i mentioned it in Marshall's thread, but don't want to hijack it further... the issue about ATV's being made street legal. my points are...

1-they can achieve and maintain 80-100km/h speeds which is better than some of those 50cc scooters people have now...

2-they are larger than a motorcycle, so being in a blind spot isn't such a worry

3-DOT approved tires are available for highway use

4-signal's and a horn are simple to hook up, it already has brake/tail and hi/lo beam lights.

5-they CAN'T easily reach speeds of 2-300km/h which makes them less dangerous than crotch rockets...

anyone got some good points to add??

 

What about the ones that guys put lift kits and bigger tires on??

 

I was going to add something about bumpers, but the crotch rockets and scooters don't have them either. I suppose there'd then have to be quad driver courses and testing.

 

This should be good. I actually think that all terrain vehicles should be allowed, in some places, to be registered and driveable legally on the street.

Scooters are used mainly in city. I have driven on the highways quite abit and so far havent seen one on the highway. (although im sure there are some that do go there)
Seems like those with a scooter use their heads and use them mainly in town. A quad rider I dont believe would do that. With a scooter only being able to go 50-60 km, thats a huge deterrant to drive it on the highway. Just because a vehicle can go 100km/h does that mean it should be a highway vehicle?

Thats assuming you meant that since a quad can go 80-100 that it should be allowed on the highway. In town I cant see why they shouldnt be allowed, regarding the speed they go.

Now for the blind spot. We all know that motorbikes can get into a blind spot easy. A quad, although better, isnt a whole bunch better then a bike that way. I think what creates the blindness with them, is they dont have a cab, so instead of a huge square chunka metal, your keeping your eye open for a helmet. With a quad rider there is more unseen machine below that sticks out to the side of the rider, some drivers wouldnt be used to that.

DOT approved tires, makes you wonder why they made them DOT approved in the first place for an all terrain vehicle? Should be no problem tirewise, unless guys dont follow that, then all of a sudden we are wasting more tax dollars on cops stopping atvs to make sure they are legal on the street( if it was legal I mean )

Maybe there should be a kit to install signals and a horn. I think a winshield would need to be required too, which there is plenty kits available to put winshields on.

Now whether or not they are less dangerous then a crotch rocket might be up for debate. One thing that holds a bike on the road is their inertia. Quads dont have the same kinda inertia when cruising with them, and that makes a huge difference.

Accident factor, well on a bike its not much better, but if you get in an accident on a bike you might fly away abit from the bike, and with a quad, your more "wrapped" into it if ya get in a accident. With zero side impact protection it could be pretty crappy if ya got in an accident. With a bike it has alot more power to "get out of the way" where a quad might not?

Those arent my beliefs, just some thoughts I pondered. I really dont know why though.

Now I think it would be cool to have a plateable quad, but could you imagine that? It would be mass chaos, people taking off offroad from the cops, driving on the sidewalks. Theres too many retarded people out there to let it happen!

 

haha that was funny, smart ***'ery at its finest!!

 

so explain to me a dual purpose motorcycle?? DOT approved tires which are off road capable... easy to swap a set of nobbies without any problems, no windshield necessary... another thing is a goldwing... loads of fairing there, likely 40 or more inches at the widest point... no getting away there. now explain to me how a quad would differ from those trike conversions that you can get for the big touring bikes??? one extra wheel, but anything else?? (considering that necessary safety equipment has already been added...signals/horn/etc).

 

long as the tires are less than 34 inches and bumpers below 29.5 we're groovy

 

I know exactly what ya mean, and about the only thing I can suggest(cause i really dont know either) is the same thing about bikes as what i said in my other post.

I know those trikes are built differently then a quad , with a little different suspension and whatnot. Maybe it has something to do with that?

It does kinda fall into the category where an offroad vehicle maybe should stay as an offroad vehicle.
Is there a proper category for a license a guy could get and use it with a quad? I dunno if a motorbike license would be enough.

I have a hard time debating this one though, cause i dont see why a guy isnt allowed to get em street legal.

 

I was just doing a little more reading about this whole topic, and it brings me to ask this.

Should those power wheelchairs, and powered four wheeled scooters be allowed to rip around on the streets too?

The law says anything under 49.5 cc doesnt need to be registered or you dont have to have a license to drive one, but does that really mean they should be legal?

The powered wheelchairs are supposed to follow the rules of a pedestrian too.

Now a quad couldnt be able to do that, so as long as they folowed the rules of the road...

Also, in some townships, atv's are legal by their by laws.

 

its something i'm going to bring up with our local MLA... he's a good egg, i know him pretty well and see him often in the coffee shop... there is a state that has legalized ATV's for road use, arkansas i think but i'll look it up. you bring up some good points prep, great addition to the debate, but it seems that we agree that it should be allowed with proper thought and consideration.

 

ATV Connection Forums - why not street legal?

read through this page... looks like arizona is the place, but there is others with loopholes, and some dead set against it.

 

Im sure if a person looked hard enough there is probably a loophole here somewhere too.

Thats a good read there.

You know I dont know if I would wanna see quads running around all over the roads though. Like to be honest, I dont think id like to see it happen in a larger city.

Smaller, less busier towns I can see it though.

Im curious sherm, I know your for it, but do you see any problems with this idea? Any concerns that you personally would have?

I guess do you have any cons to the idea of legalized quads?

 

the only problem i see with it is increased stress on our patrol officers when there are idiots at the wheel, but that wouldn't be any worse than those in cars or street bikes i wouldn't think. if they make the rules about signals/horn/tires etc, charge whatever for a plate, have them to be inspected before they can be liscensed i think it would cut down on a pile of free loaders.

honestly i don't see much difference from a bike, dual purpose especially, other than that they're larger which could be benificial. i think common sense would be used as with the scooters in the respect that if it only does 70km/h a guy wouldn't head to s'toon on it for the weekend.

wouldn't you enjoy taking the missus on a cruise of the city on your new can-am renegade??

 

Heh I would enjoy a new can-am (or any brand quad right now!!!)

The real problems I can see, is how the suspension is on them, the steering (might be different with power steering now) and the rear diff in the quads (after I did some more reading last night).

The suspension is set up for off road, and Im just not sure how it would be for alot of on road riding. I mean ive taken quads down gravel before, but not on pavement(least not that I can recall)
Now the steering is pretty responsive, and i almost wonder if it could cause problems for a rider in in-town situations.
Lastly is the rear diff. How would a quad diff work on roads, and in town? It would be like having a minispool in a vehicle. Not very good for turning and whatnot.

Add a few of those things together, and one starts to think maybe it might not be the safest thing for on road use, due to the control (or possibly lack of) issues.

I think the difference too between a quad and enduro bike is weight and control. A bike weighs alot less then a quad. That makes it easier to control, steer, etc.

Now dont get me wrong, I still think it would be cool to have an on road quad, just trying to see if there is any reasonable cons to why they shouldnt be allowed.

I cant wait to get one or two of them, and out here will probably drive them on the gravel roads anyways. Still would be nice to do it legally!

 

[quote=preppypyro;6209175]This should be good. I actually think that all terrain vehicles should be allowed, in some places, to be registered and driveable legally on the street.

That said it all In some places.
Our town only has 1 paved street the rest are gravel so if I wanted a quad to use to go see a buddy why not? But I don't want to see these on grid roads or pavement at 100km They are to unstable for that kind of speed. IMHO