There was a thread about this on a forum dedicated to sport quads last week, and there was some interesting discussion. Pretty much everyone except Yamaha and Honda have dropped their sport quads from the lineup. The only Honda left is a 450 that hasn’t been changed since 2006. Yamaha has its King Raptor 700, and the wide YFZ 450r for the track. I have rode sport quads since 1994, and only till recently got into the 4×4 quads, especially the big bores. It seems these new breed of 4×4 atvs really walk the line of sport and utility. I can ride my Brute Force very hard and aggresive on the trails and then come home and plow snow or haul a trailer. The EPS is a godsend, the built in storage is fantastic when on the trail, and when you come up to a place whe guys are lining them up and having fun, you can stay side by side, or even beat some of the high performance sport quads in the drags. Having 4×4 for trail obstacles, encountering mud, and snow riding takes the cake. Many times I have been stuck with my sport quads in not that much snow, where on my Brute you just blast through like nothing.

It’s kind of sad, but the sport quad seems to be going extinct except for tracks and in the dunes. I guess it’s just the natural evolution of the sport and the industry, but we are seeing the benefits as these new machines continue to push the power, ride, and versatility envelope, I guess we win as consumers.