Ask The Editors: Are Sport Quads Really Coming Back?

The long drought is over!

Well, we do have some great news but first we have to give props to Yamaha for holding it down in a period of great drought for the second time in the sport’s history. Right about when you left, there were manual clutch ATVs from just about every manufacturer available in just about every displacement from fun, zippy trail quads to full blown race machines.

Then, one-by-one, the manufacturers began scaling back and whenever the economy tanks (like it did in 2008), the first thing to go are the “fun” models. People can justify a new 4×4 if it’s also going to be used to plow the snow or drag the utility cart. Yamaha alone at that point offered the Raptor in 125, 250, 350, and 700cc variants and their potent YFZ450 slotted right in the middle of the line.

It’s been a pretty bad drought since around 2014. We’re beyond glad Yamaha never stopped offering the YFZ450R and Raptor 700R but if you were looking for anything smaller, you either needed a time machine or had to go used.

Now, that good news we promised. Manual clutch sport and race machines are coming back as we speak. We’re beyond thrilled to announce KAYO is officially bringing its Storm 300 to the US in 2026. 300cc, liquid cooling and electric start for $4,599.

A company called Kahana wants a piece of the performance class by offering a 500cc 2-stroke production race quad with full aluminum frame, hydraulic clutch and liquid cooling (pictured at the top of the page).

And we managed to get a hold of Denago’s 2026 fuel injected Daytona 250 and will be delivering a full review this week. Stay tuned!

Note: The Daytona 250FI review is now live and can be viewed here: https://atvconnection.com/articles/review-denago-daytona-250fi/

Got questions for us? Ask them here!