ATV Tests

Kawasaki, like most manufacturers, has machines for the whole family. For the smallest member of your posse, Team Green offers a little 50cc four-stroke with a fully automatic CVT transmission. It uses a chassis similar to its larger 90cc brother, with smaller tires, lower overall seat height and a lighter weight. This mini is recommended for kids 6 years old and older. Here's our first test of the 2020 Kawasaki KFX50 Kawasaki, like most manufacturers, has machines for the whole family. For the smallest member of your…

Power meets finesse By the staff of Dirt Wheels It can be tough proving which machine is the best between two highly acclaimed 4x4 ATVs from two of the top Japanese manufacturers. Kawasaki has had great success with their hefty Brute Force 750 4x4i powerhouse. It hasn’t been upgraded in quite a while, but Suzuki performed a full makeover on the KingQuad 750AXi 4x4 in 2018. It was refaced, reworked, strengthened and tuned to be a better version of its previous self. We jumped, crawled, clawed, submerged and ripped…

Power-hungry By the staff of Dirt Wheels, Photos by Casey Kramer Kawasaki’s Brute Force 750 has always been defined as a power-monger in the class. From the beginning of the model’s long lifespan, the engine performance has been so impressive that it has remained the class bully with few revisions. We aren’t belittling the chassis at all. It does all that is asked in fine fashion. While the shocks are relatively basic by sport standards, the suspension is supple and surprisingly well-controlled for spirited riding.…

The Deluxe edition By the staff of Dirt Wheels, Photos by Kevin Wing Here is a fun fact: the recreational utility ATV market is still Honda’s bread and butter in the four-wheel category. When Honda had multiple sport quad models on dealer floors, the ranch-style performers easily had double or more sales. Honda 4x4s have a reputation for being the most durable and long-lasting in the business, which obviously helps sales. People purchase 4x4 ATVs for work and recreational performance and enjoyment. It is quick and…

Bring out the big gun By the staff of Dirt Wheels We affectionately address Polaris’ 2020 Scrambler XP 1000 S as the “Beast.” It has set new standards in the ATV world. Polaris decided to take an existing sport 4x4 platform, strengthen it, widen it and add more suspension travel. It boasts 89 horsepower from the ProStar engine, and jaws drop at its massive appearance. They may also drop for its hefty $14,999 price tag. We will let you decide if the price is worth the Scrambler XP 1000 S pure-sport experience.…

Simply a showpiece By the staff of Dirt Wheels After only four years in production (1986–1989), the Honda Fourtrax 250R became the most popular sport ATV of its time, and they sold tens of thousands of them easily. In the 1990s and early 2000s, many were transformed into masterpieces like what you see here. It was a time without current production machines to build and compete with, but that didn’t stop hungry racers from using the best, and at that time, it was hands down the best 250R two-stroke. Today, modern…

Get tough with the Rugged Edition By the staff of Dirt Wheels Suzuki made its biggest ATV-related release of the past decade with the fully redesigned 2019 KingQuad 500AXi and 750AXi. Since then, Suzuki hasn’t needed to make any updates due to the great quality and handling of the platform. It did, however, come out with Rugged variations of the two KingQuads that gain heavy-duty bumpers and a 10-inch LED light bar. We picked up a 750i to refresh our readers and ourselves on the machine. The 2020 Suzuki KingQuad…

Mike Sloan’s WORCS champion By the staff of Dirt Wheels What it takes to be a champion: skill, talent, strength, commitment, motivation, courage, endurance and much more. That’s the stuff WORCS 2018 ATV Pro Championship winner Mile Sloan is made of. However, some of the most crucial aspects of a pro racer’s program are a machine that is built for battles and a team that supports the effort. Duncan Racing International has been in the pages of Dirt Wheels quite a lot throughout 2019 and 2020 issues. That simply stems…

A weapon in the woods By the staff of Dirt Wheels The big bad bear. Yamaha’s Grizzly has topped the mountain year after year as the brand’s premier sport utility ATV. It can paw its way through thick mud, traverse river beds on the hunt, and scale the steeps at a quick clip. Yet, the Yamaha can also retract its claws and conquer terrain in comfort. While the Grizzly is capable of extreme enjoyment on the trails, it doubles as a handy rig around the ranch, too. For 2020, Yamaha decided to outfit a few UTV models to…

Sticking with sport quad roots By the staff of Dirt Wheels Most of us didn’t start off riding fast and agile straight-axle sport quads or exceptionally capable big 4x4 rigs. Instead, we started small. Three-wheels, or four, we began riding on machines smaller than Can-Am’s DS 250. Once we had sure footing and a real understanding of how an ATV works, we could step up to a new realm of off-road enjoyment. The DS is a great transitional machine to allow you to progress to life with roost and wheelies, or a perfect quad…

Bad big bore By the staff of Dirt Wheels Way back around 2004 Jay VanValkenberg had been riding a big-bore TRX250R two-stroke for 15 years. He bought it brand new back in 1989. Then he decided to add a four-stroke quad to his collection. He was sick of waiting for Honda to get in gear and offer a big-bore-thumper, straight-axle quad. Being a diehard Honda fan, he wanted a thumper that had plenty of torque and plush suspension. He decided a fully built TRX450R wouldn’t satisfy him, so he decided to build his own fully…

It looks like a winner By the staff of Dirt Wheels Kawasaki has a rich tradition of building ultra-high-performance motorcycles. Conversely, despite the longest UTV history of any Japanese manufacturer, Kawasaki has not been on the cutting edge of UTV performance. Sure, the original Teryx was a genuine sporting unit when it was first introduced, but as the years passed, it slipped farther below the performance pinnacle. Now there is the 2020 Kawasaki Teryx KRX 1000—a true, modern performance UTV. It checks all the…