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All-terrain vehicle

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All-terrain vehicle

An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike or quad (if it has four wheels), as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, has a seat that is straddled by the operator, and has handlebars, similar to a motorcycle. As the name implies, it is designed to handle a wider variety of terrain than most other vehicles. It is street-legal in some countries, but not in most states, territories and provinces of Australia, the United States, and Canada.

By the current ANSI definition, ATVs are intended for use by a single operator, but some ATVs, referred to as tandem ATVs, have been developed for use by the driver and one passenger.

The rider sits on and operates these vehicles like a motorcycle, but the extra wheels give more stability at slower speeds. Although most are equipped with three or four wheels, six or eight wheel (tracked) models exist and have existed historically for specialized applications. Multiple-user analogues with side-by-side seating are called utility terrain vehicles (UTVs) or side-by-sides to distinguish the classes of vehicle. Both classes tend to have similar powertrain parts. Engine sizes of ATVs for sale in the United States as of 2008 ranged from 49 to 1,000 cc (3.0 to 61 cu in).

Royal Enfield built and sold the first powered four-wheeler in 1893. It had many bicycle components, including handlebars. The Royal Enfield resembles a modern ATV-style quad bike but was designed as a form of horseless carriage for road use.

The term "ATV" was originally coined to refer to non-straddle ridden, typically six-wheeled, amphibious ATVs, such as the Jiger produced by the Jiger Corporation, the Amphicat produced by Mobility Unlimited Inc, and the Terra Tiger produced by the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company in the mid-1960s and early 1970s. With the introduction of straddle ridden ATVs, the term AATV was introduced to define the original amphibious ATV category.

The first three-wheeled ATV was the Sperry-Rand Tricart. It was designed in 1967 as a graduate project of John Plessinger at the Cranbrook Academy of Arts near Detroit. The Tricart was straddle-ridden with a sit-in rather than sit-on style (similar to the contemporaneous Big Wheel toy). In 1968 Plessinger sold the Tricart patents and design rights to Sperry-Rand New Holland who manufactured them commercially. Numerous small American manufacturers of 3-wheelers followed. These small manufacturers were unable to compete when larger motorcycle companies like Honda entered the market in 1969.

Honda introduced their first sit-on straddle-ridden three-wheeled all-terrain vehicle in 1969, known as a US90, as a 1970 Model. Variations would be popularized in the James Bond movie, Diamonds Are Forever and TV shows such as Doctor Who, Magnum, P.I. and Hart to Hart. In 1973, Honda trademarked the term "All Terrain Cycle" (ATC), applying it to all Honda's three-wheeled ATVs; it became a universal name associated with all vehicles of this type. It was directly influenced by earlier 6-wheeled AATVs of the sixties, and utilized balloon tires for both a low environmental impact and to compensate for a lack of mechanical suspension.

Honda entered the 1980s with a virtual monopoly in the market, due to effective patents on design and engine placement. By 1980, other companies paid patent royalties to Honda to enter the lucrative ATC field with their own machines. Yamaha introduced their first ATC, the Tri-Moto YZ125. Kawasaki followed suit the next year with the KLT200, while Suzuki produced their first model, the ALT125, in 1982. As the popularity of ATCs increased dramatically, rapid development ensued. The ability to go anywhere on terrain that most other vehicles could not cross soon made them popular with US and Canadian hunters. As other manufacturers were entering the market, Honda was diversifying, offering the ATC250R, the first Sport ATC intended for competition, in 1981. The 1982 Honda ATC200E Big Red was a landmark model. It featured both suspension and racks, making it the first ATC designed specifically for utility, and would become the world's best-selling ATC. Honda followed that effort in 1983 with the ATC200X, an easy-to-handle 192 cc (0.192 L; 11.7 cu in) four-stroke Sport ATC that was ideal for new riders.

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