I don't think it was right for the gov to stick their dicks in, but those 3-wheelers sucked.  They're fun up to a point.  A friend in high school had one.  Rental place in Pismo Beach had a bunch back then, also.  But I saw too many people get hurt on them and I don't miss them at all.

You know that didn't happen because it had three wheels don't you?

Am I the only fucker here that knew how to ride one?

They were safe unless you are/were an idiot.


Fuck!

I had a Big Red. It was fun as hell. A friend that wasn't use to them rode it into a triple barb wire strand fence and cut himself to pieces.

I had a classmate in High School get killed on one.   He tried to do a wheelie, gave it too much throttle, and the handlebars crushed his skull against the asphalt when it flipped.

Several things,

1) It takes an experienced/talented rider to use the inherent instability and control issues to ride to glory.

2) That isn’t for your average Pre meth Hill Billy who is drunk and jacked up on speed.  

These days I think we should pass these things out like candy and let the meth problem sort itself out.

And the few who make it will ride to glory on fury road.

Side note, there’s been a ton of people I know over the years that have seriously fucked themselves up on quads, dirt bikes, skateboards, Skiing, BMX bikes and horses. With horses and quads being the worst for fucking people up. Moral of the story, idiots will always jack themselves up.

Used to ride the big red on my uncles farm as a kid.  It flipped on him and he broke his back a few years later.

Guy I know crashed bad on one. They sued, I don't know how much money he received but he never worked again. Was always buying new trucks & other toys. He is still messed up, can't talk right & does not have full use of one side.

Rolled the 90cc over several times yet was always fun. Then dad got a 4-wheeler and so much harder to turn and I was sad.

So 2 wheels are safer than 3? Got it. Thank God the Gov't was looking out fr us kids.

Was the ATV you "went over backwards riding on the back" rated for two people?  Or did you just do something you had no business doing and then blame the machine, calling it "seriously dangerous"?

All the ones I've ever seen had warnings NOT to carry passengers.

This is why we can't have nice things.

People shouldn't have to go through the expense of a lawsuit against a company with deep pockets
I'd say they were a good ban.
This thread is full of people talking about injuries and deaths related to the things

They really really are. I rolled trikes dozens of times as a yute. The only thing that kept me whole (mostly) was the knowledge that they flip easily and the ability to tuck and roll.
Bad ban (all bans are bad) though, market and liability would have made them go away.

My Dad bought me one of the first 70 in the country. We also had a 110 I think it was and a 200. The 200 had an engine upgrade from out neighbor who was big into motocross and built his own bikes..


I was still getting mail about the 70 as late as 2005-2006. After moving 3 times. My Dad put it in my name.

Theres lots of threads on the webz talking about the injuries and deaths because of guns also. They also can be dangerous in the wrong hands.

Did this,  lots of hours in dirt on motorcycles
What was first thing I did hoping on one of these ?
Turned it and wanted to put my foot down .

... Fuck no!

Forgot yes easy to flip backwards. Always stood up and leaned when going up a hill of any size.

The 70 was easy to put a foot out for a turn If you rod mini bke or motorcyle before this. That one was self correcting after one attempt. No one did it twice

It basically sucked your foot and ankle under the back wheel and yanked you off the bike. Few ice packs but no one broke anything.

You had to lean and steer. If it was wet grass you had to lean start praying and not steer.

Cousin ran into a barbed wire fence and got about 15 stiches just above the eye.

Shit... take a narrow compact tractor for a spin on rough or rolling terrain. Your butthole couldn’t pass a BB after a few hours.

2PNI

All ATVs have a relatively high CoG, & it goes up when you throw a rider on top.  4 wheels is just less likely to roll than 3, but the odds are still against you.

There was a survivor series about people who lived through near-death encounters, & 1 show featured a Canadian guy who somehow managed to get his lower legs trapped underneath a 4W ATV in prone position while out deep in the prairie.  I think he spent 1 or 2 days that way before he was found, just barely avoided feeding the wolves.

Assuming we want government involved in ANYTHING (road building, printing money, army)... I think identifying clearly dangerous products especially when a non-dangerous item equal to it is available.

Just like the government can ban asbestos, guns so weak the rupture and take fingers off, and fake medicine, it was proper for them to ban the 3-wheelers.  The things were inherently unstable.  It was this instability which allowed people to easily to 'tricks' on them.  4 wheelers were a hell of a lot more stable.

good ban

No, those things are freaking awesome.

Rode them my entire youth growing up. You just had to take it easy till you knew what you were doing before full send.

They're great

I did not realize till you said this that that's why I do this.

I'm all over quads when I ride. It's how you had to ride the 3 wheelers to not go flying.

Attached File

Had a Honda 350X as a kid. Lucky to be here

The consent decree ended in 1998. They could make them now, but they choose not to.

https://www.cyclepedia.com/atv-consent-decree/

There's some incredible testimony in the this document

pg52
1 MS JANSEN It's at a very low level number in
2 relation to other investigations But in reviewing the five
3 that we have handled,
...
1 One of the accidents did appear that there was a good
8 level of user fault And that, in a product safety
9 investigation, normally just throws it out of whack as far as
10 It being a product fault And in that particular incident
11 you had two young girls whose attention was distracted, and
12 they were driving, and they hit a tree fell, the only thing
13 that would concern me about that accident is what happened,
14 in that the vehicle turned over

p56
MR SCANLON Mr Krantz, for the death
20 certificates processed by your department, do you know what
21 percentage of those deaths on ATVs were alcohol related'' Ms
22 Jansen mentioned that, in the five investigated by her
23 department, alcohol or drug abuse was not involved
24 MR KRANTZ In the ones that I have looked at,
25 there was no mention made on the certificates But that's

