily obtainable when you start adding accessories.
There should be a right angle treaded tool in your tool kit that spreads the driven clutch’s sheaves and makes changing the belt a snap…I meant, a breeze.
Is driven clutch the same as the primary clutch? I had a tool for the secondary clutch. I’m trying to learn more about clutches because from what I have read I’ll probably need to be replacing it at some point. Thanks!
@@TheNorthwoodsFamily drive clutch is the one attached to motor and is the smaller in diameter of the two. The driven (large diameter clutch) is the one that the threaded tool screws into and once fully inserted pushes the sheaves apart.
I want to try this one year in my grizzly but starting near Lake Geneva to Rice lake
There’s a lot of routes you could run. It’d be a great adventure.
I would like to see a Polaris overlander with a Honda GL1800 Goldwing engine.
The torque increase would be insane! I wonder what the weight difference is. I think our state limits UTVs by law to 1000cc or less.
what kind of speed did you average on the road riding and the trail riding
Hard to say because they’re all so different. Average road speed probably 40. We can comfortably cruise 50-55 on roads if speed limits allow. We top out at 67 or so but it guzzles gas, is hard on the machine and gets uncomfortable.
Trails… probably average 20mph. Some more open ones we’ll hit 40-45 others but 15-20 is pretty common.
Your first mistake was using a Polaris for this expedition
😆 🤷♂️
please post this route.. the correct one you took on a website or some place for reference. Ill pay if needed for the site. perhaps a paper map that is laminated.
We absolutely will! Our website is northwoods.family but we are redoing it. I have some work to do to clean up the route (fix our detours and such) and make sure it is accurate… but then we plan to have a downloadable .GPX file and maybe even some paper maps. Give us a little time but we’re working on it. If you haven’t subscribed do so, and when we have it all ready we’ll post a video on it!
@@TheNorthwoodsFamily patient.. but there is a business opportunity
Looks like you rode on highways. I heard most southern counties in Wisconsin frown on that? I know Southern Michigan does. Northern Lower Peninsula county roads its ok as long as you're at 25mph on the right side of the road. Michigan highways are a no no for the entire state. UP is a little more forgiving though.
The first two days were mostly highways. Southwest Wisconsin is actually extremely ATV/UTV friendly but there are a few town boards that are still holding out for whatever reason. Southeast Wisconsin not as much but it’s more urban that direction.
State highways are off limits except when in a local jurisdiction that has designated that part of the highway a UTV route or in certain circumstances when connecting two routes.
Speed limits are set by the counties and local jurisdictions. A lot started at 30mph but a good number are starting to realize using posted speeds are probably safer.
Northwoods addressed it well... We can't ride on state highways (ones with numbers) except in a few specifically designated places. County highways (ones with letters) are open to UTV's. In a rural area these are the dominant major roads along with township roads.
What was the paper map in the binder you were using in the video at 1:24 sec?
It is a map book of all the road rousted and trails in Wisconsin from VVMapping.com
Can't do that in ky. No street riding
Bummer :( some states are pretty restrictive.
If do something like this.. I think I'll get a geo tracker
You know it’s funny because there are SxS bigger than those old Trackers…. or those little Suzukis!
Is this actually legal? Just driving a UTV with no turn signals or differentials on the highway.
Yes. And we do have turn signals, and probably use them more than the average motorist on the highway 🫤
Specific regulations vary by state but in Wisconsin there are roads and highways marked as ATV/UTV routes.
How can I get a copy of the route to put into my GPS ? We want to take this trip.
It’s available on our website. You can leave a donation if you’d like otherwise you can download it for free
northwoods.family/store/ols/products
Why not just take t car?
The trails are north of Wausau, take t buggy from there.
Because you’d never watch a video about that.
😂
👍🏼
What's the helmets for
I never understood why people question someone else’s use of safety gear? I mean isn’t it obvious?
Beyond the simple answer of protecting our heads in a crash - For the kids it’s state law. Law enforcement will give you a ticket if kids don’t have helmets.
They also hold our comm system so we can talk with one another.
People get a false sense of safety in a SxS - they don’t offer a lot of protection in a collision with a car. In the last annual report I read on fatal UTV accidents in Wisconsin, everyone killed was not wearing a helmet.
So those are our reasons. We couldn’t care less what other people do, but on a thousand mile trip it made sense to us.
This is why you should’ve bought the Northstar how many times if you had problems with that windshield unbelievable I don’t get people like that you keep adding all the accessories you could’ve had at the beginning
There is no General Northstar edition. Never has been.
@@TheNorthwoodsFamily yes I know that my point is you should’ve bought a Northstar
Jeez, might as well drive your minivan. What’s the difference?
Give it a shot and you can tell me 🙄
These side by sides are just destroying the trails. Be a man and ride a motorcycle