ATVs, All Terrain Vehicles

All terrain vehicles, known as ATVs, are amazing machines that people use for recreational purposes but also for work on rough terrain. They're vehicles that have been specially designed to run off-road, in areas where the land is exceptionally rough, uneven, gravelly, muddy, or otherwise inconsistent. For farmers or other people whose work requires that they be able to drive over land that may not be "tame" - consistently paved - an ATV can be a workhorse. But most ATV owners ride their ATVs just for fun.

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) defines an ATV by these standards: it is a vehicle that has one seat occupied by the vehicle's operator; it travels on low-pressure tires; and it has handlebars for steering purposes. An ATV has a lot in common with a motorcycle; in a way, it's like a meatier, stronger version of a motorcycle. Part of the ATVs strength on the road, particularly compared with a motorcycle, comes from its relative stability. Even at slower speeds, because of its design and tire placement, an ATV is a much more stable vehicle. ATV tires have a distinctive design: they are wider and have wider treads compared to car tires or motorcycle tires or bicycle tires. ATV wheels, which are sometimes called mud tires, have these special wide treads to allow the tire to "bite" into sloppy or uneven surfaces better; the idea is to provide maximum traction. Additionally, the treads will clear more quickly than treads on other tire designs. The specialized kind of tire used on ATVs is not suitable for use on open roads. Most ATVs have three or four wheels (compared to two on a motorcycle), and some ATVs even have six wheels. Driven responsibly, a rider is likely to feel that an ATV provides a much more solid riding experience.

ATVs go back to the 1960s, and the earliest machines were also designed to be able to float so that traversing swampy terrain would be possible. The idea was to make a semi-amphibious vehicle. The first ATV marketed in the U.S. was the Honda US90, which was sold here beginning in 1969. In the 1970s, the three-wheeled ATV went on the market, and really took off when Honda renamed their machine the All-Terrain Cycle ATC90. This was a recreational vehicle. ATVs began to appeal to people working land, farmers and ranchers, but also to sportsmen; hunters in particular appreciated the fact that ATVs could go where conventional vehicles couldn't, and the fact that they had significant towing power.

Three-wheeled ATVs were deemed unsafe in the 1980s, and had ceased production by the end of the decade. ATVs were all supposed to have four wheels; these models handled very differently from three-wheeled models, but were considered much safer. In the late 1990s, manufacturers again began to produce three-wheeled ATVs, but they are not as widely marketed as the now-normal four-wheeled models or the six-wheeled models.

Recreational ATVers know that certain accessories are extremely useful when riding off-road. One accessory is so important it has really gone past the level of "accessory" - it's really necessary. This is the ATV winch, which is a motorized winch you would use to drag your ATV out of a sticky situation. Riding off-road means, almost by definition, that an ATV is going to get stuck in mud or snow or some kind of messy situation. The only solution to a problem like this is to utilize an ATV winch, which can quickly and deftly free the ATV from its trap. There are many models of ATV winches which are suited for use with different ATVs, and the selection of a winch is one of the most important decisions an ATV rider makes in determining what he can do with his ATV.

ATVs are used in lots of kinds of racing: there are high performance ATVs designed for racing. A sport ATV is built slightly differently from an ATV intended for work use; it will be lighter and have a lower center of gravity. Additionally, it will have an exceptionally powerful engine and a different kind of suspension. Among the companies that produce some of the most popular ATVs for sport, work, and recreational use are Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Polaris, Honda, and Arctic Cat. Many of these companies are also famous for manufacturing motorcycles, so their prowess in producing high-quality ATVs will be no surprise.