Story and Photos by: Ray Larez

ATV Source Attends the Sand Sport Super Show
Costa Mesa, CA. – Orange County Fair Grounds

Every year there is an annual event, where some of the hottest sand machines are on display. It is the west coast’s very own Sand Sport Super Show. This show has grown by leaps and bounds from its inception 7 years ago. It is a great place for manufacturers to display new products before the sand season really kicks off and a reason for most of us to dust off our machines and get ready for the new season. There is so much chrome and custom paint there you might think you are at a low rider show, not an off road event. They have it all: sand rails, lifted electric cars, customized golf carts, motorized bar stools, and of course some really awesome looking quads. The venue is great since some of the displays are located out in the court yard in the open air and some are in large buildings or tents. They have really great displays as well some really good food.

The guys and ladies Lone Star Racing has a really nice booth displaying their products and some of their premiere machines, such as a totally decked out drag Banshee or their own titanium chassis TRX450R Duner. They build some of the nicest chassis components available, whether they’re for the dunes or out on the track, they have the application covered.

Next, we ran across the Trinity booth who displayed a few unique ATVs, such as, a triple cylinder Banshee and the new fuel injected Raptor 700. The triple is a perfect display of how far the sand drag racer will go to be king of the mountain. It looks all show but has plenty of go! As for the Raptor 700, Trinity has already produced an exhaust system and a fuel management system to help those who want to modify their Raptor. They can then fine tune their fuel intake.

Temecula Motorsports had on display a few of their ATV race machines on hand, as well as their chase vehicle (Hummer). This is one of the only ATV race teams who have a helicopter that flies above as they race, to help be a look out. Also Blingstar, Douglas Wheel, and Quad Tech have a few display bikes that are top notch. The Quad Tech ATV has an interesting seat resembling a street bike seat in a way. There are many display bikes that are just awesome, but the bikes that stand out are the ATV’s in the R.I.S. Design booth.  They have 6 or 7 ATV’s with more chrome than you can shake a stick at. Also, they are so immaculate and clean, most would be afraid to ride them in fear you might scratch or chip some paint. Believe it or not, all their machines are ridden and ridden frequently. The gentlemen over at R.I.S. showed us some of their billet parts they offer and we were impressed by the workmanship and detail.

Not only are the ATVs great that are displayed, but there are some really beautiful sand rails. These machines are no joke. Most of the ATVs displayed cost an average of $15,000-$20,000 invested, and these sand rails are in the upwards of $100,000-$200,000. Some of them claim to have up to 1500 HP.

Also shown is the new Yamaha Rhino. There are many aftermarket companies building aftermarket components for these really cool vehicles. Some of them even resemble a pre-runner truck, with aluminum body work, a tire rack, light bar, and long travel suspension; you name it the machine has it. Most of the Rhinos on display are far from stock and really accessorized. The Rhino really has taken off; it is similar to the golf cart craze that started with most duners.  The custom golf carts are out there in force, but tend to be less stable when lifted and lose much of their speed when larger tires are added. Also, when you take them out to the sand, they become that much slower. The Rhino engine is based off the 660 Raptor and has plenty of ponies to lug around you and a few friends. Also, the Rhino comes with seat belts and some other safety features that most golf carts lack.

As we went from building to building, we came across Duncan Racing and their display of products. They had Doug Echiner there signing autographs. Also, Alba Action Sports had one of their national racers, Kory Ellis signing autographs in their booth. Alba had a new item to introduce, high flow radiators. Contact Alba for more details. Works Performance also had a new item to introduce, G-series shock which utilizes a dual remote reservoir line to help circulate the shock oil and cool the shock better. Offering an in and out line, not just a single line to do the function of both. The guy over at DMC Exhaust where they displayed their newly designed exhaust system said, “Replacing the old alien system with the new Pro Comp 4, this light weight exhaust looks great. It has a unique shape and would definitely stand out amongst the pack of other exhausts.”

For all of you who love billet parts, MOD Quad has a display of literally hundreds of billet accessories. There is an extremely nice billet a-arm set by a company travel and standard travel for most popular ATV’s.  These arms are very easy to install because there are no adjustments and they are very versatile. You are able to buy one set of arms and make them long travel just by unbolting and changing out the lower shock brackets on the arm. Also, the workmanship is impeccable and looks like a work of art. There are a couple of other new items on the Rock-Sand ATV’s, they had some really trick Raptor 700 carbon fiber parts (tank cover and radiator cover or hood). All the carbon fiber parts are made by an outfit in Riverside, California – Performance Carbon Products. These carbon fiber products are very light weight yet very durable. As they demonstrated on a set of TRX250R radiator scoops, they had someone stand on the scoop while it was mounted to the machine. Of course they don’t recommend you taking home your new carbon fiber parts and start jumping up and down on them, but you get the point.

One of the last really cool parts we ran across at the show is a big bore kit for the LTZ/KFX400 by Tudor’s Performance. This is a complete cylinder kit with no need to sleeve and bore your own cylinder. This comes complete and ready to bolt on LTZ/KFX400 and makes it a 440cc fire breathing machine. With a large piston and higher compression ratio you are bound to pull some more ponies out of this machine. If you plan to bolt on a big bore, we would highly recommend a set of cams to complement this kit, as you will notice a better across the board gain.

Overall, the Sand Sport Super Show is a great time and we had a chance to see some really unbelievable sand machines and some newly developed products. All three days were pretty busy with a large turn out and the show had plenty of vendors in attendance. We are looking forward to attending next year’s event to see how it has grown once again.