quads vs dirtbikes

[kokanee 800]

I went the other way (had rod installed in my leg from a sled crash) so i traded in the Drz 400 for a outlaw, like the stabilty under me lol

 

[yzgirl09]

My step mom broke her pelvis in 3 places and has 3 metal rods inserted and is completely arthritic, and reconstructed face, damaged tear ducts so her eyes water all the time, the list goes on... because of a quad. How's that for stability? She was driving the machine very slowly down a steep ravine, must have hit a rock at a wrong angle because the quad decided to do a summersault down the ravine, she landed in the creek on her back with the quad on top of her... her and my Dad were on their own little quadding trip in Nordegg, my Dad's cell phone had no reception that deep in the woods, my step mom was luckily concsious but in shock and anable to move and bleeding badly into the creek... my Dad had no choice but to leave her there, ride back home to call for help.. praying that the blood in the creek would not attract predatory animals.. thankfully she made it and was air lifted to Edmonton where she spent weeks in the hospital, in and out of surgeries, thank god she is alive, but to say the least she will never ride that quad again, it sits in the shop and she uses it occasionally around the resort as her wheel chair to stock the cabins with supplies, etc since it is difficult for her to walk around.. after that accident my Dad is mortified and scared to death and told me he does not want me on a quad anymore, not like he was grateful for the dirtbike idea in general but he supports it more then he supports me riding a quad. Well that is my story, to say the least it takes one bad accident like that to make you never wanna touch the machines again...

 

[mavrick]

no offence but if she was going down an embackment steep enough the flip the quad she porbaly shouldnt have been in the sitution,she porbaly didnt know her or the machines limts.glad she lived but thats not the quads fault

 

[OVERKILL 19]

I believe you can't out ride a dirt bike, but you can out ride a quad. I'm not a dirt bike fan but my kid will be on one. Both my neaices have crf50's they get going to fast they fall over and with "ALL THE PROTECTIVE GEAR ON THEY DONT GET HURT!!!"
"ALL THE PROTECTIVE GEAR ON !!!"
"ALL THE PROTECTIVE GEAR ON !!!"
"ALL THE PROTECTIVE GEAR ON !!!"
"ALL THE PROTECTIVE GEAR ON !!!"
"ALL THE PROTECTIVE GEAR ON !!!"
"ALL THE PROTECTIVE GEAR ON !!!"

 

[kokanee 800]

I know its hard to cross a water hole angle ways on bike and hit some other bikes 6"wide foot deep rut and contol it.

- Quad- nail the same thing doin fidy

 

[yzgirl09]

I never said it was the quads fault, it was nobody's fault... and she had been down the same ravine before on the same machine and made it fine. It's loss of control, which can happen to anyone on anything, my point is that its the quad that F%CKED her up, she probably would have been fine had quad not landed on her, but it's a lot harder to bail a quad then a dirtbike for example.. basically what I am trying to say is that if I were in that same situation..I rather be on a bike, hands down. Id much rather lose control on a bike, than lose control on a quad..because either can happen to anyone don't matter if you've been riding 1 day or 10 years.. if it happens, lets just say the bike is a lot less likely to fug you up. End of story

 

[yzgirl09]

I know its hard to cross a water hole angle ways on bike and hit some other bikes 6"wide foot deep rut and contol it.

- Quad- nail the same thing doin fidy

Yes, quads have 4 wheels, obviously they can get through mud holes a little easier then a bike.. requires a bit more skill to operate a bike through the technical stuff, its challenging..and thats what I love about dirtbiking..there's really nothing about riding a quad that challenges me or requires me to use much skill..that and I love the workout on the bike too

 

[rubirose]

no offence but if she was going down an embackment steep enough the flip the quad she porbaly shouldnt have been in the sitution,she porbaly didnt know her or the machines limts.glad she lived but thats not the quads fault

I agree with you , sometimes you should just realize that it is to steep, up or down. I have made us turn around on trails in the past because I was not comfortable going that way. Unfortunatly not everyone does this, they think they can outride a difficult area, and some times it bites them back. But yeah a quad is a heavy machine and If I had to choose which one to land on me, I would have to choose the bike because of the weight difference.

 

[yzgirl09]

As I said earlier though, she went down this ravine before, and trust me..it's nothing she can't handle...I've even been down it, (on the same quad) unfortunately even though you ride the same trail over and over, doesn't mean accidents can't happen. The risk factor is always there, no matter who, what, where...

 

[leonard]

have rode Bikes , Trikes Quads and UTV's alot in my life and imho Yes i agree that they are as safe as the rider that rides them ok..

BUT! when comparing accidents to accidents the bike is safer. endo a bike and endo a quad and see who gets hurt more.. flip a bike over backwards and flip a ATV over backwards see who gets hurt more .. lay a bike on its side lay a ATV on it side.

i remember many times hill climbing on a bike and start to come over backwards and just bail off you cant do that on a ATV it holds you there and TRIKES were the absolute worst for that and endo a trike you cant get away from it.

i think the difference besides weight of course is you can usually get away from a bike as it will tip one way or another and you can bail off them and just let them ghost ride if you need too.. a ATV you cant get off you cant get away typically and almost always your going to get hurt if it lands on you.

so bikes are safer. .the only other thing is when i rode bikes i also had more accidents and i drove alot faster and did alot more stupid things i wheeled alot more ect but i never got hurt like i have when i flopped or rolled my old TRIKE which lol i did alot and my few flops on my Quad were alot harder on me than any of those bike scrapes .. just remember bike and gravel roads leave a really mean rash.

now a days i like the mud alittle more aswell as i like to pull moose out ect when hunting so i have a ATV.

having had both i cant see how someone with a Bike would want to ride with someone with a ATV it must be quite boring waiting for a person all the time aswell. and anyone whose rode with me knows i go hard and i still feel slow on a quad lol.

