Recreational

 The old saying is, “It’s not the size of dog in the fight, but the size of fight in the dog.” That can now go for ATVs as well. Kawasaki’s new Brute Force 300 doesn’t know it’s an easy to ride, 300cc machine perfectly suited to work around the yard or go for weekend trail rides. It thinks it’s the leader of the pack, and it may be right!

A tap of the brake brings my Yamaha ATV to a stop atop a huge, pristine dune. The funny thing about sand is it always seems clean. The same never-ending breeze that has blown for 20,000 years and sculpted these dunes in the first place quickly now works to erase my tracks one grain at a time as if I’ve spoiled its great, undulating canvas. To the left is the deep green of a Pacific Northwest rainforest and at the foot of nature’s giants an impossibly blue lake shimmers under an impossibly blue sky.

When it was introduced almost two decades ago in 1995, the Polaris Scrambler 400 made tracks into fresh territory. Before it there were only two ATV categories, sport and utility. The Honda 400EX, the Yamaha YFZ 450R and the Can-Am Outlander 800 weren't even on the drawing board, and custom built chassis ruled the racetrack, while the utility quad world was heavy on the utility side. Single cylinder, 400cc engines were the big bore powerhouses of the day. It all sounds like a tale that begins with: “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away…”

It’s been a long time since bears roamed freely in Southern California’s San Bernardino forest. The high mountain lake area wasn’t named Big Coyote, Big Deer, or Big Prairie Dog, but it is called Big Bear for a reason, despite a century or so of relatively unmolested camping. Recently, Grizzlies prowled the old domain of the Golden bear, every bit the dominant predator they’ve always been.

ATV riding has always been a family sport and that means everyone in the family shares the adventure. It doesn’t take much coaxing to introduce a new rider to ATVing, and they usually take to it like ducks to water. It’s important to make sure junior gets started correctly, however, and with literally dozens of youth quads available, we wanted to list the ones that pass our inspection for quality, safety, and complete OEM support from sales, to parts, to safety.