Recently I have been helping my cousin research dirt bikes to find him a good one. I have spent a good amount of time looking, and what I have found kind of ticks me off: dirt bikes are far more advanced than quads. It seems that every year or so, the manufacturers tweak their bikes (motocross bikes especially) to work out the problems or make them faster. Why haven't the manufacturers done the same with quads? Here is a classic example: the Banshee. The Banshee has gone virtually unchanged since it was introduced. To my knowledge, the only major change was the switch from j-arms to a-arms a couple years after the model came out.
It is almost as if the manufacturers don't really care about us ATVers. ATVs outsell dirt bikes by a 4-to-1 ratio (Dirt Wheels, April '99), and retail sales account to 52 percent of the motorcycle industry (Dirt Wheels, July '99). We give them more money than motorcyclists, so why can't they take that money, and in turn, give us new and improved models? It doesn't seem logical. Someone might say, "Yeah, sure, but there is no interest in the ATV industry." Ok, but if ATVs were constantly being improved just like dirt bikes, maybe that would spark interest?

Here in Minnesota, it is illegal for anyone under 16 to ride an ATV over 90cc on state trails. But yet there are no displacement restrictions for dirt bikes. Technically, an 11-year-old can blast down the trails on a 50+ horsepower CR250 (with parental supervision), while a 15-year-old (who, with a permit, can drive a car on public roads with his parents) must ride a dinky LT80 (no offense to the LT80, I'm just using it as an example. Something is fishy there.

To me, it seems down-right unfair. But hey, the world isn't always fair. This subject has been on my mind lately, and I just wanted to get it off my chest..........

 

It is an interesting point. Why is it that atvs get neglected almost every year, in the R&D? Yet, dirtbikes especially MX models are constantly improved, and completely changed about every 3 years. Some of it comes from the type of atvs that are the big sellers for all the companies. From what I know the number one selling atv of all time is the Honda 300 2x4, not exactly a marvel of technological advances! A great machine in its own right, and exceptionally reliable and durable, but compared to any MX dirtbike made in the last 15 years, it is a dinasour.

So think about it like this if companies can sell a product as quick as they can make them. Why on earth would they improve it? They already have us, what more do they need to do? Obviously, if we were unhappy with their product we would quit buying them. So strictly from a sales standpoint, they dont really see a need to improve anything about atvs. If you could sell something that you hadnt changed for 11 years or more, and eliminate R&D costs, and raise your profit margin to the sky...wouldnt you??? The atv industry has no incentive to give us exciting new products cause we buy up all their old designs.

A big reason why MX dirtbikes are improved virtually every year, is the size of the market. MX bikes appeal to a smaller market than atvs, but still it is a viable market or else the companies wouldnt make MX bikes anymore. Most MX racers buy new machines almost every year, for one or both of the following reasons...either they want the extra edge that the newest hottest MX bike offers, or they dont want to put up with the maintenance hassle of a year old race machine, and trust me you race them and they wear out quick! So when the motorcycle companies design a MX bike they are looking to design something that will appeal to the small market they have. They have to stay competitive with the other companies or else their sales will plummet.If for some reason Honda dropped the ball and didnt come up with some hot new design on their CR250 one year, they would be left in the dust by the YZ, KX and RM. They virtually have no choice but to constantly offer new and exciting products to their smaller, but very viable MX market.

This is something I learned in a business class a few years ago. You have cash cows and stars...the cash cows are your steady big earners that you dont have to put much effort into, but your stars are your hot products that you have to constantly stay on top of. Your stars are your bragging rights! Which does Chevy sell more off CK pickups or Corvettes? Which one got completely redesigned first? Every company does it, motorcycle companies are no different than anybody else. They got executive with big egos who want to have high profile, high technology products, even if they only appeal to a select few.

Your questions about safety are interesting too, but I dont think they require as in depth of an answer. See there is this show called 20/20, and many others. They portrayed atvs as bad and dangerous in the mid 80's. So now we are paying for it with stupid laws. Another deep seeded problem is that atvs appeal to a large group of people, almost anybody thinks they can ride an atv. So for years, we have had to put up with a learning curve. Most people who ride dirt bikes have been for years, and they were taught by somebody else who knew how to ride. Unfortunately, too many people buy atvs and just get on them and go with little or no instruction. So of course, many people are seriously injured on atvs, because they either didnt know how to ride them or just plain didnt realize that they deserved respect, and you could get seriously injured or killed on one. Well, I am interested in others opinions on these matters. I have been involved in atv and dirtbiking for about 18 years, and love getting to ride either machine.

Adam Smith
99 400EX

 

And there it is...a utility ATV is the ultimate haul around/work around the farm or house type of machine. There aren't utility dirtbikes and they wouldnt be as useful as a utility ATV anyways. So, since an ATV can be such a useful machine, the ATv market is larger than the dirt bike market. But that isn't even what it's about. We know why the ATV market is larger than the dirt bike market.

Actually, a more accurate comparison is not ATVs in general vs. dirt bikes, but the SPORT ATV market versus the DIRT BIKE market. The utility part of the atv market is largest, right? Well, we DO see improvements and ne ATVs altogether popping up. So we should actually be saying that they need to pay more attention to the sport ATVers.

We are seeing new utility stuff come in all the time, but, well...as an example, both the YAMAHA BANSHEE and KAWASAKI MOJAVE have gone more than 10 years now with continued production yet no change. Ask yourself this, though--would you rather have them only make them a couple years then discontinue it, or have them keep making it? I'd rather have them continue production, changes or not. It's just like the Kawasaki Tecate-4...it was only produced in 1987-1988--wouldn't it be better if they just kept making them anyways?

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- 1996 Kawasaki Mojave, 1998 Kawasaki Mojave, http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/B...8090/home.html

 

Yes the ATV market is bigger than the MX market, but heres why, Most ATV's are of the UTILITY type. No need to improve on a proven utility machine!

RoostKing...

 

yea thats true.

 

yea thats true i agree.