ATV Tech: Roll
Roll is movement about a horizontal axis (think of the plane’s wings rising or dipping), pitch is also about a horizontal axis (nose pointing upward or down) and finally yaw is rotation about a vertical axis (turning left or right). In terms of riding, all three of these factors come into play—especially when our wheels lose contact with the ground.
In the realm of ATVs, roll is a condition engineers do all they can to avoid. Since our machines aren’t meant to high side and tumble, the only roll we should be concerned with is the miniscule amount felt during hard cornering that causes our suspension to compress, or dive.
When airborne, roll becomes a bigger factor for its tendency to un-level the machine. We counter this condition by weighting the higher-side peg before returning to the earth.