So, what's the deal??? I am new to quads, haven't ridden but two or three times total. I had my first few rides just recently and now I'm hooked~
I bought a 2002 700 Twin Sportsman. While looking over my new toy I saw the factory sticker that very clearly states

NO PASSENGERS

I was looking at the really large, comfortable seat thinking my wife (110lbs) and I could fit nicely. I read your siggy lines and I see your bikes and accessories listed and alot of backrests are listed

Is it just a product liability thing or is it not safe to take my wife for trail rides. Yeah, I realize climbing steep hills would be dangerous but I am wondering about "dirt road" type of rides.

 

You need to check what is required in your state. The stickers are a legal weenie factory recommendation. I know in MN it's legal to have a passenger. The exception is for youth riders who can't(and probably shouldn't).

 

Find out if it's legal to carry passengers in your state. It's a fine I don't want to pay so I don't do it.

 

I didn't know quad riding WAS regulated!!! Heck, I live where whorehouses are legal! I guess I will have to start googling NV laws re: quad riding!

 

First off, we'd better define the term "ride".

Be sure to check the state and don't go by what someone thinks. Unless they're paying the ticket. I know we went up to our usual spot in Oklahoma and they changed the riding area to no passengers unless it was designed from the factory for two. That means even adding a back rest for a passenger on a one up design would be illegal

 

We ride double on our XP, never been checked in Colorado or Utah, never seen anyone stopped and probably 1/2 the quads I see on trailers have a second seat or backrest for a passenger. We see riders all over the west riding double and not many 2 up quads.

 

They also say wear a helment and dont hold a beer in one hand riding around the beach ,but quess what?

 

As far as I know CA is the only state that has a law against carrying a passenger on ATVs built for one rider.

CA Law:
CARRYING OF PASSENGERS. No operator of an all-terrain vehicle may carry a passenger when operating on public lands. However, the operator of an all-terrain vehicle, that is designed for operation off of the highway by an operator with no more than one passenger, may carry a passenger when operating on public lands. (38506 C.V.C.)


I had heard that there was another state but I don't know which state it is.

The stickers are there for liability reasons to protect the manufactures.

 

Being Libertarian by nature I'm a firm believer that if someone wants to ride 2-up on a 1-up machine they should be perfectly free to do that very thing.

However.

People should be absolutely clear that it is a perfect way to turn the person on the rear into a quadriplegic, possibly the driver too. Nothing like sitting next to a distraught husband while you're holding a c collar waiting for lifeflight to get there while his wife is sobbing that she can't feel anything and can't breathe. What can you tell him? Lie and say she'll be ok? Tell him it wasn't his fault when in a very real way it was? You just try to get him to calm down and tell him you're doing your best to help her. You know very well the doctors aren't going to be able to fix her and he's going to be changing her colostomy bag and catheter bag, bathing her, feeding her, putting her to bed, getting her up, cleaning mucus and bloody sputum out her tracheotomy and taking care of her ventilator. A person may get away with it for years and nothing happens but I can tell you personally the after effects of when it finally does catch up with you and it isn't pretty. It's bad enough at the scene but seeing what happens after, the years of painful and what in the end is pointless rehab, the continuing care, hospitals, nurses, surgeries, rehab centers, divorces, nursing homes, the strain on families, the never ending guilt, the daily misery and yes even the hate-from both sides-it sorta makes the whole riding double thing lose any appeal it once might have had.

Frankly I'm not sure how the people who make a living creating those rear seat boxes can live with themselves. Oh they're labeled so that they're not for riding double when it is perfectly clear that they're made for that very purpose. I certainly don't want government banning them or anything of the sort but I do wonder how those people who make them can look at themselves in the mirror every day.

If you want to ride double on a machine built for one then more power to you. That is your choice as a free human being. Just be aware of the very real and very serious risks not just to you but to your passenger. Just consider for a moment the consequences. Take into consideration the cost of a proper 2-up machine or a razr vs. years of nursing care, ventilators, wheelchairs, your new wheelchair lift van, the ramp to your house, the hospital bed for your spouse/child. Suddenly the proper 2-up machine or razr etc doesn't seem so expensive after all.

 

There is a similar law in NY too. I bet NJ and MA have ones like it too. You know, bastions of liberalism. As that Rush song goes: Those who know what's best for us must rise and protect us from ourselves.