Welcome,
A lot of use have both motorcycles or come from that background. I have ridden dirt motorcycles for 40 years now and some street but mostly dirt. Got a SxS about 2 years ago and had never been around them before that. I got the Can Am Commander 1000 XT and was very impressed from the first ride. I did find it was much more stable and fun with 2" wheel spacers all the way around and made the fun factor go way up because I was no longer thinking I might roll on every tight turn. It is not that bad without them but after you put them on it is much more predictable. Long travel will have the same effect but also give you much better suspension so if buying a used SxS that might be a area to look at.
The down side is with spacers or Long Travel (LT) your SxS will be wider and on some tight trails it might not fit so well and if you plan on putting it in the back of your P/U truck it will likely make it too wide to fit. Yes most of the SxS's will fit in a full size long bed P/U. You can also set you full size P/U up with a deck or rails to fit most LT or 4 seater longer SxS's if you do some research.
I use a small trailer for my SxS and had it custom made so not only will it fit LT but also it sits very low so the trailer with the SxS on it will fit in my standard car garage at home. If you have room a enclosed trailer would be a great way to go.
So is it safer in a SxS than riding a motorcycle?
That depends on how you ride and if you have a after market roll cage on your SxS. The stock SxS cages are usually good for one or two easy rolls but may have to be replaced or repaired after that. If you spend a little money on a after market cage you can roll some of them and never have any damage to the cage, meaning they are very safe even if you roll 10 times down a hill, as long as you have a good seat belt to go with the cage on you at the time. The stock seat belts are a little like the stock roll cage. Meaning you will be good for one roll but not so much if you roll three or four times down a hill.
What is a good SxS to buy?
Well that is something you will get a different answer from just about everyone you ask. I have the Can Am Commander and love it. But the Polaris RZR is by far the most popular right now. You might want to look at a 4 seater so you can take your kids when the are old enough if they aren't already. The 4 seaters ride smoother because they have the longer wheel base but are harder to fit in the back of trucks and fit in your garage. SxS's are getting much better every year over the last couple of years so the newer models have a lot more to offer but will also cost more because of it. This also means guys buying new SxS's will sell there old one that may only be a few years old for half of what they paid if the next model is a lot better so that means you could get a SxS for $8000 that has very little use the cost the firs owner $25000. I went new for a number of reasons one being the factory warranty but if you check into the model of a older SxS you can find out what to look for. From what I have found the SxS world has a lot of great people but like anything do your homework before you give anyone you money and that goes for dealers and after market shops.
Where to ride a SxS?
There are trails and roads everywhere that you can legally ride a SxS. But it is not always easy to keep up with your buddy's on motorcycles because you not only have to slow down over some terrain a little bit more but also you just can't go on many of the motorcycle trails because you don't fit sometimes and are not legal on other motorcycle trails.
So should you get a SxS?
I say yes, get one and you will have a blast. I would say sit in all the brands and see what you think and do a lot of research. You can go new but you will see the value drop fast as the new SxS's come out. Or you can get some great deals on low time SxS's or even get all kinds of extras on a used SxS for much less then if you bought all the parts your self.
My trailer.
This was one I found on the Internet.
