Tell me what accessories I NEED :)

9089 Views 25 Replies 8 Participants Last post by pascalposive, 1 mo ago

tmkuroda

Discussion Starter · Apr 8, 2015

A little background info may be needed... I live in a VERY sandy part of Northern Michigan and my husband bought me an ACE last summer. After riding the first day I noticed a few things: I NEEDED a windshield. A sandy face with the two clean runners of tears down my cheeks was not "a look" I wanted to continue. So we got a windshield. I am old and chubby and didn't want to look over my shoulder all the time. It was either get a side mirror or get run over by a car. My husband hates change and is is kinda used to me after 25 years of marriage so we got a mirror. I am waiting on a OGIO 3-Piece Deluxe Cargo Bag that I just ordered because I bought his Ace with the polaris cargo box today. To make my Ace look different than his I am taking the cage off and powder coating it Red and by saying I am, I mean my husband is taking it off because he vetoed the color pink. lol Awe who am I kidding even if I got to make them pink he would still be taking them off

Now I am wanting to stop the onslaught of stinging sand on my legs... I know wear pants.. But I really don't want to (said in my best high pitched whiny voice). So do I get mud flaps, fender flares, or doors? Is there some way I could sew a canvas door and use velcro and clips? Has anyone tried to make canvas doors or would that be impossible?

Thanks in advance
Tina

1 - 20 of 26 Posts

Jrossiar

· #2 · Apr 8, 2015

I vote for doors I heard the fender flares are more for looks then actual function not too sure about the mudflaps but I don't think they will protect your legs from sand debris. I think most of it is in the air swirling into the cab so doors would be the best bet! Just my opinion!

Reactions: 1

tmkuroda

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 8, 2015

I saw in other posts that the door (if not buying the VERY pricey polaris doors) has a sizable gap at the bottom. I think that would defeat my purpose of no buckets of sand but may help with the stinging sand problem. BUT....I am wondering how hard would it be to sew canvas doors? I could use a semi rigid plastic sewn in all the sides and one snap and the rest velcro possibly? Is this even feasible?
Tina

Scoundrel

· #4 · Apr 8, 2015 (Edited)

Seems to me that if you have a sewing machine and some creative energy, you could totally sew up some canvas doors. Rivet them to the rear fender and sew a Velcro strip to the front, rivet some Velcro to the front fender. Maybe do the Velcro thing along the rocker panel too, and you're stylin'.

I'd like to see a photo of that!

Edit: In another thread here, a guy's wife sewed up a complete cab enclosure, plastic windows and all. Where there's a whip, there's a way.

Reactions: 1

Scoundrel

· #5 · Apr 8, 2015

I agree that mud flaps and flares would probably do very little to keep sand out.
Nerf bars might help. Haven't gotten a close look at them yet to say for sure. I can let you know how they do for mud/water spray when mine get installed, that should give a decent indication how they'd do for sand.

Nerf bars AND a tight fitting canvas door set is probably the winning combination.

Reactions: 1

tmkuroda

Discussion Starter · #6 · Apr 8, 2015

Scoundrel said:
I agree that mud flaps and flares would probably do very little to keep sand out.
Nerf bars might help. Haven't gotten a close look at them yet to say for sure. I can let you know how they do for mud/water spray when mine get installed, that should give a decent indication how they'd do for sand.

Nerf bars AND a tight fitting canvas door set is probably the winning combination.

Did anyone try the nerf bars and the UTVgiant door yet?
Tina

Hayseed

· #7 · Apr 8, 2015

Tmkuroda, I have full Polaris doors and they help a lot with dust. I also had leaves and other debris swirl into the cab before I installed the lower half of the doors. I also have fender flares, mudflaps and nerf bars. None of these help with the dust but do help with water and mud being thrown into the cab, even with the full doors.

View attachment 3358

This is a photo of the full doors. I roughly outlined the bottom of the door with a red line. The bottom of the doors fit against the side of the rocker panel.

View attachment 3359

This is the inside of the doors. There is a rubber gasket around the edges of the doors. I have marked the gaskets with a red arrow. They fit fairly snugly against the rocker panel and other plastic parts.

View attachment 3360

This is a photo looking down from inside the cab at the floor and the bottom of the door. There is not much of an air gap, if any.

View attachment 3361

When I was taking the photos I noticed that there is about 1/2" gap at the rear of the top door. I have not noticed any dust coming in through this gap. However, I will put a bit of weather stripping there to close the gap.

I will say that the Polaris doors are not all that sturdy. They have a metal frame that is covered with plastic. When I installed the lower doors, one of the doors did not fit tightly against the rocker panel. I opened the door and bent it inward very easily and it now fits snugly.

I have both a front and rear EMP windshield. I had some dust swirl in behind the dead spot created by the front windshield. I raised the front windshield about an inch above the front plastic. This lets air flow beneath the windshield into the cab. That eliminated the dead spot created by the front windshield and helped a lot with dust swirling in.

See less See more

Reactions: 1

H2Os

· #8 · Apr 8, 2015

I have heard if you have a windshield you very much want the rear window as it counters the dust vacuum that ends up in the cab. I can't confirm this but did see it in several sources once I started looking. Can anyone help remove the mystery?

