Raptorlegs, You have hit on one of the reason's I dont ride a quad. The main reason I don't is I am a dirt bike guy, I am a A level enduro rider. I can go places on my dirt bike that a quad can only dream of. Second reason is that I can haul 2 or maybe 3 dirt bikes in the space of one quad. Third reason, CPSC Guidlines. Which bring's me to your point, Engine performance in a quad. I have always kept a eye on the quad market, I even buy a copy of a Quad mag once a year just to see what has been going on. Now correct me if I am wrong but until the YZF450 and CRF450 Quad's all you could buy was limited performance. Now up until april of this year I was still riding a '85CR500. Not under powered in any way. Some may say excessive ..... YAH... YAH... YAH....Whatever. So I would be riding with my buddies and one of their friend's would have some kind of quad and ask if any one wanted to ride it. Well to me a 350-500 pound quad being pushed by a reduced power 2-stroke engine seemed absurd. I once rode a Suzuki 500 Quad That was OK, it still seemed weak compared to a RM500. So I have always chuckled at what people would pay for a "high performance" quad. Around the same price as a equivelent dirt bike. With a slower engine and far less sophisticated suspension. I assume the manufacturers are only protecting them selves from all the idiots who buy quad's. (I am not talking about you guy's, I am sure you know who I am talking about) You dont hear about too many people riding their little sister around on a CR250 wearing only a pair of short's.

 

I am not in any way offended by where or how you spend your money Dragginbutt. More power to you, and God Bless You for sticking with your conviction's. I have been asking myself if I would buy another chinese quad. You have me thinking, and as you can see by my list of toy's I only have one chinese ohv. Well I have to admit that if I was buying my wife a quad again I would most likely buy another chinese quad for her. If I was buying for me or one of my boy's there is no way I would do it. Myself and the boy's, Well, we abuse stuff, almost everything we ride/drive, we are just hard on our equipment. The wife on the other hand is very, well, princess like on her quad and earlier in our marriage on dirt bike's. So having said that I realize that I am not as confident in the reliability/build quality of a chinese machine as I am in japanese machine's(oh yah I cant forget my newest favorite bike's country, Austria). Which lead's me back to what I have always said about my experience with chinese qaud's. They are great Entry Level Quad's only.

 

Yes I miss the grunt of a 500 class machine... Don't miss the I'll break your leg if you don't start it just right feeling though. My old 501 Maico still has a soft spot in my heart. What a chore to work on though.

I am not sure that the quads are so down in power. I think it has a lot to do with the diameter of the tires more than anything else. It is pretty easy to spin them on a quad, and even so, you reach top engine RPM so fast that it appears to run out of steam. I think if you had comparable tire diameters, you would find them closer than you think.

Like you, I have ridden both extensively. As I get older, I find the seats on the new bikes way to hard, and they get jammed in sensitive areas where I just don't feel comfortable having them. The suspensions are fantastic at speed... but ride them in a mild mannered way, and they quickly become pogo sticks, and slap that seat even further into my sensitive areas... they are great for Banzai runs through whoops, and taking triples etc, but way too different for my taste. (My wife says that is why I put on weight, so I can pad the seat naturally.. ah yes, she is a barrel of laughs sometimes).

Any way, I ride the ATV mainly because it has this nice cushy, wide seat that is just so inviting... We have become such close friends, and I find we spend a great deal of time together... You wouldn't expect me to abandon my friend now would you? Besides, I have nil for knees these days, and can't kick start anything any more, or put a leg down in a corner.. so the ATV is my only choice. Also, I can't pull my various trailers around the yard, haul wood, camping gear etc on a dirt bike either.

I agree with you to a point where you say you can go places an ATV can't with your 2 wheeler, but for those places I can go, I know I am more comfortable. Plus, in really bad suck your boots off muddy conditions, I'll take the quad any day. I have yet had so much mud caked under the front fender that the front wheel stopped spinning.. which has happened on a dirt bike..needles to say, unless you are very proficient at wheelies, you don't get very far that way..

To each his own... as long as you are having fun, getting muddy and at the end of the day, can clean yourself up at your local coin wash before you go home and have to explain to the better half why you just tracked mud in her spotless kitchen.. that is all that is important.

