Hey y'all. I have a Z400 that my parents so graciously blessed me with last year. However, I've always wanted a dirtbike, but my mom thought they were too dangerous. I see now that I may like a dirtbike better, but my parents are concerned about safety issues. I had a friend tell me today that it's easy for the front tire on a dirtbike to "wash out" when you hit a patch of loose sand due to the sudden decelleration of the bike. It becomes rather easy then to lay the bike down or to get bucked off. A valid point, yes, but I was looking for more opinions on which is safer, a dirtbike or an ATV? I know both have the potential to be fatal if not handled properly, but so can my Ranger as I drive down the street everyday. What do you all think? Should I stick with my ATV or shoot for the dirtbike?

 

I'm gonna repost this over in the Other ATV Topics. It seems to get more traffic over there. Feel free to delete this one, mods.

 

well it depends what u call safe. i have a lot of friends that dirtbike, and they constantly have all these scrapes, bruises, and minor injuries but nothing major, plus they r always buying new levers and handlebars. on the other hand, i ride quads only and i don't get the small injuries, i end up on crutches, or in pysical therapy, and instead of buying lil parts all the time, every once in a while i'm payin a lot of money to fix 1 part. its a trade-off.

 

That's about what I've seen, too. You'll get more minor injuries on a dirt bike, but the quad can really mess you up. Reason - dump a dirt bike, and it usually just lays down and slides. Dump a quad, and due to it's shape, it rolls and keeps on rolling - right over you. Quad weighs more, so it's going to hit you harder.

Of course, a lot of this depends on the operator's mindset. Use common sense, and neither will hurt you. Ride like a fool, and both will hurt you.

 

I agree totally....Its what you want....and you can get hurt on any machine or doing anything...nothing is accident proof...you just have to respect your machine and know your limits on your machine...I've owned both..dirtbikes and a quad...honestly...I would take a quad over a dirtbike every day of the year..but thats just me...If you had ridden dirtbikes and like it a lot better then your quad then you should already know what to do.

 

I ride with dirt bikers who are experienced District 37 desert racers. Every ride, every one of them has some kind of little get-off, particularly when we hit deep sand. Dirt bikers have a lot of little crashes that quads don't ever have. We can sail through stuff that will mire a dirt bike down. A huge crash however, would be worse on the quad, just because of the greater size and weight of the machine. On the dirt bike, it is just easier to get out of the way of your machine.

 

I would say that a dirtbike is more dangerous they are lighter and in most cases accelerate faster and only have skinny tires on the ground create friction and stop. Everytime i have seen a guy hit the brakes on a dirt bike he drug the rear tire dor about 30 feet or so. The ATV on the other hand has 4 tires on the ground and are coming with 3 disc brakes and already have wider tires so they should stop alot better than a dirt bike. They are also heavier this should help as well. You should also be able to react alittle faster on a ATV with out having to worry about the front tire washing out becasue they are wider lower and have 2 fat tires in front of you. I say the ATV is less accident prone but if you do crash like John O said you will get hurt worse. I also think it depends on the rider. MY younger brother just got a rm250 the day before yesterday. It was way to much bike for him and today he is in the hospital with a torn ACL lots of sraps and 2 compacted vertebrae. He kept saying I should have got a 4 wheeler I should have got a 4 wheeler. He was running trails with a kid that decided to stop in the middle of the road and make an adjustment on his bike, He stoped just out side of a wide turn as soon as my brother rounded the bend he had about 20 feet to react he was going around 50 mpg he hit the brakes and the rear tire slid and the bike started fishtailing then he crashed into the back of the other guys bike. I think a 4 wheeler would have been able to stop in time.

 

My .02 for what its worth,

This is a heated debate between a good buddy of mine and I from as far back as I can remember. Started before we we ever owned quads. I cut my teeth on a 1980 CR80, I got it in 81. I was 7 years old then. I used that bike for the next 7 years. During that time the riding skills I developed at a young age carried on into my adult years, at 17 I had my cycle endorsement and a Harley Davidson Sportster. Many times I found myself in situations on the road that a less exp. rider would have been toast.

I really dont believe in "mini" quads. Jr. cycles ire the only way to go until skills are developed. You crash on a bike chances are it wont take you out, you will be tossed free of the machine. Crash on a quad at any speed, chances are the machine is going to be ontop of you at some point during the carnage. Quads give you a false sense of security, thats how yahoo's get hurt. Dont get me wrong, I love all three of my quads and don't own any dirt bikes anymore, but you just cant compair the two. Apples and oranges.

 

i think atvs can handle terrain better than a dirtbike.When it comes to safety quads are more dangerous beacuse of their weight and they just keep on rolling (unlike a dirtbike)

 

Other than the Quad Racers; all the guys that I know who own quads, ride them because they don't know how to ride a dirt bike. Not sute how common that is where you are? My bike gets my adrenaline going way more !

Spud,

04 Rancher
99 KDX 220