Today’s quad bikes are split into two categories… sports and utility!
The sport models are often light, small, two wheeled drive vehicles with manual transmission, quick acceleration and can go as fast as 90 miles per hour. These vehicles are built with performance in mind. They must be light weight, with good suspension, high power and have a low center of gravity.
On the other hand, utility models tend to be machines which are bigger, heavier with four-wheel drive with a maximum speed of up to 72 miles per hour.
In 1982, Suzuki was the first ATV manufactures to build a four wheeled ATV… QuadRunner LT125!
The QuadRunner LT125 was designed purely as a recreational machine for beginners.
Later in 1985, Suzuki became the first to make a high-performance quad bike called the Suzuki LT250R QuadRacer. It had a liquid-cooled two-stroke motor and a sophisticated long-travel suspension. Early models came with a fully manual 5-speed transmission, whilst later models had a 6-speed transmission. The Suzuki LT250R QuadRacer was specially created to be raced by highly skilled riders.
Both Honda and Kawasaki responded to the Suzuki vehicle by producing the Honda FourTrax TRX250R and the Kawasaki Tecate-4 250.
In 1987, Yamaha produced the Banshee 350, it was a high-performance vehicle with a twin-cylinder liquid-cooled two-stroke motor from the RD350LC street motorcycle.
Later, Suzuki released the extremely fast LT500R QuadRacer, also referred to as “Quadzilla”. It had a 500 cc liquid cooled two stroke engine with a 5-speed transmission and is believed to be the quickest production ATV ever produced.
As early as 1893, Royal Enfield created and released to the public the Quadracycle which remarkably resembles today’s modern quads. Unfortunately for Royal Enfield, the release of the early motorcar soon replaced their Quadracycle.
Today, the quad market is dominated by Japanese manufactures…
Honda were the first producers to design and produce a three-wheeled ATV called the ATC90 in 1970, this machine was solely a recreational vehicle.
It was made famous in films such as ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ and popular TV shows such as ‘Hart 2 Hart’ and ‘Magnum PI’.
In 1982 Honda released their landmark ATV model the ATC200E Big Red…It was the first utility three-wheeled ATV due to it having both suspension and racks. It became very popular with US and Canadian hunters due to its 4×4. This model was the inspiration for other producers to enter the ATV market.
Later, Honda dominated the market with their sports models the ATC250R and the ATC200X. Other producers followed Honda in this market but found it very hard to compete with Honda’s dominance.
Quad bikes or all-terrain vehicles (ATV) are vehicles which often have 4 wheel drive capabilities which you sit on by straddling them and using handlebars for steering… basically a motorbike with 4 fat low pressure tires!
Quad bikes are built to handle all types of enviroments and are typically used by farmers, landowners, hunters, construction workers and the military. In most countries, quad bikes are strictly off-road machines only…
But in countries such as Great Britain, you can drive road legal quads on the public highways if you have a full driving license.
