1. Electric Start

Developed by Charles Kettering. First used in the 1912 Cadillac

There’s a reason you don’t see airplane pilots leaving the cockpit on the runway to give the front propeller a starting twirl or motorists hopping out of their cars with a metal hand crank with which to attaches to the grille these days. It’s all thanks to the electric starting motor.

The device has enjoyed a long and storied history in almost every other type of motor vehicle, but came late to the world of ATVs. Prior to being able to push a handlebar-mounted button with the confidence that your ATV will fire up, the procedure of pull-starts and kick starters frequently stopped just short of ritual sacrifice. Stalling in technical terrain was nearly as dangerous as crashing. Countless scarred shins around the globe still tell the tale of what happens when one attempts a hardy kick-start on a wet (or worse still, icy) steel lever.