I've been looking at new quads and when I go to look at them in person, I see that under the rear differential there is not the claimed clearance. Does anyone know how they measure the ground clearance on a quad? Is it at the center of the frame? Or what? I think that the minimum clearance of the quad should be the reported ground clearance, but apparently it's not that way. Thanks to anyone that can help me out on this one. It's got me confused.

 

Falcon, normaly ground clearence is at the skid plate/chain swingarm area.

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Thanks for the help. You know, I just checked on my trx350 and Honda reported the clearance as 6.8" which is the clearance under the front differential, it's a 4x4. So it seems that Honda does infact report the minimum or maybe that machine is "special". Apparently the others do it differently and measure under the skid plate/chain swingarm? I hadn't looked at the Honda's much but it did appear as though they do measure from the lowest point when I was at the dealer a couple days ago. Maybe that's why Honda's SEEM to have less clearance when looking at the brochures.

 

Falcon, usually the rear axle is the lowest place, with brake disc, sprockets, and differentials hanging down. The front is usually the highest place.

 

I have somtimes heard of it being measured at the lowest point of hte chassie, guessing right before the swingarm?

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400EX LT250R Blaster

 

Honda is about the only manufacturer that prints the actual lowest ground clearance. Most everyone else gives a frame to ground figure that gives people the feeling that this bike isnt going to high center on anything. For some it does that, at least until they actually see the quad. For instance, the Grizzly is claimed in yamaha's brochure to have 10.6" of ground clearance. When you look behind it, the rear differential is no higher off the ground than the big bear 2wd. They both have 25" tires, and both have that differential dangling there. The Polaris Sportsman is another topic. Polaris is correct with 11" of ground clearance. They have no straight axle with a low differential, and the bike is way off the ground right down the center. But, if you look at the A-arms(wishbones) going to the front wheels, you will see that they are about 6 inches off the ground near the wheels. They are in fact lower than most 4x4s front ends. I've been looking at one real hard, and comparing it to my Arctic Cat 500, I have about 2 inches on it at that point. I lose it on the differential though. 27 inch tires would give the sportsman amazing clearance, though with a heavier rider, it will squat some lowering the figure.

 

I know that it seems strange that the trx350 is lower at the front differential than the rear and I've never seen it that way on any other, but it's an 86' and has a solid front axle.... Not much suspension up there, not like the newer machines.
I've driven a 97' Sportsman 500 that has the big 11' clearance and wasn't too impressed with the supposed "huge" clearance. I was hitting on all these littler rocks that I'd never hit with my mere 6.8" on the Honda. I think that it has a lot to do with the suspension. I believe that the independent suspension on them allows for VERY mimimal clearance when hitting bumps. The tire will swing up with the bump and the rest of the machine will follow with the proper damping to make the ride nice, kinda like what I saw in one of their commercials implying that the independent suspension was the best. Then the wheel comes down on the other side and the weight of the machine falling back down compresses the springs again making for less clearance, and in my experience falling onto rocks. Does anyone know how much you could tighten the suspension up? Thus, not allowing so much wheel travel on the bumps and "landing" on rocks. I experienced this while climbing a steep hill in the woods where the trail was skinny and I couldn't go fast. Riding on regular trails was great. I loved the suspension then, but it didn't seem so great in the more off-road conditions.

 

My Max has 6" on the sides and 8" in the middle. If you know how to drive it ground clearance is not a problem. Looks like the ground clearance on my Max is actually better than most quads!

 

Ground clearance is key to getting over obsticles....

TPR