How important is is to have bumpers on an ATV? Or does this really depend on how you ride? I ride mostly on trails and have never gotten myself into a situation where I thought I needed them.

What do you think? Are they needed? Is front or back more important?

 

I think the undercarriage of our ATVs is more vulnerable to damage than the front or rear bodywork. My Can Am came stock with bumpers, but I think that was for style and a price escalator. Some folks install side body protectors that might help in an easy tip over. But a rock or stump crash underneath the machine risks more expensive damage.

I think undercarriage skid plates are more valuable than bumpers.

David

 

My front bumper is a tie-down point for my Brute Force when I haul it. It does occasionally get used to mow down brush if it gets in my way. Kawasaki put a nice beefy front bumper on this quad. Skidplates are important no doubt but I couldn't imagine not having a front bumper of some kind. The radiator is right up front, I'd hate to not have anything protecting that. It would look funny without it.

 

Depends on your riding environment. Bumpers are great if you are brush busting. Most forms of racing they are a must to protect your machine. Transporting as a tie down point or buffer area between machines can be important too. Personally I am not running them on my side by side since I only use it on trail systems that are clear or around the house and I don't race it nor do I get to wild and risk crashing it very often. I do agree that skid plate and a arm/CV joint protection should be high on anyone's list as frame, a arm, and engine damage tend to be more of a downer than some busted plastic.

 

Pretty much agree with everyone here. If you are going through brush that is going so slap at the quad they aren't a bad idea. They do give another tie down point. Needed on my Can-Am. I also agree about skid plates. Polaris had a pretty good skid plate welded on the frame from the factory when I had mine. Not sure if they offer it on all models or not.

 

I don't you even need more comments because everyone here has said it perfect but I will comment anyway. I know its a lot of money, but you should get both a front bumper and skid plates. I rode my quad in an area with brush multiple inches over the tires. The front bumper helped a ton to mow down the grass. It also helps if you hit a tree or something, and to tie it down. So yes, front bumpers are handy. But when I was riding throughout that really tall grass, after I got out, I did a maintenance check on my quad before I continued. I found that a ton of grass got caught in my chain and other parts of the quad. It was very difficult to get it all out. If I would have had skid plates at the time, that wouldn't have happened. Skid plates will help with a lot of protection in the trails too, such as if a stick get thrown up, or theres stumps. I would say get both.

Good luck.

 

Thanks all. I have been looking at front bumpers as, after towing the ATV a few times I realize how useful the front bumper would be as a tie down point... of course in addition to it protecting the front end of the ATV. I'm debating between Bison trail bumpers and Quadrax elite bumpers. Does anyone have any experience with either? The only review I read on the Bison was that it doesn't attach directly to the frame like the OEM bumper does... although from the pictures, it seems like the quadrax attaches to the same place as the Bison.

Still looking into options for skid plates.

 

The front bumper on my Arctic Cat Diesel serves as a place to mount the winch, but the rear one, is, just for looks, I guess. I'd probably use the 2" receiver hitch for any serious pulling. Looks like previous owner might have used it hard, haha.