A brief walk through (ATV) time...

[MIA450R]

In another post, someone made the comment of not understanding why Yamaha didnt stop making the Banshee in the 80's....and in replying, I decided to make a new post so everyone would know why our sport is making a 'comeback' after a near 15 year slump. Feel free to add to the story and or correct me where I may have made a mistake........


Back in the 80's many kids (under 16) were getting seriously hurt or killed by riding adult ATC's and ATV's. As a result, around 1988/89, the US gov't/CSPC forced ATV manufacturers to stop selling 3-wheelers, and to stop putting R&D into producing newer, faster quads...for 10 years. However, none of the manufacturers HAD to stop making high-performance 2-stroke quads.

Honda CHOSE to drop out of the business, as in their view, their company/name was getting a massive black eye from being the top selling ATC/ATV manufacturer that was causing all these kids to have fatal or near fatal injuries. They stopped making racing quads, and eliminated their sponsorship for racing ATVs. They did not want the Honda name tarnished by one of their products.

Shortly after Honda stopped making the 250R (and killed the design of the 500R), the industry follows big red: Kawie stopped making the Tecate4 (250) and Suzi stopped making the Quadzilla (500) and the LT250R.

Only Yamaha CHOSE to stick it out, with the Banshee (and the Blaster). Granted, Yammie did as they were told, and stopped putting any R&D into the 'Shee...and thus why though the 80's and into the 90's all quads received for upgrades were "revised graphics" ... and why the 'Shee never got a decent airbox!

Fast forward (through the painful drought) to 1998/99. The 10-year R&D "ban" is over. Honda knows there is serious money to be made in sport ATVing, and cautiously CHOOSES to get back into "high-performance" ATVing by coming out with the 400EX. We all know how amazingly successful that move was. Although the 400EX was far from 250R performance levels...it was still a major leap forward from the 300EX's, Warriors and Mojaves that we all had to accept as "high performance."

Shortly after the 400EX, we got the DS650, Cannondale quads, Raptor and Z400's, etc etc. Life was good.

Fast forward again to today. Yamaha takes the bull by the horns and releases the no-compromise YFZ450. Right on their heels, Honda comes out with the TRX450R. The industry/sport has come full circle. We are (FINALLY) almost back where we were in 1989.

However, everyone, us, the manufacturers, etc....need to make sure we don't allow a repeat of what happened in the 80's, or our sport will be history...and won't return.

I say:
Hats off to Yamaha for sticking through it the whole way, and also to Honda for (if ever so cautiously) not completely giving up on our beloved sport, and creating the 400EX spark that relit the flame. Yamaha and Honda both make serious quads, in completely different ways...one through no compromising performance, and one through bulletproof reliability combined with top-shelf power.

I ride red. Period. The 450R will be my 3rd brand brand new Honda ATV. I look forward to the day I get to race it against a Yammie 450 or a Suzi 450 or a Kawie 450...whether I win or not, I *GUARANTEE* I'll still have a smile on my face...

[2004TRX450R]

Well this isn't completely accurate. The government DIDN'T stop the sale of threewheelers. They were going to ban all ATVs includeing 4wheelers. Then the manufacturers came to an agreement voluntarily to stop bringing threewheelers into the country IF they could still sell 4 wheelers. They came to the agreement for obvious reasons as the ATV market is far bigger the the motorcycle market includedin off and on rode motorcycles. There was no forceing to stop development either. The companies are based in Japan so the US government can only say what they can and can't bring into the country. NOT what they can and can't develop. This agreement came about '86 and took effect in '87. There are a few '87 threewheelers out there but they were only available in other countries. Three years later in '89 Honda finally stopped productino of the TRX250R due to getting hit so hard with law suits in the previous years. They are by fart he biggest manufacturer of ATVs and motorcycles so they have the deepest pockets and lawyers know that so they hit them hard. I think Yamaha probably kept the Banshee in production as they saw an obvious market for them to sell LOTs of them as they were the only high performance ATV left. Honda finally came out with the TRX400EX probably more for the reason of trying to get a portion of the market back from Yamaha and shortly after that other manufacturers started following suit as it was starting to take off again. I remember reading somewhere in a mag. that Honda come to the states and checked out some ATV raceing and was amazed about the number of TRX250Rs there were dominateing the circuits and wanted to get back into it. Now they finally have with signing a facotry rider and sponsoring a race team. I just can't wait until the hit the showrooms as I'm getting one!

[Greg Z]

what does R&D mean?

[Taco]

Research and Development

[Hammer trx450r]

research and development

[TGW_400ex]

Originally posted by MIA416EX
In another post, someone made the comment of not understanding why Yamaha didnt stop making the Banshee in the 80's....and in replying, I decided to make a new post so everyone would know why our sport is making a 'comeback' after a near 15 year slump. Feel free to add to the story and or correct me where I may have made a mistake........


Back in the 80's many kids (under 16) were getting seriously hurt or killed by riding adult ATC's and ATV's. As a result, around 1988/89, the US gov't/CSPC forced ATV manufacturers to stop selling 3-wheelers, and to stop putting R&D into producing newer, faster quads...for 10 years. However, none of the manufacturers HAD to stop making high-performance 2-stroke quads.

Honda CHOSE to drop out of the business, as in their view, their company/name was getting a massive black eye from being the top selling ATC/ATV manufacturer that was causing all these kids to have fatal or near fatal injuries. They stopped making racing quads, and eliminated their sponsorship for racing ATVs. They did not want the Honda name tarnished by one of their products.

Shortly after Honda stopped making the 250R (and killed the design of the 500R), the industry follows big red: Kawie stopped making the Tecate4 (250) and Suzi stopped making the Quadzilla (500) and the LT250R.

