OK... I've resisted asking this question here in this section until I couldn't anymore.

Really, do you ever ask yourself why you ride a sport quad?

If you want an ATV, why not a utility quad... and if you want to be sportier and faster, then why not quit wussing around and get a dirtbike?

I'm not being anti-quad or anything. I just read these forums and wonder this all the time because I have asked myself this in the past.... and I'm just more curious what some people's answers might be.

I'll start it out with one obvious possible answer....

Riding dunes or sand in general.

I can see that one.... what are some more?

 

When I was a kid, my parents weren't real big on buying me a dirtbike. A quad they went for on the other hand and I fell in love with 'em. I like to ride fast, slide around corners, jump, hit the mx track, etc. I don't currently hunt nor do I own enough land to warrant a ute for working around my property. With my sport I can ride 10 months out of the year(maybe all 12 with this crazy warm weather we are having) It is light and handles like a dream, 10x better than any ute ever will. For what it is worth, I owned a crotch rocket for years, and rode my cousins db when I was a kid, my brothers as recently as about 5 months ago. Sorry, but dirtbikes just don't do it for me really.

Now a few questions for you, have you ever ridden a sport or race model quad? Why do people still buy Mustangs and rice out civics when they can have 0-60mph times sub 3 seconds on a much cheaper streetbike?

BTW, riding a sporty on the trails as fast as I do is not for "wussies"

 

I don't have a utility quad because I don't need 4x4 and if you don't need 4x4 they suck on trails. They are big and heavy and handle like crap. Plus if you want to hit the MX track you can't unless you feel like breaking the quad, yourself, or both.

I have a quad because that is what I started on when I was a teenager. I never even rode a dirtbike until this spring (at 28 years old). I'm now going to get a dual sport for my first streetbike and who knows, i might convert over to dirtbikes. But more than likely I'll thank my lucky stars that I'm fortunate enough to have both and ride both. Different tools for different occasions.

BTW I trailride with scooter and he's not kidding, anyone who rides at the pace we do through trails is not a wuss.

 

Lots of folks who are from back east think the desert is just one big sandbox....not at all. There is a complete variety of terrain! In fact, to get to the big "dunes" (like Glamis or Dumont), folks from LA have to drive several hours. About the only thing we don't have is big mud holes (thank God!).

That said, a sport quad is the weapon of choice out here.......a utility is just overkill! The extra weight and bulk of a ute will just hold you back. You will be eating everybodys dust in the back of the pack.....and bashing big woops on a big heavy ute is the definition of pure misery. The technique is to USE A SPORT QUADS ADVANTAGE OF LIGHT WEIGHT AND MOMENTUM, to fly over stuff! You don't want to grapple for traction like you would on a big heavy 4WD, because in a lot of situations all you would do is just dig 4 big holes anyway........

With that said, if you want to ride snow in the mountains, go rock crawling, or are deliberately looking for terrifying terrain, you will need a utility in your stable. But, best to keep it small and light as possible though IMO, and avoid the huge heavy hulking big bore beasts...........

As for dirt bikes, the only big advantage I see would be if it were dual sport! Nice to see KTM come out with some real off-road capable street legal machines.

 

Utility quads are just too damn heavy. Who wants to throw around a 600 pound plus machine at fast speeds for several hours.

As for dirtbikes, first I am too damn short to fit a bigger dirt bikes comfortably[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] but since I ride with my wife and 3 of my kids are of riding age I feel a lot better with them on quads than I would with them on dirt bikes.

 

The gap between sport and utility atvs is closing somewhat. Utilities will never be able to outhandle a sport, but they have much more exciting power and speed than they had in the past.
I just sold my three wheeler and wont be able to replace it until the summer, but I probably wont own a sport quad without having a utility. They are just too limited around where I live.

I do however enjoy going fast. I loved the 350x I used to have to death, but I ride two up a lot which is much easier on a ute.

So the moral of the story is that it's all subjective.

 

The weight thing with the utes is the killer for me! Compare one of the 450 sport quads which weighs a mere 350 pounds, to a 600-800 pound ute.......that's a 250 to 450 pound difference!

I have my Rancher down to 500 pounds, which is as heavy as I care to go..........

 

Agreed, the weight issue is a big one for me too.

And as others have said riding a sport is a rush that you just cannot get from a ute ........ I use my Rancher for work and nothing more ......

Banging gears, railing berms, leaping off jumps and being able to toss the machine around is so much fun .....Plus no matter how fast a ute is they just don't have that arm jerking power of a light high revving sport machine.........

The handling is not even close, they are literally two different animals. Sport machines are so light that your are in total control of where the machine goes..... these big 800cc utes are RIDING YOU ....... you are along for the ride, you might as well be on a horse because it the thing starts bucking out of control you are NOT going to stop it ...........

And God forbid if an 800cc ute machine rolls on top of you...... I've been flat on my face under a sport machine and was able to get out no problem, flip the thing over by myself and ride away. I'm pretty sure if I was on a Polaris Sportsman 700 I would have been there until help arrived.

I think the REAL question is why would anyone ride a ute for anything more than work or sightseeing?

To each his own .........

 

Good posts so far guys.

It's all in good discussion... and interesting what people from different areas have to say.

To answer some questions, yes I've owned them all. Back in the day I was probably a more serious rider than most people around. Where I came up we didn't have anything esle to do, except work or hunt & fish. So riding was my excitement.

In the good ol' days I even raced, back when there was nothing but 2-bangers on the tracks.
I ran both ATV's and dirtbikes... MX, Woods and Cross-Country... anything I could get into.

I rode hard in the days when you could drive down to the dealers and pick up a brand spanking new 250R / LT250R / LT500R / Tecate 4..... back when 4 strokes were for women, children, ranch hands and just casual riding.

I myself started out on 2 wheels. I was riding dirtbikes by the time most kids learned to ride a bicycle. But I have to agree with most of you. Be it a ute or a sport.... there's just something about quads... and I'm not even sure what it is. But I've been in love with them since I first laid eyes on them.

3 wheelers never interested me much at all, although I did ride friends from time to time.
When you think about it... isn't it sort of strange?.... I think so....

Anyways though... I do find myself reading threads here about this and that, and serious upgrades to sport quads, ect.... and having ridden full-race machines, and some highly modified sport quads............................... Well I do often ask myself while I'm reading, "why don't these guys quit wrenching on quads and just get a dirtbike already?

I mean if you want to go insane fast, fly high, have light weight, great suspension, great handling.... well you can do a lot to a quad.... but why not just get a dirtbike for that (unless you are a sand rider).

Anyways, the one thing I find interesting so far is that people have said they ride sport quads (to keep up with friends) but no one has really admitted they ride quads because all their friends/riding buddies do.

I'd venture to say that few of you are the only one, or the extreme minority of the riding group, that ride ATV's along with a group of dirtbike riders.

 

As an ex-MX'er, and a brand new quad owner, I'll have to say my reasons to go with a quad is to introduce my kids to off-roading without the longer learning curve on a dirt-bike and just start out having fun. A Ute would be fun for crawling around technical stuff, but can not beat the fun of riding a quad through the desert.

We do plan on adding bikes to the arsenal but for now, quads are a comfortable and fun approach to off-roading that leaves room for serious speed, air and thrills. Utes would not offer that.

I see Utes as a great way to go shoot some ducks without waling the woods or pulling equipment around a farm, not fast desert riding.

Like a post before said, to each his own and we all have dozens of different reasons for riding sport quads.