ATV/Quad
Motocross History
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motocross
ATV racing floundered after Honda,
Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha dropped their support in the mid 1980s due
to the bad publicity associated with the alleged dangers of operating
these vehicles. Throughout the late 1980s and all during the 1990s,
aftermarket companies kept the sport alive, but barely. Racers would
build expensive, custom ATVs with parts from major aftermarket
manufacturers. However,
in order to be competitive, it was necessary to spend upwards of
$20,000. In the late 1990s, rules were changed to allow racers to use
dirt bike engines in ATV frames. Soon hybrid machines began to dominate
competitions and manufacturers
started paying closer attention to the sport. In 1999 Honda released
the four-stroke TRX400EX. While it wasn't as powerful as the hybrids
racing on the tracks, it showed that manufacturers had begun to take
sport ATVs seriously. Late
in the 2003, Yamaha announced the YFZ450. This ATV represented the
first time a major manufacturer built a high-performance sport ATV
suited for racing. 2004 marked the return of factory supported racing
teams to national competition for the first time since 1986. In the summer of 2005, Suzuki
announced it was going to produce the 2006 LT-R450. This sport ATV was
the most competition-ready ATV ever produced. It featured a high
performance four-stroke engine, and a chassis that could be competitive
in stock form. As
of the 2009 model year there are seven major ATV manufacturers
producing high performance 450 ATVs for motocross; Can-Am has the DS
450, Honda has the TRX450R, KTM has the 450XC 450SX, Kawasaki has the
KFX450, Polaris has the Outlaw 450 MXR, Suzuki has the LT-R450 and
Yamaha has the YFZ450R.
MASTER SCHEDULE FOR DISTRICT 34 TRACKS