As I write this yarn, we’re driving home after what was one of the best days we’ve ever had as a family. It was with the Side-By-Side Club, SS Race, hosted and sponsored by Can-Am. Mick, the club president, looked after us from the moment we rolled in and put on an absolutely cracking event.
We were down in South Australia on the Coorong, just north of Kingston, riding on private property that’s nothing short of spectacular. It stretches along the coastline with massive sand dunes, pockets of overgrown bush and endless tight 4WD-style sandy tracks that snake up steep dune faces and drop down the other side in huge plunging descents. There were even sections of knee-high whoops, nowhere near Finke-sized, but still hectic enough to get your attention in a Can-Am.
We had free rein of a Can-Am Maverick for the day. To kick things off, Mick took us out in a four-seat Maverick. He drove, I rode shotgun, and my two boys, Connor and Tom, strapped in the back. Helmets on, goggles on, harnesses clipped, and suddenly we were in a convoy of 11 side-by-sides ripping into the sandy tracks. These things absolutely haul. The Rotax engine is a 900cc turbocharged unit pumping out around 125 horsepower, and with less than a tonne to move, they accelerate like mad. They run a CVT, and in the sand we kept them in four-wheel drive and high range the entire day. The grip was ridiculous, being able to drive the front wheels meant they carved through corners much better than expected.
The biggest shock was just how good the suspension is. What I assumed would bottom out or buck into the next postcode actually soaked up massive hits on a single wheel without drama. The whole thing felt like riding a bike with properly sorted WP Pro suspension. That was the first real reality check: you can go much faster in these than your brain initially allows.
They’ll climb almost any dune from a standing start, and if you keep your foot down and stay in the line, they’ll tractor out of deep sand that would stop a 4WD dead. The only rule Mick gave us was simple: never back off mid-corner. If you shut the throttle when you’re coming in hot, the suspension unloads and that’s when they can tip over. So I kept it pinned and managed to keep the Maverick on all four wheels, apparently the only journo of the day to do so.
Later in the afternoon, I took one of the boys in a two-seat Maverick while the other went with Mick. Comparing the two, the four-seater rode whoops better thanks to the longer wheelbase, almost like a plush desert racer. The two-seater, though, was punchier, same engine, less weight, and it absolutely ripped.
It took a little while to reprogram my brain to the speeds these things can hit, but once that clicked, the Maverick was unbelievably easy to drive. In auto mode you almost never need brakes except on the really steep descents before the G-outs. A few times I came a bit hot into corners, braked late, then got straight back on the gas and it just powered through.
We also managed to hit a massive salty puddle at full noise on the first lap, no windscreen, so all four of us got drenched. Sand stuck to everything. The boys swallowed half the Coorong. Tom took a full jet of water straight in the face. They loved it.
I was genuinely surprised how many dirtbike guys were out there taking to this instantly. If you understand sand, how it loads, how it carries speed, you feel at home straight away. And unlike a dirtbike, when trees or bushes slap the sides, it doesn’t hurt you! The plastic panels take the hit and keep charging.
As we drive home, the boys are inhaling chips in the back and laughing about all the sand they swallowed. It was an epic day: fast, safe, well run and insanely fun. The Side-By-Side Club run five events a year across some brilliant SA locations, including a million-acre property and a Flinders Ranges ride. If you ride dirtbikes and want something new, or you’re getting older and thinking about a roll cage, this sport is dangerously addictive.
Helmet Convos
Because you can talk to each other in a side-by-side! Here’s a few one-liners I caught while out ripping the dunes.
Connor: “I’m loving it! Best time of my life!”
Tom: “The whoops are awesome. One guy hit a jump and flew about 20 metres!”
He wasn’t exaggerating, one bloke sent it so hard he got a crook neck but the rest of us were very entertained.
Tom also gave my driving a review: “Dad you’re going fast. Almost as good as Mick.” I’ll take that.