Besides, I don't have to haul in any topsoil in my back yard to get the grass to grow any longer.... I figure over the years I have drug at least a couple cubic yards of dirt home with me.. and all for free... so I figure I am saving money right?

Hey, you are all welcome in my book.

 

I hear ya dragginbutt, My latest bike is the result of my bad right knee. Ktm ecx 400, electric start, my boy's still make fun of me, who care's. And the first thing I bought for the KTM? A aftermarket taller softer seat. I swear the stocker was made of OAK.
Those trails I was saying a quad wont go on are expert level trail's, I would bet your average hiker would turn back too. The enduro clubs have to do something to seperate the top rider's, at 44 I still love it and look forward to it, for now. And just for the record that wife of your's sound's perfect for you. I have a similar version at home myself, yes she think's she is funny too.

 

I hear ya on that KTM.. Those are sweet machines... When yamaha came out with their 450 enduro I was real tempted... then KTM came out with all sorts of nice machines... and I really got the bug.... but then I remembered the knees, and the heart issues, and decided my competition riding days are over. Getting to be a young mans sport... even in the seniors division...

I really like the concept of the super motard that is sweeping the racing scene these days. Reminds me of my old flat track/TT racing days.. You haven't turned a wheel until you sling one in at the Peoria TT or the Springfield mile. My wife sold my bikes and my snowmobiles when I was in boot camp for the military. It was like losing your children. It was OK I guess, but I sure missed my F-1 Ski-doo racing machine. Not these MX racers of today, but low to the ground flat track ice racers... yeah man, those were manly beasts.

I mean, how many times in your life will you be able to say you owned a sled like that. (purportedly an ex Duhammel practice machine) It was several years old when I got it, but it was real fast...when it was running that is. Took it on the mile at Milwaukee, and scared the living you know what out of myself.... decided I wasn't man enough for it. But it was so sweet to look at and drink beers over in my garage with the buddies... had to mop up the drool from the guys.... I think it had to be the best polished snowmobile never ridden in the world...

 

Snowmobiles, I have very little experience with them. I do remember back in Illinois as a kid 9-12 we would go to some resort on lake michigan (Ithink it was called the Abbey, not sure) and we would rent them, ride on the frozen lake. That was fun. As for supermoto I am thinking I am too old to be any good at that. Sure is cool though, takes me back to the Wide world of sport's Superbikers race, I think in early 80's. Wonder why it took so long to catch on?? And our current champion??? Jeff Ward, he has sure been around a long time. I got beat by him racing minibikes in the mid 70's. Ahhhh.... Memories.... Thank's for stirring them up for me...

 

He was my idol! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]


Haven't thought about that name in years!

 

Yep, it's called the Abbey. Been there.. had a class reunion there once. Many years ago. Nice place. I used to live in Rockford when I was a kid.

 

Hey for some real thrills.. you ought to take a look at speedway... those guys are crazy! And I thought I was nuts when I was young....

I think I was lucky when I got involved with cars. I worked for a guy who raced formula fords, and one of our customers was the US importer for Eldon race cars. My brother also grew up with a kid who eventually was a two time USAC national champ in the midget division, and I used to hang out when ever they would let me. I got to chase parts for a lot of different racers while growing up too.

The bikes and snowmobiles were my twist though.. It was all I could afford. Bought my first snowmobile for cash at 12. Worked my butt off mowing grass and working at the local race track selling pepsi's and popcorn in the stands. Brand spanking new Ski-doo 340 TNT... sweet. First bike was an SL100 Honda. It was one after another after that. I was hooked. Anyone remember the Can-am flat trackers? I had one...

Yeah, old Jeff Ward sure surpised a lot of guys. Wonder if his indy car experience helped....

 

Speedway goes agsainst my belief system. I NEED a front brake to ride, absolutely necessary. No Brakes=No thank's

I did have a '80 canam 250, rotary valve 250. real cool we would cut up the intake rotor's until the bike wouldn't run then start over.

I think his indy car experience helped big time. I can only imagine what the ground look's like at 200mph. Probubly makes 120 on a motorcycle feel real slow. Just a guess, I would not know.