ATVs were just plain fun?

Nearly every kid had a 110, 125, or 185 three wheeler. And the neighborhood bigshot had a 200X. You fantasized about owning an ATC 250R, 350X, or even a Tiger 500.

Three wheelers could float their riders across a small pond or creek thanks to high flotation "balloon" tires. Mudding was much more important than jumping. And speaking of jumping, suspension was reserved for only the fanciest of three wheelers. And even then, suspension was mostly used on the front wheel only.

Remember when a 350cc motor was considered "monster" for an ATV? You strained your neck to catch a glance at a Tri-Z passing by in the back of someone's truck or looked for that Tecate that was always in the yard on the corner where your school bus passed by each day. Hoosier tires just made an ATV look baaaaddddd!

Remember when fourwheelers were introduced? You saw your first fourwheeler and thought it looked goofy. You debated about which was the better machine -- the ATC250R or the TRX250R. You rode a Suzuki Quadsport for the first time and your opinion of fourwheelers forever changed. Honda released the Foreman, and you knew utility ATVs were never going to be the same again.

Remember when the Yamaha Banshee was introduced and you thought it was the wildest thing ever built. You cheered when you first read about the Tecate 4. The Suzuki Quadracer 500 appeared and you anxiously awaited Honda's response. A response that never came.

Remember when you woke up one day and realized that many of your favorite machines were no longer in production. Choices among sport machines were limited to a few, and the best of those were machines long overdue for serious updates.

Remember when ATVs were just fun. You didn't care so much about top speed as you did about making it through the next mudhole. You didn't need a big engine to have big fun.

Now, it's so easy to get caught up in debating about the biggest engines, the best suspension, the highest top speed, etc. that we seem to be missing the point.

Remember when it was just pure fun?

I get so aggravated at all the arguments that get started about who's got the best and who's got the worst of machines. It just appears to me that so many here take for granted just how good ATV's are these days. They have come a long way. Suspension and power have never been so good, regardless of the maker. Just fifteen years or so ago, the mention of a 600cc+ engine in a high performance chassis would have resulted in rolled eyes.

Raptors, Banshees, EX's, Z400's, C-Dales, and DS650's - they are all amazing machines. They are all fast. But, it's the rider that makes the difference.

I think when we get caught up in arguing about the best and the worst of it all and we take for granted what is available now, we lose the point of it all. And that's no fun at all. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Nice post! People (me included) do tend to get caught up with who is the biggest and who is the fastest. At the end of the ride, who really cares as long as you have fun.

Speaking of old fun. I recently reacquired my old Honda atc 90. This machine was a classic first. Still has the balloon tires on it. It needs some work to get running. Hopefully I will have time to do it. It is primitive looking sitting next to my shiny 400ex with the nerf bars and racing exhaust, but I had a ton of fun on that machine growing up. I remember when our neighbors got a 110 and we could no longer keep up. I may snap a picture of it tonight and post it here.

 

I remember drooling over every dirt wheels mag that I found in the 80's.. Then I found out about girls.. then got married.. Then picked up a dirtwheels in 96 and wondered what had happened to all those fast quads I drooled over...

 

Excellent post.

I remember picking up an old 93 or 94 DirtWheels, and seeing those wild machines that the writers called a "250R". I remember thinking; "Man, I sure wish I could trade my TRX125 for one of THOSE!". All I can say is... Dreams do come true [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

I thought I was the only one that lived through the the good old days, when the best machines were made!

 

I think most people are missing the fun part,after my garage burned 2 months ago with 7 quads in it the first quad I bought was a 300ex.I am 46 weight 240 and I think it is the best quad for just good old trail riding for FUN!!!Right now I don't care who's is fastest,I am just gad to have one.I think after I settle with the Ins Co I will put a 352 kit in it,but will leave the gearing alone or go lower.Good post Guys

 

Yeah my first taste of my addiction now was a 78 Odyssey with no rear suspension and front shocks just for looks[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] But man if i had a dollar for every hour of "fun" that I had with that bike I could probably park a few more toys next to the Z. I still have all of my old dirtwheels and read through them often and am just glad Im still able to ride and have friends and family who like doing it with me[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Im only 16 but i can remember lookin in mags with my brothers and seeing 300EX's and thinking they was the baddest 4wheeler ever, And now they are a slow one compared too all these new high performance quads they are making!!

 

I was not onto quads or trikes"back then",but My Dad gave me and my brother a tiller 3hp engine to go with the old go cart chassis we would push down the hill to ride. Man, I tell you what, nobody could've told me anything was faster than our B&S powered cart. Thanks for digging up that memory with this post.

Does anybody else remember having to wrap a rope around a pull starter to fire up thier ride,man I can feel the rough fibers in my hands now.And talk about no maintanance.

 

Often, I wish I could go back to those days. I got into the sport when there was nothing but the older ATC models.

First racing machine was an ATC110 with an SL90 motorcycle engine. Kick start, 4speed manual clutch. The idea seems lame now, but nothing was better back then until Sparks starting tapping into them later on.

There was a track that was in a large field. Just went in circles. There would be over a hundred trikes competing every month there. To be in the South, and to be in 1980, that was an enormous turnout.