Recreational

When it was introduced almost two decades ago in 1995, the Polaris Scrambler 400 made tracks into fresh territory. Before it there were only two ATV categories, sport and utility. The Honda 400EX, the Yamaha YFZ 450R and the Can-Am Outlander 800 weren't even on the drawing board, and custom built chassis ruled the racetrack, while the utility quad world was heavy on the utility side. Single cylinder, 400cc engines were the big bore powerhouses of the day. It all sounds like a tale that begins with: “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away…”

CAN-AM never does anything half way, and when we heard rumors of major changes to their ATV lineup, we were more than a little intrigued. What arrived was beyond what anybody outside of CAN-AM’s engineering group ever imagined.

It’s been a long time since bears roamed freely in Southern California’s San Bernardino forest. The high mountain lake area wasn’t named Big Coyote, Big Deer, or Big Prairie Dog, but it is called Big Bear for a reason, despite a century or so of relatively unmolested camping. Recently, Grizzlies prowled the old domain of the Golden bear, every bit the dominant predator they’ve always been. This bear was not the Grizzly of old that chilled the blood of explorers, miners, settlers, and Native Americans, but this Grizzly was introduced by Yamaha and we had come to tame it.

Florida has more than its share of theme parks but there is only one Redneck Yacht Club and on July 4th weekend Just Add Dirt will bring their mud racing program to the Club.

ATV riding has always been a family sport and that means everyone in the family shares the adventure. It doesn’t take much coaxing to introduce a new rider to ATVing, and they usually take to it like ducks to water. It’s important to make sure junior gets started correctly, however, and with literally dozens of youth quads available, we wanted to list the ones that pass our inspection for quality, safety, and complete OEM support from sales, to parts, to safety.

There are, quite possible, many times in an editor’s daily duties, when one might pause in the midst of various editorial activities, look around at their surroundings and breathe a deep sigh, thinking to oneself “How did I ever get so lucky to have been given this job?”

Honda unveiled the fifth generation Honda Foreman ATV at its South Carolina production facility in Florence. The redesigned 4x4 was the first machine fully developed/produced – from concept to production – entirely in the United States. We took part in the quad’s initial production, or “Line Off” ceremony, at HSC prior to riding it at Carolina Adventure World a day later.

Polaris has always included easy to ride, unintimidating, and user friendly ATVs in their lineup. As a result, they have become one of the brands of choice for new or less experienced riders. The Polaris ATVs make it easy to explore the trails without wrestling the machine, and the Trail Blazer 330 was built with those riders in mind.

New model introductions usually amount to the announcement that a manufacturer has one-upped the competition (and sometimes themselves) with a new ATV, and high horsepower premium machines have become the norm. When we arrived at the 2011 Arctic Cat media release event, we weren't really sure what to expect. With over-the-top products like the 1000cc Thundercat and Mud Pro 4x4 ATVs and the lightning fast, versatile Prowler HDX and XTZ line, what would Arctic Cat have under the covers to surprise us? As it turned out, they had a plethora (Jefe...

We’ll admit that the first time we headed out onto the trail riding double on an ATV was a little strange. For years we had been one of the guardians of safe ATVing, and riding with a passenger was one of the Cardinal Sins, sure to lead to destruction and damnation. The trouble was, since the first ATV rolled into the first ride area, undoubtedly a friend, buddy, or girlfriend wanted to ride along regardless of the lack of seat, foot pegs, or handholds.