I have a good friend who is in the market for a 4wd atv. He has never owned or drove an atv before but will be very capable of doing so. He is missing his right arm. I told him I would help him find the right atv for him.

Our requirements:
1. Automatic Transmission (engine braking would be nice)
2. 4wd
3. Independent rear suspension would be a plus
4. full floorboards
5. A single brake lever that controls both front and rear
brakes. (MUST)
6. The throttle lever MUST be able to be relocated over to the
left side. If this cannot be done on a Polaris model
then we will have to look at other brands.

From what I can see I would say the Xplorer 400 or Sportsman 400 may be what we are looking for. Moreso...the Sportsman 400. Is is possible to move the throttle lever over to the left side? Any input would be much appreciated.

 

Just out of curiosity does your friend have an artificial arm or would he be steering with only the one hand on the handlebars? I would think it would be very difficult to navigate rough terrain with only one hand on the bars.

 

We have done a couple. You need to move the start/light switch to the right side and the throttle to the left. We turned the throttle upside down so the rider used it like a trigger. I also believe we turned the start switch upside down also for wiring ease. Either way the owner really likes it. You do need to reroute some wiring slightly to make each one reach.

Just for future reference for anyone who might wonder. We did 1 for a guy with the opposite arm. That one is very simple all you need to do is take a brake lever off the Sportsman 6x6.

 

Hey, thanks so much for the input! Very helpful. To answer your question Crawdad......He does not have an artificial limb. He will only be steering with one arm. In terms of the type of terrain he will be riding in for the most part, it will be logging roads, etc. Nothing real technical. Although he is capable of doing about anything, and I know he could do some technical riding if he had to. All I know is that I would not want him to get ahold of me with that one arm! Have a good one!!!

 

Hey Wyoming, I can really relate to this post. I've been missing the lower portion of my left arm for as long as I can remember. (I love it when kids ask me where my arm is, I tell them I lost it and I'll give them a buck if they can find it hehe). I have been riding motorcycles and quads for more than 25 years and can ride just about anything (even manuel)with no modifications. The only problem that I've had riding is having to sit forward on the seat and lean over to the left so my arm can reach the bars ( I use the end of my arm kinda like a hand). It really wasn't that much of a problem but it made it difficult to get the front wheels up when going fast over rough terrain or pulling wheelies. The other prob was fast tight right turns. Because of the shortness of my left arm it would come off of the bars when I turn hard to the right leaving me with only one hand instead of 1 1/2. Holding the bars with only one hand isn't that difficult, but it throws your ballance off considerably. When I got my Scrambler 500 I decided that it was time to come up with something to fix this. After moving the brake lever to the right side, I picked up a pair of aluminum brush guards. On the left side I put the brush guard on backwards to give me a place to put my arm. This allowed me to sit further back on the seat and not have to lean so much, works like a charm.

I'm not sure on the throttle thing, but it sounds like uflg has a fix. With a little time and some brainstorming I'm sure we could all come up with some others. Could you get a twist throttle to work?

Crawdad, I've got a prosthisis but with the lack of a wrist joint it's kind of like bolting a 2X4 from your elbow to the bars. It does work great for pounding nails though, I don't smash my thumb like the rest of you. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

If you want a pic of my bars let me know and I'll send ya one.

 

I have seen a guy up at a moto-cross pratice track rideing a 500 scrambler like mine. He said he was born without his right arm (stops right at his elbow). His throttle is on the left side , but he had it custom made. I have seen him jump his quad many times and he can handle it like he has an extra arm![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] You should see the body english he puts into it. He has got to be one strong son of a gun. I ain't arm wrestling him!!

 

I personally think these ideas are great. One time at silver lake there was a guy in a wheel chair who rode a scrambler 500 4x4. He had blown a belt, and his friends went looking. They came back empty and then asked us, since I had a scrambler. I sold it to him(the same price I paid), and installed for him. I figure it's great for someone with a disability to work around this and not be jealous of us with all of our limbs. One of the things I realized was only Polaris's could be ridden, as the brakes and automatic transmission really make the machine friendlier for the disabled.

Also, don't forget that when those enviro-****'s start trying to close our land, the those disabled people that we take care of are a serious ally to all of us.


Rainman