NRV Rides
T-Rex and Lexis great UTV rides for family fun
Text by Karl H. Kazaks Photos by Tom Wallace Brett and Kristie Fleming’s Kawasaki Teryx LE 750 is the ultimate offroad crossover – a blend of the speed and sport you find in All Terrain Vehicles (ATV) and the function, power and design in the more work-oriented Universal Terrain Vehicles (UTV). T-Rex, as the Flemings and their 13-year-old daughter, Amber, call their offroad vehicle, has side-by-side seating but is narrow enough to permit access down tight trails. Its large-diameter tubular steel cage defines a roofed cabin space while also providing rollover protection. It drives like a car with a steering wheel and floor pedals, but also has the tight turning radius, sport suspension and optional 4-wheeldrive (4WD) required for navigating off-road trails. It has a lift cargo bed for hauling materials along with a mid-chassis, 38
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90-degree, four-stroke v-twin engine which, coupled with a continuously variable transmission (CVT), permits the vehicle to get up to 60 mph. “We love taking it out on trails,” says Kristie. “It’s a lot of fun.” The Flemings bought T-Rex used in 2018 and the past two summers have taken it regularly to West Virginia to the Hatfield-McCoy Trails, a network of off-road trails linked to local communities. The trails require a permit – a sticker affixed to your helmet – which allows riders to take an off-road vehicle off the trails and into local places. “We head out,” Kristie explains, “get breakfast in Pearisburg, have lunch in West Virginia, and come back home in the evening. It’s a long, physical day.” Last year, the Flemings got Amber her own off-road vehicle, a 10 horsepower
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Polaris Ranger 150. Their idea is for Amber to get practice on it as a way to make her more comfortable when it comes time to learn how to drive on-road. “It has adult override controls,” states Brett. From his phone, he can set its speed limit as well as establish limits on where it can and cannot go – a geofence. Kristie, who is a licensed but mostly not practicing veterinarian, is the director of development for a local nonprofit. She homeschooled Amber though 6th grade. Brett is the founder and owner of Fleming Technologies, a computer software engineering company in Blacksburg’s Corporate Research Center. The Flemings both have had a long love affair with off-roading. For Brett, it started when he moved to Blacksburg from Florida in his last year of high school. “I went
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