ATV History - Part 2

In 1975 the hubless wheel design was replaced with steel hubs and a wheel lined with a tough fabric on the inside. More durable plastic fenders were added. This time they produced fenders in bright colors for better visibility out in the bush. As the ATV’s popularity grew the Japanese engineers didn’t stop their research and development. They had a good thing going and they were determined to make it better. Their engineers went into the field to see how the ATV’s performed and started gathering data to help with the next round of modifications.

By the 1980’s, ATVs had gone the same route as dirt bikes and motorcycles. The ATV’s were being used as a utility vehicle and for racing. More and more people were buying ATV’s for riding off road trails and competing in races similar to motocross events. By 1985 ATV usage had gone from only 30% in the 70’s to the whopping 80%. In the 1988, Honda made another groundbreaking leap with the ATV’s design, the introduced the FourTrax 300 and a second model called the FourTrax 300 4x4.  Up until this point the ATV still had the three wheels, now Honda added an extra wheel and gave the ATV four wheel drives, which provided more stability and power. They also fitted the FourTrax with a four stroke single cylinder engine which was air cooled and gave it a five speed transmission, automatic clutch and a maintenance free drive shaft. Honda also thought to give the FourTrax an extra low gear for hauling particularly heavy objects as big as 850 lbs.

Today, ATV’s are fully ingrained into our way of living. You can find ATVs on the dirt bike trails, on farms, on construction sites and a host of other places. Now countries all over the world are discovering the same thing Americans have; the ATV is a fun and efficient vehicle for handling a wide array of jobs in almost any environment.

The end.