Yamaha’s Colorado Adventure
Exploring the trails here in the La Sal Mountains means a bit of time on flat service roads to get to the best parts. Luckily, the gravel road climb up into the forest is set up like a mini Pikes Peak, with snaking 180 degree bends at an incline steep enough to require a decent throttle input. Once you get to the top, your options are as follows: explore Colorado, or explore Utah. The Utah side is more red rock canyons, leading down into Moab’s East end. The higher-elevation aspen forests of the Colorado side are full of cattle, deer, and more. Either way you point your rig, there are great trails ahead.
The loop we took in the RMAX included some heavily rock-laden two-track trails that dove in and out of riverbeds constantly. The RMAX handles these types of trails with incredible grace at speed. The lack of a rear swaybar and the magic of 17 inches of rear suspension travel combine to make the RMAX’s ride over undulating, uneven terrain in a league of its own. If your riding areas are littered with big rocks, rain ruts, and ditches, the RMAX is probably calling your name.
Yamaha Wolverine RMAX 1000 Specifications:
Engine Size: 999cc liquid cooled, 4-stroke, DOHC, 4-valve
Wet Weight (curb): 1876 lbs
Length x Width x Height: 119.3 in x 66.1 in x 77.8 in
Wheelbase: 86.7 in
Tires: 30 x 10.00R-14 Maxxis® Carnivore Front/Rear
Wheels: 14 in. aluminum alloy, beadlock on XTR Trim
Front Suspension: Independent double wishbone with anti-sway bar, FOX® QS3 piggyback shocks; 14.2-in travel
Rear Suspension: Independent double wishbone, FOX® QS3 piggyback shocks; 16.9-in travel
Fuel Capacity: 9.2 gal
Transmission: Ultramatic V-belt with all-wheel engine braking; L, H, N, R
MSRP: $23,999 – $30,399
Yamaha Wolverine RMAX Highlights:
- High capacity for cargo and accessories
- Near-zero rider fatigue on trail
- Handles rough terrain and climbs with ease
- Doubles as a work vehicle
- Will take you anywhere you desire
Yamaha’s Colorado Adventure
The trails here ranged from hard and rocky to thick, soupy mud. The RMAX LE’s adjustable suspension stiffness and three-mode throttle controller allow for a lot of customization to suit each type of terrain, but we found ourselves leaving everything in the middle setting, which means Yamaha tuned the car beautifully. The RMAX loves mud, and it has a quick enough steering ratio to make driving fast in the mud a lot of fun. Catching the back end when it steps out is easy work.
We did not have to carry much gear on this trip, but we have carried enough to camp and cook for a few days on the trail with an RMAX before. It typically does very well with a moderate load in the bed, which will hold up to 600 pounds. The RMAX has a standard glovebox as well as a small center console storage cubby, as well as soft touch points everywhere your body graces an interior surface. This, coupled with the thick, rubber-coated wheel and quick steering ratio make driving the RMAX hard on the trail a comfortable affair.
One of the highlights of day one was a long stint on the Kokopelli Trail. This 142-mile-long trail is set up for multi-use, so not all of it is accessible by UTV. It spans from Loma, Colorado to Moab, Utah. We spent a lot of time heading out to North Beaver Mesa and back, which offers an incredible cliffside view of the Dolores River nearly 1,000 feet above the riverbed. After a nearly 100-mile loop, we returned to the Gateway Canyons Resort for a refreshing dinner and a good night’s sleep. The next day, we would be tackling another set of trails on an entirely different machine.
Dawn of day two had us awake and giddy like a kid on Christmas. Today, we were heading into Moab for lunch and to play in the sand and slickrock for a bit. We would be getting there via a mixture of dirt trail and winding two-lane highway. The vehicle of choice for this loop was one we had never ridden before – Yamaha’s incredible Ténéré 700 adventure bike.
While not quite a UTV, the Ténéré shares some design DNA with the RMAX, or the other way around. Both models rely on a very special 270-degree firing, cross plane crank parallel twin cylinder engine. The RMAX’s 999cc version is quite a bit larger and more powerful than the Ténéré’s 689cc mill, although the Ténéré has to pull around 1400 pounds less curb weight. Simply put, the Ténéré is leagues faster than the RMAX. With about 85 horsepower on tap in stock form, the Ténéré 700, or T7 as it is affectionately called, is an absolute ripper when you hold the throttle to the stops. The twin revs to nearly 14,000 RPM and delivers one of the coolest exhaust notes on the trail.
We began day two on the T7 by traversing the same 25 minutes of gravel mountain roads that we did in the RMAX the day before. This time, we couldn’t just mash the skinny pedal and slide the car around a corner. We had to be gentler with the throttle, as the T7 is a large motorcycle. Thankfully, the cross-plane twin delivers incredibly smooth power down low, and has a very slow, deliberate throttle curve that asks you to really twist on it to get it to let loose. Once you hold it at the stops for a second, it wakes right up, delivering a smooth wave of horsepower that makes fire road drifting a blast.
Continue to more of Yamaha’s Colorado Adventure.