Only Yamaha CHOSE to stick it out, with the Banshee (and the Blaster). Granted, Yammie did as they were told, and stopped putting any R&D into the 'Shee...and thus why though the 80's and into the 90's all quads received for upgrades were "revised graphics" ... and why the 'Shee never got a decent airbox!

Fast forward (through the painful drought) to 1998/99. The 10-year R&D "ban" is over. Honda knows there is serious money to be made in sport ATVing, and cautiously CHOOSES to get back into "high-performance" ATVing by coming out with the 400EX. We all know how amazingly successful that move was. Although the 400EX was far from 250R performance levels...it was still a major leap forward from the 300EX's, Warriors and Mojaves that we all had to accept as "high performance."

Shortly after the 400EX, we got the DS650, Cannondale quads, Raptor and Z400's, etc etc. Life was good.

Fast forward again to today. Yamaha takes the bull by the horns and releases the no-compromise YFZ450. Right on their heels, Honda comes out with the TRX450R. The industry/sport has come full circle. We are (FINALLY) almost back where we were in 1989.

However, everyone, us, the manufacturers, etc....need to make sure we don't allow a repeat of what happened in the 80's, or our sport will be history...and won't return.

I say:
Hats off to Yamaha for sticking through it the whole way, and also to Honda for (if ever so cautiously) not completely giving up on our beloved sport, and creating the 400EX spark that relit the flame. Yamaha and Honda both make serious quads, in completely different ways...one through no compromising performance, and one through bulletproof reliability combined with top-shelf power.

I ride red. Period. The 450R will be my 3rd brand brand new Honda ATV. I look forward to the day I get to race it against a Yammie 450 or a Suzi 450 or a Kawie 450...whether I win or not, I *GUARANTEE* I'll still have a smile on my face....

That person that asked about why the Banshee is still made was me

[ATC83]

Originally posted by 2004TRX450R
There are a few '87 threewheelers out there but they were only available in other countries.

You are wrong about the 1987 three wheelers. I can remember sitting on a 1987 Honda ATC 200X at the Honda dealer in Moose Lake Minnesota and I still have the brochure that I got for the bike. If you want I can scane it for you and post the image. The 1987 ATC200X has a key on it and the plastic was all white including the air scopes. They also made the ATC125M that year.

[2004TRX450R]

interesting. I wonder if it was in late '96 that you saw it there and Jan 1, 87 they had to pull them off the floor or not sell them or something. I knew they made them but I thought they weren't allowed to sell them in the US.

[86atc250r]

There's a few things I don't agree with (please don't take this as criticism, only a view of the events & details from different eyes) -

Back in the 80's many kids (under 16) were getting seriously hurt or killed by riding adult ATC's and ATV's.

This statement in itself is true, but the numbers of injuries and deaths were actually very small & I would put them up against bicycles, skateboards, or heck, even walking, any day...

The thing that really kicked off the anti ATV movment was the Barbra Walters special that made ATVs look dangerous and riders appear to be irresponsible idiots. I remember various footage from that "special" vividly & it still makes me mad.

Couple that with the fact that the ATV market was still fairly new and the bulk of "urban" America hadn't ridden one to make an educated decision for themselves on the safety factor.

As a result, around 1988/89, the US gov't/CSPC forced ATV manufacturers to stop selling 3-wheelers, and to stop putting R&D into producing newer, faster quads...for 10 years.

The consent decree was a voluntary agreement between the CPSC and the Manufacturers - they weren't forced to quit manufacturing 3-wheelers, they voluntarily agreed to. There's quite a bit of info on the actual details on the CPSC's website. I don't remember seeing anything about restricting development when I read it over, but it's been a while ago...

Honda CHOSE to drop out of the business, as in their view, their company/name was getting a massive black eye from being the top selling ATC/ATV manufacturer that was causing all these kids to have fatal or near fatal injuries.

This is true, but only part of the story - the main reason Honda was the first to get "out of the business" is because lawyers "follow the money", and Honda has the money. Attacking Honda, being by far the largest manufacturer & having the deepest pockets makes a lot of sense if you think like a trial lawyer.

You've also got to remember that sport/high performance ATV sales practically died after the Barbra Walters special (also remember what happened to quad prices between 1986 and 1989?).

Granted, Yammie did as they were told, and stopped putting any R&D into the 'Shee...and thus why though the 80's and into the 90's all quads received for upgrades were "revised graphics" ... and why the 'Shee never got a decent airbox!


Not sure I agree with this from what I've read about the consent decree. Not putting R&D into the quads also equals not trying to make them safer, which works against what the CPSC was trying to accomplish.

In my opinion, the Yamaha sport quads didn't receive updates because they didn't have competition & were making Yamaha boat loads of money without spending any capital on updates/changes.

Although the 400EX was far from 250R performance levels

I disagree with this also - stock 250R's were VERY similar in performance to stock 400EX's. Everyone forgets the aftermarket race bred R's running around right now don't really resemble a stock 250R much at all. However, the 250R does make for a better platform for a race quad once modified, due mainly to it's weight and the relative ease to extract power.

Fast forward again to today. Yamaha takes the bull by the horns and releases the no-compromise YFZ450. Right on their heels, Honda comes out with the TRX450R. The industry/sport has come full circle. We are (FINALLY) almost back where we were in 1989.

I disagree with this as well. Cannondales, YFZ450's, Predators, and TRX450R's (stock for stock) are leaps and bounds ahead of the Tecate, 250R, and LT250R's.

The performance quads of yesterday (with the exception of the 250R) handled so poorly that if raced against 400EX or LTZ400 in anything but a drag, would be at a serious disadvantage against the newer machines --- yet alone a YFZ or TRX450R.

[ELANSS]

I owned a 1987 white atc200x. It actually said 1987 on the id plate. Wish I would have kept it.