Hayseed

· #9 · Apr 9, 2015

I have both front and rear windshield. When I am riding by myself, I prefer to use only the rear windshield. The way that I ride, it helps a lot with dust swirling into the cab. Adding the front windshield creates a dead spot and causes dust to accumulate inside the cab. However, when I am riding with friends in heavy dust, the front windshield help keep me from eating dust. It does cause more dust to accumulate on my back but it keeps it out of my face. After a long wide, there will be a layer of dust on the back of my shirt. The full doors do help a lot with that. I had much more dust accumulate on my legs and back before I added the full doors. Others have said they prefer no front windshield. I have two friends that ride with me a lot and we chase each other hard through the woods and probably follow more closely at speed than is safe. We have talcum powder like dust in East Texas in the summer when it gets dry, and without a front windshield I will be coughing and spitting out dust after just a few minutes.

See less See more

MAJikMARCer

· #10 · Apr 9, 2015

I have both the full front and rear windshields. I can't say I've ridden enough to say how much it helps or not but when i was tearing across my cousins dry dry corn field I was fine without goggles and just a cotton neck tube for mouth/nose coverage and I was fine. We won't talk about pulling old corn stalks from every nook and cranky.

Reactions: 1

tmkuroda

Discussion Starter · #11 · Apr 9, 2015

H2Os said:
I have heard if you have a windshield you very much want the rear window as it counters the dust vacuum that ends up in the cab. I can't confirm this but did see it in several sources once I started looking. Can anyone help remove the mystery?

I am very interested in this as well! I didn't put a rear windshield on because somewhere I read that it made the cab to hot. We had a semi cool summer last year and I did notice the heat, it didnt bother me but I was afraid that a rear windshield would possibly make it to hot.
Tina

Scoundrel

· #12 · Apr 9, 2015

Couple guys have done the UTV Giant doors plus Nerf Bars. One person said he had to shave something a little to make it fit. Another guy said hitting things with a plastic mallet when not fully tightened was enough to squeeze it in. I will know moire soon, Nerf bars are on the way and I have the doors already.

Yes, front windshield without rear window will suck in dust and sand like crazy. Rear window helps a lot with that.

Reactions: 1

tmkuroda

Discussion Starter · #13 · Apr 9, 2015

ok def getting a rear windshield! I will wait for your update on the nerf bar and doors before doing anything crazy with the sewing machine.
Tina

Scoundrel

· #14 · Apr 9, 2015

May be a few weeks on that. Doors are installed, Nerf Bars are theoretically shipping this week, but I haven't got my reinforced struts back. I expect them to back to me early next week. won't take long to get stuff installed, but then I have to get out and ride.

Reactions: 1

Vandal

· #15 · Apr 9, 2015

Scoundrel said:
Couple guys have done the UTV Giant doors plus Nerf Bars. One person said he had to shave something a little to make it fit. Another guy said hitting things with a plastic mallet when not fully tightened was enough to squeeze it in. I will know moire soon, Nerf bars are on the way and I have the doors already.

Yes, front windshield without rear window will suck in dust and sand like crazy. Rear window helps a lot with that.

The UTV Giant doors will work with the nerf bars with a little persuasion of a hammer so that the rear door piece has enough room to go in so that it can be bolted in place. No cutting required at all, just a little beating

Reactions: 2

tmkuroda

Discussion Starter · #16 · Apr 10, 2015

Scoundrel said:
May be a few weeks on that. Doors are installed, Nerf Bars are theoretically shipping this week, but I haven't got my reinforced struts back. I expect them to back to me early next week. won't take long to get stuff installed, but then I have to get out and ride.

I know...It is just starting to warm up here in Northern Michigan and I am itching to go for a ride! I have to slow my roll here because I am waiting on a few pieces I bought to replace broken ones because I was stupid and let one of my sons friend ride my ACE. I guess there is a reason why he was 26 and still had no drivers license. Ya.. That won't happen again! Thank god he flipped it going about 10 mph! He cut a corner to close and saw a tree and leaned WITH the roll of ACE instead of against, going on 2 wheels then bloop.. landed on it's side. Still did about $300 worth of damage though! I had my Hubby take off my roll bars to have them powder coated and to replace the damaged parts that should be here wednesday but my friend who does it said he can't get to them till next month.I can't wait THAT LONG so I am going to just spray paint them instead and wait till next year to do it..I may just powder coat my wheels as well. who knows by then..
Tina

tmkuroda

Discussion Starter · #17 · Apr 10, 2015

Vandal said:
The UTV Giant doors will work with the nerf bars with a little persuasion of a hammer so that the rear door piece has enough room to go in so that it can be bolted in place. No cutting required at all, just a little beating

I think I need to rob a bank! A new rear windshield, doors, Nerf bars... OMG
Tina

Reactions: 1

Scoundrel

· #18 · Apr 10, 2015

Well, you DID just ask a group of ACE junkies what accessories you should get to fix some issues you were having.

Reactions: 2

tmkuroda

Discussion Starter · #19 · Apr 10, 2015

Scoundrel said:
Well, you DID just ask a group of ACE junkies what accessories you should get to fix some issues you were having.

I am seriously laughing so hard right now! I found Rocky mountain ATV and I think I got a steal! I just bought 2 rear windshields (one for me and one for him) and overhead storage bag for me. want to see it? Good!

Automotive exterior Bumper Automotive window part Auto part Automotive bicycle rack

Paid $49 for it!
[Hmmph, it wasn't this complicated with my ds 650 (the other half)]
That was my husband. He told me to get up he wanted to put his 2 cents in. Now back to me

So what do you think?

See less See more

Scoundrel

· #20 · Apr 10, 2015

Tell hubby my 2005 Kawasaki Bayou 250 was a pretty simple machine too, but it was also kind of a clunker.

I think the Tusk rear window and the overhead bag are great additions to any ACE. when my Polaris rear window gets too scratchy, I'll replace it with one of those.

Reactions: 1

1 - 20 of 26 Posts