Do You Know the History of the ATV? I Was Surprised

ATVs are becoming popular in the transportationhunters and for some who enjoyed doing fun trail
industry today. The acronym ATV stands forrides. After several years the Japanese auto
All-Terrain Vehicle. As the name suggests, they aremanufacturers took over with the development of
intended for off-road use on trails and can take youthe ATV and started developing three and
on adventures far away from home and the road.four-wheeled versions.
These types of vehicles are designed for interactiveOne of the largest innovators of the three and
riding. Drivers must be able to shift their weightfour-wheeled ATVs was Honda. They led the
freely in all directions, depending on the situation andrevolution of the modern day design we are now
type of terrain.familiar with. The company introduced their first
ATVs are more popular for trail riding, hunting,three-wheeled ATV, the ATC90, which was used in
farming and other recreational uses. Some defineseveral famous hollywood movies, like James Bond:
them as the modern, mechanized horses that offer aDiamonds are Forever as an example.
new brand of adventure and the ability to go placesThe design of the ATC90 was patterned from earlier
that are difficult for even horses.versions of the ATVs that had large balloon tires
The most common type of ATV sold is the utilityinstead of having tires with mechanical suspension.
type. These are the traditional type which are widelyDuring the early 1980s, mechanical suspension and
used on and off the road. The other type, thelower-profile tires for the ATVs was introduced.
sports-type, is much more popular to hobbyists. ManyHonda again led the innovation by releasing the Honda
use them to race or compete with other ATVATC200E known as Big Red. It was equipped with
owners.both suspension and racks making it the first
Just like the regular cars, sports-type owners canthree-wheeled utility ATV. Many companies followed,
modify and customize some ATV parts for addedexcept Suzuki. Since Honda was able to established
performance. Some examples of ATV races andtheir name brand on the industry many competitors
competition are ATV motocross, wood racing, deserthad a very difficult time selling their own ATVs.
racing, hill climbing, ice racing, speedway, TouristWhile Honda was leading in the industry for producing
Trophy, flat track, drag racing and many more.three-wheeled ATVs, Suzuki tried to find their own
The advent of the modern ATV started as early asway into the industry and did so by introducing the
the year 1983. The main idea was adopted from itsdevelopment of four-wheeled ATVs by releasing the
earlier version called the "Quadracycle". The companyQuadRunner LT125.
Royal Enfield started making improvements on theThis was intended as a recreational machine for
simple versions of non-powered Quadracycles whichbeginners. Many companies realized that the
also resemble the modern design of quad-bike.four-wheeler was starting to get a lot of attention in
During the 1960s, many manufacturers followed bythe market so most of them built their own models
producing the same off-road vehicles that has theto compete in the market, including Honda.
capability of crossing swamps, ponds and also canThe industry has grown to large proportions, many
travel on dry and rough surfaces. The body wascompanies have joined the competition and are
made of hard plastic or fiber glass and had six-wheelsdeveloping new features for the machines. The
of which all were driven, and all with low pressureATVs are really helpful, especially with oil prices going
(approx. 3 PSI).up, we can say that they are highly economical. Many
Instead of having the typical motorcycle-type handlestates and countries have regulations concerning the
bars, they were equipped with steering wheels or ausage of ATVs and hopefully most purchasers will
control stick. The production of these vehicles wasabide by the rules. For more information about ATVs,
prominent in America.you could check here.
It became famous with American and Canadian