ATV Industry Facts: Did You Know?

First of its kind.

A majority of the ATV manufacturers didn’t take development of four-wheelers seriously until 1988 when, after a lengthy investigation by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, it was deemed distributors would no longer be allowed to market three-wheel ATVs and manufacturers had to repurchase any unsold three-wheel models from dealer inventory.

However, the one company who realized the potential of the four-wheeler long before this was Suzuki. Suzuki was manufacturing and distributing a four-wheeled ATV (the QuadRunner LT125) from 1982 onward. It can be argued that they were the manufacturer affected least by the 1988 CPSC Final Consent Decree, which not only banned three-wheelers but insisted that ATV manufacturers make a $100-million commitment to expand existing safety programs. Among the many components of this agreement, free training and training incentives were offered to owners and purchasers of new ATVs.

Bonus Fact: Suzuki may have been the first on the four-wheeler bandwagon but contrary to common misconception, did manufacturer three-wheelers for a time prior to and during.