Types of OHVs

The kinds of off highway vehicles has grown over the years. There was a time when, if you wanted to ride off road, you could get a Jeep or you had to build your own off road motorcycle out of a road bike or a dune buggy out of a Volkswagen.  Triumphs and Rickmans were among the favorite motorcycles for conversion to dirt bikes.  Then, after about 30 years of home made off-road machines, the motorcycle industry began building factory off road bikes.  Soon Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki off road bikes were everywhere.   Before long there were sizes to fit just about any rider, from 50cc mini bikes to thundering open class 500cc monsters. Most dirt bikes are made in Japan. Only one, ATK, is manufactured in the United States.  KTMs come from Austria, Husqvarnas from Sweden.  BSA's are British.   Dirt bikes and off road riding spawned motocross, a kind of formalized dirt bike race course which then evolved into Supercross, with huge jumps, deep whoops, and strong competitors.  Motocross typically takes place on an outdoor track.   Sometimes there are motocross courses built within a sports stadium, dubbed 'stadium-cross', the granddaddy of all 'stadium-cross' races is Supercross.

Dirt bikes.  Since I've been a dirt biker for more than 30 years I'll start with dirt bikes.  Dirt bikes are off-road motorcycles.  They come in a variety of sizes and configurations.  MX or motocross bikes are primarily built for use on motocross tracks but are often purchased by non-racers for general off-road use.  MX bikes don't have any lights.   Enduro bikes are designed for off-road trail riding.   They usually include basic lights so they can be ridden after dark.  Full Dual-Sport bikes are designed to be street legal and to be ridden off-road.  They have a complete set of lights, including turn signals and brake lights and a horn.  Trials bikes are specially designed for trials, which comprises a lot of highly technical skills.  The bikes have low, narrow seats.  Trials riders usually stand up all the time.  They lose points if their foot touches the ground.   One of the most impressive trials skills is rock climbing. They will often scale a boulder taller than the bike and once on top, do a 360° turn, and ride back down.  I have used both MX and Enduro bikes off-road and found both to be a lot of fun and to deliver good performance.   MX bikes are light and fast but may not take endure the pounding of off-road use as well as enduro or trail bikes.  Out of all the bikes I've owned, my favorite was a KTM 520/EXC that I "dual-sported" -- added street-legal lights, horn, license, etc.   My kids started riding on 50cc motorcycles when they were still in kindergarten.   My youngest son rode 13 miles on a Poker Run when he was a month shy of his fourth birthday -- and was ready for more.  Unfortunately, the second half of the poker run was far more technical, including trails where the rocks were bigger than the wheels on his little bike.

Did you know dirt bikes have been around as long as any motorcycles?  Given the lack of roads when motorcycle were first introduced, every early motorcycle was by necessity an off-road bike. Motorcycles then HAD to be capable of going off road.  As roads improved production motorcycles gravitated toward street machines and it wasn't until the late 1960s that specialized production dirt bikes became popular.

The next step in OHV evolution, the ATC, was fairly short lived.  The All Terrain Cycles, or ATCs were 3-wheelers, with fat tires and a tricycle configuration that made them seem deceptively easy to ride.  So many novice riders were injured on these machines that they were eventually banned.    Actually, the ban was a kind of self-imposed restriction by the manufactures to prevent legislation that would have made them illegal.  You can still pick up a used one here and there, but be aware that they have some handling idiosyncrasies that still make them unstable.  A common ATC accident was running over one's own foot with a back tire.  Never did THAT with my dirt bike!   A second common problem is that they behave strangely when turning.  With a bicycle or a motorcycle, you lean into a turn.  To turn left, you lean left.  To turn right, you lean right. With an ATC, when you lean left it puts extra weight on the left rear tire, giving it more traction, and causing the vehicle to turn right regardless of which way you turn the handlebars!   I found "Any ATC" on a list of the 10 Worst Dirt Bikes.

