The powersports industry is small but not impenetrable. There is one sight in particular designed to put employers and job seekers on the same page:

https://atvconnection.com/articles/a...d-you-know-29/

 

It's only a concept vehicle so far but we have to admit, the line between SxS and pickup truck has been blurred forever:

https://atvconnection.com/articles/a...d-you-know-30/

 

Now they need to build a high performance 4x4 utility ATV.

 

Usually the government and off-roaders mix like oil and water but not in this case. A program vital to ATVers in many states is about to get some long-overdue funding:

https://atvconnection.com/articles/a...d-you-know-31/

 

ATV manufacturers have been around decades prior to Honda bringing the US90 across the pond. This Canadian manufacturer has been at it since 1967 and is actually expanding its reach for 2018:

https://atvconnection.com/articles/a...d-you-know-32/

 

Before I bought my first ATV I was looking at an Argo. The lawnmower-type engine gave it a top speed of 20 MPH on land, downhill. I'm glad I found out there weren't any trails to ride them on before I bought one. If I drove one into a lake I think it would have to be registered with the state as a boat too. Driving on ice on public lakes would be fine since all ATVs with up to date yearly permits can do that. I didn't know they started making regular ATVs, or putting their name on some. I wonder if they had to pay Polaris for the Xplorer name.

 

Been riding since the 80's and have only seen one out on the trails in Maine. Looked pretty beat up, to the point that I don't think he dared taking it out on water.

 

ARGOs would be good in a few places, like bogs and marshes, but not much good for riding trails. There are some ORV Trails here that are also ORV Routes that would be wide enough, but on some of the routes you could only ride to the end of it, then you'd have to turn around and go back, but the 50" trail keeps going and going.

 

When I was a kid in college in 1970, I took a part time job at a factory in Ames, Iowa, that built an ATV called the "Swamp Fox". It was very similar to the Argo. It had a bad Tecumseh 12hp single cylinder engine that wouldn't start half the time. It had this magic transmission that allowed a belt drive input and a dual path output, thus the vehicle, like the Argo, was a "skid steer". It was a simple frame with a fiberglass shell around it so it would float. Sales were slow.

The owner's son then mounted a twin cylinder snowmobile engine in a prototype and the machine became much more fun. Power equals fun. That version was never brought to market.

David

 

That version would have sold better. I'm not the kind of guy who always wants more power, but something that size needs more power than a riding mower.