UTVTAKEOVER 2024 Winchester Bay

Lord willing, I'll be doing a lot more writing like this in the near future.

UTVTAKEOVER 2024 Winchester Bay

It just keeps getting better

From sea to shining sea, you would be hard pressed to find a more packed and dynamic offroad event than UTVTAKEOVER. For people who love everything unpaved, Winchester bay was the place to be from September 3-8. As the tour drew near to its 10th anniversary, off-roaders arrived in droves. Some even came from as far as Canada to compete, check out the latest and coolest machines, enjoy the diverse selection of activities, and hang out with like-minded people. 

Not your dad’s mall cop ride

Although the name is SXS-specific, per usual we saw all manner of OHVs cruising the dunes. For anyone itching to get behind the wheel of a UTV, Segway was running demo rides in their new Villain all week long. We signed up, and, after a briefing, were shortly in flow state ripping sand trails. The rides are guided, but because our group was experienced, we felt like we thoroughly got to stretch the machine’s legs. When we finally unbuckled, we couldn’t stop smiling. The suspension was dialed from the showroom floor, and we think the platform has huge potential to be a 1000cc N/A podium car. UTVTAKEOVER Ambassador and Segway factory racer Wyatt Hastings put up a strong fight on the short course in his Villain, and that was with a mostly stock car. Anyone who is considering purchasing a UTV in 2024 can’t overlook the tech the Villain offers at its price point.

The Segway demo ride guys were easy to follow, with one leading and one following it was impossible to get lost or get into too much trouble.

(picture from the passenger set of a UTV)

Bring the whole family down

Every day, when the gates opened at 9, the people poured in to Vendor Row. UTVTAKEOVER has always prided itself on building events for the whole family. The Community Tent and Kid Zone were open daily, with plenty to do for little rippers. If you were looking for an aftermarket part to trick out your ride, you could find it at one of the many big-name booths. Baja Designs, Fueled UTV, Rugged Radios, Warn, the list goes on. If you weren’t happy with how your SXS was handling, Shock therapy had a huge trailer and would completely rebuild or change your suspension right there on Vendor Row.

Two of the many one-off builds we saw on the dunes: a YXZ with a fiberglass raptor bodykit and enough 1972 Ford Courier parts to make it street legal in Oregon, and a 1982 Honda Goldwing cruiser. (Picture of me and Juan Jon)

It’s not Glamis but it’s glamping

There were ample accommodations. Between the cabin rentals (right on the sand), the gravel, the sand camping, and the full-hookups rv spots, there was a perfect spot for your setup. For those who needed help getting back to blacktop, there were complementary bulldozer tow-outs and an air up station.

Cleared for takeoff

The biggest crowds were drawn by Huckfest. In the UTV class, nine-year-old “Savage Sage” Parker flew 82 feet for the win. In the higher-risk bike class, we watched our buddies “Sketchy Greg” Eckes and TJ “T-Mac” Gipson battle it out on the massive sand ramp. Both gave it everything, which came up to 165 and 162 feet respectively. Wheeliefest, another fan favorite, had the crowd roaring for the LS-powered sand rails that kept the nose skyward for longer than should be humanly possible.

Guided ambassador rides were a great way to get out and explore the dunes for the unfamiliar.

Sketchy Greg’s silver Honda (pictured) took home gold in Huckfest with 165 ft (Picture of a bunch of bikes parked in the sand, ready to go do a ride)