Run against bikes more and find out what's really up. I watched a YFZ pass bike after bike after bike last Sunday at the Marysville XX track. This guy could ride the $hit out of the YFZ. Just awerome. I thought this months Dirt Wheels was total garbage, but after seeing that I think it's a closer matchup that you all might realize.
Then we went to the starting line where they drop the gate. I ran all types of bikes, 4-5 at a time. Ran over 50 total, up to 4th gear into the first turn and never lost, not once. YFZ, first into turn one every single time. I ran CRF 450's CR250's, 125's and tons of other bikes. There was a KTM 250 there that was VERY fast. He gave me the best run and I only got him by about 3 feet to the top of 4th.
I do agree that bikes are lighter and will outrun most quads most of the time. For one thing, riding a quads requires a lot more effort, but all in all, these performance numbers are getting closer.

 

my 2 friends that i ride with ( when i ride dirt) 1 has the yz450f and the other yz250f..they can kick some dirt back on me...there fast !! the yz250 is all most as fast as the yz450...the yz250f gives the yfz 450 a run for its money...now this is dirt riding we are talking about..they wont come out to the sand with me..i like the yz250f so much i may get one to go along with my yfz450..

 

You might want to add any terrain of less consistancy of hard pack clay or dirt favors the wider contact patch of the ATV.
Slush, mud, water, snow. They all favor ATV's. You just can't get traction from a bike. I have owned a few dirtbikes, enduros ect;
And they just can't touch ATV's and there well roundedness. And now a days the ATV's performance is even starting to surpass dirtbikes. I think honestly the dirtbike's days are numbered. Because you really can't improve on them much more than they already are. If you lighten them anymore it really isn't going to help them anymore. Thats why putting a 100hp engine in a bike doesn't make since and yet yo ucan do that all day long on a banshee. Now a days dirtbikes are just losing there edge everywhere.

The dirtbikes days are truely numbered. You can only get so much power to the ground on such a small contact patch, and that is why R&D is pretty stagnant right now in dirtbikes. There hasn't been to many changes lately. But there is worlds of research you can do to progress ATV's. Lightening a dirtbike further isn't going to help either because then you will have more spinning and less power being transfered to the ground.

The days of the dirtbikes are looking pretty dismal!

 

LOL! Motocross and Supercross are at their peaks. Professional riders have never made this much money before. There have never been this many major sponsors. They are getting more and more TV coverage. And they are selling more bikes then ever before. Funny, I haven't seen a single quad race on TV lately. Guess it just isn't as popular.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

cctman,

R&D is stagnant in dirtbikes? Have to disagree with you there...

Where do you think the motor for the YFZ came from? How about the Z400? What about the TRX450R? Even the lowly 400ex? What is the most competitive off road racing? What off road racing has FACTORY teams? (ATV's just got one, Honda) Major sponsorships, high paid racers, etc.

Over the last 10 years, in the 125 and 250 class machines, there hasn't been a year to year identical bike. Every year, the manufacturers are changing suspension, frames, brakes, motors, tires, gearing, carbs, cooling, and titanium everything.

When was the Banshee last updated? How about the Raptor? Think there were major changes in the Z400? What about the 400ex?

Dirtbikes is exactly where the manufacturers are spending their money. I would gauge that by the number of changes to the bikes between model years.

Have ATV's been getting attention? Yes. Utility quads are one of the fastest growing segments of off road machines. In recent years, sport quads have been getting some attention. The YFZ, TRX, Raptor, Z400 are all welcome additions to the sport quad segments.

But to compare the R&D spent on sport quads to dirt bikes is a no brainer. The dirtbike is not dead. The 4 stroke technology developed for dirtbikes, will mean a very long life for the sport.