President’s Day Special: Who Was In Charge When?

What was going on in the capital during all this?

Our industry has had a lot of memorable moments in time and while the vast majority of these instances has absolutely nothing to do with matters of White House magnitude, we thought it would be fitting on President’s Day to take a look back at who held the title of Commander in Chief during some of them.

First ATV

Depending on your point of view, the first mass produced ATV for the American market came in the form of the Sperry-Rand Tricart (designed 1967 and manufactured in 1968) or the Honda ATC US90 (1970). If you side in with the former, Lyndon B Johnson was the man in charge at the time. The latter? Richard Nixon.

First 4-Wheeler

The first 4-wheeler came to us via Suzuki (the LT 125) in 1982. The prez at the time? Ronald Reagan.

3-Wheeler Ban

In 1988, the federal government banned the sale of three-wheeled ATVs, citing a wave of injuries and deaths. The industry quickly converted to four-wheeled machines and never missed a beat. Who was at the top during these nearly-dark days? It was still Ronald Reagan.

First UTV

The first SxS honors belong to work-related ambitions and thus go to Kawasaki for the MULE. The year was 1988 and once again Ronald Reagan was the man.

First Automatic ATV

The machine was Breeze 125, the manufacturer was Yamaha and the year was 1991. The president was George HW Bush.

First Fuel Injected ATV

Polaris Industries brought the first fuel injected ATV, the Sportsman 700 Twin EFI to market back in 2004. The president at the time was George W Bush.

First Modern SxS

While Kawasaki pioneered the way with the MULE, it was Yamaha who took the SxS concept and moved it away from the farm and onto the trails with the Rhino in 2004. And the president? George W Bush.

First EPS

Yamaha introduced the first ATV with EPS (Electronic Power Steering) in 2006 in the form of the Grizzly 700. The president, again, was George W Bush.