Next came the "quad" or ATV, a 4-wheel version of the ATC.   Like a motorcycle or an ATC, the quad has handlebars and a saddle and you ride it much like a motorcycle.  Quads eliminated the major safety problems found on ATCs.  Like ATCs, ATVs have fat tires which makes them particularly good on soft surfaces, such as mud, sand, and snow.  Quads or ATVs (All Terrain Vehicles) are still very popular and are often used as utility vehicles on farms and ranches as well as for sport riding.  Quads require a wider trail than a dirt bike and are somewhat unstable when crossing slopes.  Quads are often used by search and rescue operations because of their general stability and carrying capacity.  They can be configured to carry rescue litters. A TVs often have many accessories available, including snow plows, mowers, and weed sprayers, making them very versatile utility as well as recreational vehicles.

A new wave of OHVs are called UTVs or Utility Task Vehicles and are also called side-by-sides.  The term ROV (Recreational Off highway Vehicle) is another name for side-by-sides.  These began primarily as real utility vehicles for farm, ranch, and construction work.  Early models included the Kawasaki Mule and the Yamaha Rhino, both of which have small pickup like beds in back for hauling tools and cargo.  Their 4-wheel drive off road capability was quickly recognized for its recreational potential.  The popularity for off road sport riding spawned a whole new generation of sporty side-by-sides, many of which look like Baja racers and offer up to 13" of wheel travel for a surprisingly comfortable ride over rough terrain.  UTVs typically have bucket or bench seats, with seat belts and shoulder harnesses and roll cages.  Most still have at least a small cargo area in back, ideal for a cooler and/or picnic basket.  You drive them like a car, with a steering wheel and most have automatic transmissions and push-button selectable 4-wheel drive.  The side-by-side seating means they are usually wider than ATVs but it is much easier to share a conversation with your passenger than when they are sitting behind you.  Like ATVs, UTVs, no doubt because of their utility vehicle heritage, can be used with many different accessories or attachments, making them useful as work vehicles as well as fun for recreational use.

Another type of OHV popular in desert areas is the dune buggy.  These are usually custom built vehicles designed primarily for use in sand dunes but are often seen on other desert roads and trails. They are often based on a Volkswagen or Chevy Corvair chassis, taking advantage of the air cooled rear engine configuration for both cooling and traction.  Buggies usually have some kind of fiberglass body.  A variation called "sand rails" has the seats mounted directly on the frame and has no real body.

Various 4-wheel drive vehicles, especially Jeeps, are also used extensively off road.   Other prominent brands include the Toyota Landcruiser, the English Land Rover, and the large Humvee. For serious off road use they may be modified with lift kits, oversized tires, and winches to be able to negotiate especially difficult terrain.  A whole sub-category of these types of vehicles make up "rock crawlers" who compete over grueling courses of large boulders and steep cliffs.  I've seen Jeeps built for rock crawling that include an onboard electric welder for emergency trail side repairs.   Off-road pickups grew to create today's "Monster Trucks".  Monster trucks are seldom if ever used off-road and appear mostly in staged performances in stadiums where they race each other and often crush junk yard cars for the spectator's amusement.

Technically, snowmobiles and personal water craft like jet skis are also off highway vehicles, but because of their unique application on snow or waterways they are often considered to each be a class of their own, snow machines and PWC (Personal Water Craft).  Snow machines are a primary means of transportation in the Arctic regions of Alaska.  Personal water craft include Jet Skis (sometimes called "wet bikes"), Waverunners, and Sea Doos.  They usually look similar to snowmobiles.  The rider (and sometimes passengers) sit on a saddle and they are controlled via handlebars.  BTW, "Jet Ski" is a copyrighted brand name belonging to Kawasaki.

For a time there was a tracked OHV built by Cushman called a Trackster (see Trackster.com). They were very versatile all weather vehicles and could go just about anywhere anytime but because they were relatively expensive (about 4 times the cost of dirt bikes in their day) and they behaved like a tank or bulldozer and required some special driving skills they never gained the widespread popularity of dirt bikes and ATVs.  There are still a few used Tracksters around if you think you might want one.  I, for one, would love to add one to my stable of vehicles.

Go OHV!