 

[yzgirl09]

Thanks for getting my point across, but explaining it in a slightly different way to show your opinion..

 

[Modman]

having had both i cant see how someone with a Bike would want to ride with someone with a ATV it must be quite boring waiting for a person all the time aswell. and anyone whose rode with me knows i go hard and i still feel slow on a quad lol.

Throw in an inch of rain, a tight technical trail, some clay, wet rocks and roots....different ending to the story.

 

[Waxy]

Throw in an inch of rain, a tight technical trail, some clay, wet rocks and roots....different ending to the story.

Same ending, in the hands of a capable rider, the bike will ALWAYS be faster, and more fun... :d

Waxy

 

[mavrick]

Same ending, in the hands of a capable rider, the bike will ALWAYS be faster, and more fun... :d

Waxy

I think what he was trying to say in those conditions a bike would more then likey be just a fast as a quad,i rode a bike for 24 years and I would still rather ride the quad in those condtions:d

 

[Dylan.B]

i think a lot more miner wipe outs occur on a dirt bike, on a quad you might not fall as easily but when you do its more probable that you get serousuly injured.

 

[Harvdogg]

Wow, lots of very good points made by everyone. I am now a full time big 4x4 quader. I always used to ride dirtbikes until I broke my back in 2000. I loved my dirtbike and I could go anywhere on it that people quading would go.(well I would usually take a different line) Since my accident I have rode but just never really got back in the groove. I still liked going fast but prefered to keep the wheels a little closer to the ground. I bought a 04 grizzly new in 03 and I have enjoyed it completely. Maybe I have gotten older (as riding a dirt bike takes a lot more endurance than a quad) but the quad was the right fit for me. I feel the biggest problem is unexperienced people buying very powerful machines. They get out on the trails and see an experienced friend do something and think because they have a big machine they can do it as well. I have seen many bad crahes both on dirt bikes and quads. I don't really think either one is better or worse than the other. Whichever method makes you feel comfortable and gets you out riding, well thats the one you need. Take care, ride hard and be safe.

 

[treemongrol]

Bikes and quads are only as safe as the operators and people around them. I've was strictly a bike person always refered to quads as motorized wheelchairs for people that were too old for dirt bikes. I've had my fair share of crashes on my bike. I now have 2 quads and regret the decision to get rid of the bike as it was alot more fun. But the wife won't ride a bike so to be with the family I sacrificed the bike for a quad. I have learn't that when you roll the quad it hurts when it lands on you. It is slow but can be fun especially when you get to pull your brother back to the trucks. Most of the serious accidents I've seen since I have my quad are due to the operator having too much to drink and are being stupid out there. That is the one thing that stands out is you'll pull up to a group of say 5 quadders and guaranteed there drinking and halfed looped, where on a dirtbike I didn't notice that issue as much I'm not saying that it didn't happen it's just bikes don't have the storage capacity that a quad does.

 

[kavik]

Interesting posts. yzgirl mentioned that a dirtbike is much lighter than a quad. I think that many people do not realize how heavy quads are. Especially new riders. For example, Suzuki has just started listing wet weights for their quads. The 750 KQ is 670 wet. Add 50lbs of bumper, a winch and you are at 750lbs. Toss in a bit of gear that you can not carry on a dirtbike and you are easily at 800 lbs.
And then there are the Polaris, 200 lbs heavier. So we are talking 800 to over 1000 lbs of machine. You have to keep this in mind when riding, if things go wrong.
My dad always told me when driving on logging roads or in the snow to pick your ditch. On a quad this is pick your bail side. Things happen fast and if you are more aware of what can go wrong, the less likely it is to happen.

 

[Waxy]

Most of the serious accidents I've seen since I have my quad are due to the operator having too much to drink and are being stupid out there. That is the one thing that stands out is you'll pull up to a group of say 5 quadders and guaranteed there drinking and halfed looped, where on a dirtbike I didn't notice that issue as much I'm not saying that it didn't happen it's just bikes don't have the storage capacity that a quad does.

Unfortunately, this is more than a stereotype, it's simply true IMHO.

You don't see 5 guys on dirtbikes sitting around a mudhole drinking beer.

I'm not saying all quad riders do this, because obviously that would be completely false, but I see it all too often. Five or six guys on quads with oversize mud tires, with coolers full of beer on their racks, sitting around a wet, environmentally sensitive area, (where they shouldn't legally be a lot of the time), tearing the ch!t out of it. And you wonder why there's accidents and public outcry against OHVs...

I'm a die hard OHV supporter, but it pisses me off to no end when I see that stuff, because that's what the public sees and hates, and it gets it gets OHV areas shut down for everyone.

Anyhoo, that's my rant for the day.

Waxy

 

[mavrick]

what are you doing riding in that senstive area? I not saying its all right to get hammered and ride but I will be the frist to say I will trow a six pack in my quad when going out playing in the mud for a day nothing wrong with that i know my limts. but if these area are so senstive you can bash them for riding their if you are to.