When Two Wheels Aren't Enough

I had a new experience this weekend. (No, not that kind of experience!)

I was visiting my friends' farm (25 acres, most of which is cropped) for the fist time in a while. The weather cooperated and I was able to take the Ninja. (The Virago is suffering some electrical issues - arrgh - and I need a new flasher unit methinks - but I digress...)

When my friend opened the garage for me to stow the bike for the night - there was a new addition to their stable (yes they do have a horse too, but it is boarded on another property): The farmer's new necessity, the must-have for the new millennium: a Suzuki quad bike.

So the next day, I got my opportunity to try it out. I've never been on one before and it is a different experience. I knew enough from watching YouTube "fails" that you have to be careful about rolling over, and my friend had the throttle limited to about 50 km/h. Which on the dirt roads in the neighbourhood, was fine. So I took a tour around some "no winter maintenance" roads - plenty muddy and rutted. Almost hit a raccoon but it was too fast.

When I got back to the farm, my friend said "see if you can make it to the back of the property. Ride along the edge of the plowed field until the swampy bit. Go around that, but if you get stuck, I'm not coming to get you."

Challenge accepted! Low gear 4x4 it was!

At the back of the property is a hydro easement with an access road. The snowmobiles made good use of it this past long long winter (it was so long the snowmobilers got tired of snomobiling) but it is great for ATVs too.

I can see why people like them and why they are useful around a farm. I also understand why the armed forces like tanks - just run over or climb or squish anything in your way.

So there I went, bouncing along, at times standing up motocross-style, so the machine can jolt and jump underneath me while I kept relatively stable. Quad bikes have a thumb throttle like snowmobiles and I can see why. The way the quad lurches would make a motorcycle twist grip throttle very difficult to use. The transmission on this model was automatic - forward low, forward high or reverse and choice of 2 or 4 wheel drive. Really who are they trying to kid? On a 4WD car/truck, being able to shift to 2WD is a gas saving device. Are we really worried about gas efficiency on a Quad? Not hardly unless you were using it "on-road" and traveling a long distance. The handlebar controls are for the brakes and the left-hand one is the front brake - where the clutch is on most bikes. I was scared I would have to panic stop and pull the "clutch" lever out of habit, lock up the front wheels, go ungracefully flying over the handlebars and make myself an unwanted YouTube star.

Fortunately for me, and to YouTube's loss, such a situation did not occur.

The other lever is the back brake and there is a foot pedal, like a motorcycle, that operates the rear brake too. I found the rear brake ineffectual but the front had all the stopping power I needed.

After a short exploration of the hydro road it was back along the field and to the garage. Again feeling like nothing (in normal use) was going to stop it. The quad returned to the garage with new mud - badges of honour.
The quad was fun but unless you have a large piece of land like a farm or bush, or need to get places in winter, to me it's more of a toy - a bit like a snowmobile (in southern Ontario). It does make a good alternative to a snowmobile for those remote places where a 4x4 truck is too large or heavy.

As I said, fun, but I'll stick to two wheels for now.

Cheers!