A Quick Family Outing with the New 2014 Can-Am Maverick Max X rs DPS

Posted on August 9, 2014

A Quick Family Outing with the New
2014 Can-Am Maverick Max X rs DPS

Can-Am Maverick Max X rs DPS at Kane Springs, Idaho

Story and photos by Danny Adair, PayDirt Media

My full time gig isn’t what you may think when reading an article on UTVGuide.net about adventures in one of the baddest UTVs on the planet right now. By day I spend most of my time in an office designing and creating marketing messages for companies. When the weekend comes its now filled with a soccer game for the daughter, yard work and some more marketing work. Actually, my life may be very similar to yours.

A few months back I approached Jon Crowley about helping me spend more time in the dirt, with my family. I had typically ridden my dirt bike on the weekend, but with so much work going on during the week, its becoming more important to spend time with the family on the weekends. So how about a 4 seat UTV? We can get dirty and have fun with the whole family. I think Jon was caught out of left-field when I asked him to send one of his many UTVs up to Idaho. Im sure he was thinking, Youre crazy Danny.

After he thought about my proposition he realized I may have something special here. I could take UTVs where he would likely never visit without a big road trip, and I could share from a perspective of what its like to bring a young family of four to some amazing off-road adventures, local and legendary.

On Tuesday we began the journey as I took a day off from the office to drive from Boise, Idaho to Fallon, Nevada to meet Jon and the all new 2014 Can Am Maverick Max . Lucky for me I had a buddy yearning for a road trip so the 800 mile round trip adventure went fairly quick with all of the conversations of where to take the new Can-Am, never the less, still a long day.

Saturday arrived, and yes we still had a soccer game at 10:00 am, but then it was finally time to hit the dirt! We loaded the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Crew Cab with the necessities: helmets, snacks, water, AO cooler and some sweatshirts (just in case the sunny weather changed).

Can-Am Maverick MAX on a 12 foot trailer

Loading the 12 flatbed single axle trailer is a breeze. The Can-Am Maverick MAX consumes every inch of the space, and the Speed Strap 2 ratchet tie downs (rated to 3,300lbs.) are very nice to lock the 1,500 lb. 4 seater to the deck. Speed Strap definitely focused on the details with their tie downs. Each strap features an integrated strap to quickly and cleanly wrap around the chassis or suspension arms by locking to its black CAD plated snap ring. That feature alone keeps hooks from scratching the chassis or arms with no worry of a tie-down coming unlatched. Other details like the wide grip handle, no-scratch covered barrel ends, and hook-and-loop straps to hold the loose strap excess that usually have us tying 5 loops and 2 knots to keep them from slapping in the wind. Speed Strap has truly made a towing necessity an eye opener to how these USA made tie downs can one-up the tie-downs you may be using.

After loading up, we made a short drive to the Reynolds Creek Rd. OHV area, just one hour south of Boise. As I mentioned, Ive ridden dirt bikes, so my goal has always been to find the smallest trail possible, guess what, now Im learning to find bigger trails. Much of the area is designated for 50 or less vehicles. After a quick conversation with some friendly UTV weekenders, they pointed us down the road to the Kane Springs parking area where a trailhead starts, and plenty wide enough for the 64 wide Maverick MAX.

We quickly unloaded, strapped the kiddos into their seats and headed out.

First Impressions of the 2014 Can-Am Maverick Max X RS DPS

Great Power, Smooth Ride, Very Controllable

With the kids first ride I wasnt about to tear down the trail like maniac to forever scare them, but I couldnt wait to confirm their love for riding. We cruised up the trail crossing the Idaho desert strewn with lava rock and sage brush. The kids began to smile from ear to ear when they noticed I began to drive a little faster. I noticed that the cross ruts and rocks in the trail were being soaked up surprisingly smooth by the FOX Podium X 2.0 piggback shocks. The stock steering wheel, a nice 3 spoke wheel, was easy to handle even when smashing against a few of those surprise rocks. The steering wheel always had enough tension feel the trail, but very smooth as if we could go on a long trip with no hints of driver fatigue.

As we continued down Trail road 3702, we would encounter some sections with large rocks and some deep ruts in the trail, quickly making us thankful to GMZ Race Products for supplying us with the taller 30 Kahuna Tires. The taller ground clearance saved us from belly sliding and grinding. Traction was always on point in the loose rocky terrain. I might add the Kahunas look super clean on the GMZ 14 LiteLoc Beadlock Wheels too! Im sure we will really test the tire and beadlock wheel combo during our trip to Rally On The Rocks event in Moab and DuneFest off the Oregon Coast this year. How will they do on slick rock and sand? Well find out!

Can-Am Maverick Max X rs DPS

It was clear after about 30 minutes I had some happy co-drivers, so I began to mash the pedal in the long open stretches of the trail. The Maverick Maxs 1000R V-Twin power was very impressive, and smooth, while the compression braking was nice when entering corners. Riding 4-stroke dirt bikes for the past few years it was very reminiscent, less braking was required to set-up for the turn.

As we continued on the trail we couldnt help but notice this beautiful place. Off to our left was a long desert valley holding a small portion of the Snake River, the longest river in the Northwest spanning over 1000 miles and eventually draining into the Pacific Ocean. To our right were some spectacular jagged peaks where prospectors of years past explored for riches. Had we decided to continue on the trail it would have taken us over those peaks and into a small historic mining town of Silver City. I plan to a make run to Silver City this year, so stay tuned for more.

Animal encounters were heavy with grazing cows, some werent very happy that we were passing through their home, but more unique was a set of wild horses. I’ve seen the wild horses in this region riding my dirt bike so it was cool to see them again and share them with my wife and kids.

For a quick afternoon run to the desert it couldnt have gone much better. The maiden UTV voyage for the kids was a success. My five year old daughter was asking when we could do it again. My wife had some time behind the drivers seat while I snapped a few photos. She was surprised how easy it was to drive, now I better watch out, I may be losing some driver seat time!

The first overall impression of the Can-Am Maverick Max is truly a family sporting machine. Could I fill the seats with 4 adults and still have plenty of power and suspension? I think so, and I plan to find out real soon. Stay tuned.

Send us a message if you have any questions about the 2014 Can-Am Maverick Max X RS DPS, some of the products we use, or the places we visit.