ATVs

From AtvChaos

ATVs are small motor vehicles with three or four wheels that are designed for use on various types of terrain.

History

Honda made ATV's popular with the introduction of the ATC in 1969. In 1967, American Honda had asked Honda R&D Ltd. for a carryover product to increase dealers revenues during the winter. Osamu Takeuchi began to develop new recreational vehicles. He eventually developed the US90 (which when shipped in later revisions was called the ATC90). These were mainly used for recreational use until the early '80s. Yamaha, Kawasaki, and then Suzuki(briefly) began producing three wheeled vehicles to follow Honda, the market leader.

In 1985, Suzuki changed the ATV world by releasing a 4-wheeler and calling it a quadrunner. At this time the ATV market was more sport oriented, however some utility machines existed. After the 1988 Consumer Product Safety Commission(CPSC) -- and afterwards, the general public-- attacked the ATV industry as being unsafe.

The real problem was the riders were simply uneducated and parents often bought ATV's for their kids to use as toys.