1 not to say that it didn't happen Because there is no
2 particular place on the death certificate for the coroner or
3 the medical examiner or doctor to specifically enter whether
4 there was alcohol use involved in that So in lots of cases
5 — well, I shouldn't say in lots of cases I'm sure in some
6 cases, certainly from motor vehicles and that and, say,
7 suicide deaths, the mention of alcohol doesn't get mentioned
8 for various reasons So there possibly could have been some
9 But from the certificates, none did mention that

pg 65
MR DeFIORE In the five accidents that you
19 investigated, in how many instances were the riders wearing
20 helmets or other safety equipmenf
21 MS JANSEN I don't believe we had a single one
22 where there was even so much as a helmet on them, which I
23 find curious Because I also know people who are involved in
24 the motor cross, fun types of things with children And
25 those groups are very safety conscious, very equipment
1 conscious And it's totally — seems to be totally absent in
2 this particular area

pg 75
MR DESMOND My name is Noah Desmond I'm 16
17 years of age My accident happened when I was 15 I was
18 driving around our house on an ATV, and I went to take a turn
19 I leaned into the turn, and the ATV turned too much There
20 was a car parked in our driveway I panicked and pressed the
21 accelerator instead of the brake I hit the left rear bumper
22 of the car and smashed my foot, my left foot, in between the
23 car and the ATC The ATV tipped once and was in the other
24 side of the driveway when I woke up
25 I would just like to say I think there is something
PEPPEY REPORTING CO /273-7308
76
1 wrong with the handling on the ATCs, and I don't like the
2 setup, how they have the accelerator, the brake and the
3 clutch and everything all on the handlebars So I think that
4 should be changed There is something about that
5 Thank you

pg 86
5 MR DESMOND Yes, exactly I can't really judge
6 the steering of an ATC Usually when I turn, it turns a
7 little But this time it turned a lot And I couldn't move
8 away from the car
9 MR DeFIORE Was there anything that you could
10 think of now, looking back on it, that you could have done
11 that might have prevented the accidenf?
12 MR DESMOND Yes Hit the brake, not the
13 accelerator But I panicked, so —
14 MR DeFIORE Meg, have you had training in riding
15 an ATV"?
16 MS PETULLO Yes Well, sort of Not really My
17 friend just showed me right before I started riding it how to
18 do It, but just briefly
19 MR DeFIORE Okay Before you had your accident,
20 did you know that riding two on a bike was unsafe'?
21 MS PETULLO No, I didn't
22 MR DeFIORE Did you know that riding on an
23 asphalt surface was unsafe'?
24 MS PETULLO No
25 MR DeFIORE As you think back about that accident,

1 can you think of anything that happened then that you could
2 have done to prevent the accidenf?
3 MS PETULLO Probably put on the brakes, same
4 thing But, yeah, I put the speed on instead of the brake,
5 as he did I put the speed on

p117
MS DAWSON We heard from an earlier panel about
18 one death and another serious injury on a four-wheeler ATV
19 In your experience, do you see any significant difference
20 between the risks associated with the three and four wheeler"'
21 MR KIELTYKA I see the four wheeler as being
22 riskier, the reason being it looks more like an automobile
23 and, therefore, there is less acknowledgment of risk with the
24 vehicle People look at it and say, "Sit on it and go "
25 That's not the case It turns, it handles, identical to a
1 three wheeler
2 MS DAWSON Identical?
3 MR KIELTYKA In my opinion, yes
4 MS DAWON We have heard some other comments that
5 there is some difference in handling characteristics of the
6 four wheeler, as opposed to the three wheeler In your
7 experience, you feel they are very, very similar in the way
8 that they —
9 MR KIELTYKA Very similar, yes Both have pros
10 and cons, mostly based on the terrain you are going to be
11 operating in On very hilly terrain, I would prefer a four
12 wheeler On flat terrain or narrow trails, I prefer a three
13 wheeler

Absurdly dangerous. Six of us rented at rocky point ~2006. Three flipped, and one needed his ass stitched back together. At least it was soft sand.

I am torn. You guys talk about how bad it is for government intervention, but the things were permanently disabling and killing people from regular use due to their inherent instability and bad weight distribution, regardless of skill level. If there was a car that could simply injure or kill you during normal operation, it would not be allowed on the road and rightfully so. The logic of let the company sell an unsafe product and let them get sued for it when an ignorant person uses said unsafe product makes as much sense as letting drunks drive and then only involving the popo when they damage peppery or injure/kill somebody.

Easy to run over your own legs, easy to roll on a hillside, easy to drive through a cactus if you didn't know how to turn.

Still have some scars after all these years.

People need to remember we were little kids sent out on these things with the only knowledge of how to operate them was where the gas and brake were.  Different times.

When 4-wheelers came out, we forgot all about 3-wheelers.

Lol, the time I ever rode a 3-wheeler was on my friend's dad's farm. His dad gave us $100 for a week of work in 1986 when we were like 12 years old, to burn berms of bulldozed forest with drip torches and keep the fertilizer openings on his tractor open with bent clothes hangers while he seeded his fields.

I thought we were going out to a recreational cabin, which is what my family did when we left town for the Mat-Su Valley. Nope! Gerhardt ze German worked our asses off.

I had a Yamaha 175. How I managed to not kill myself is beyond me.

IMO people that buy an ATV know what they're getting into, or they should. In that post I made, there's some people blaming the ATV for what looks to be operator negligence. Or in that case with the 2 80lb girls that drove into a tree because their attention was diverted (and blamed the ATV because it rolled after it hit the tree), that's the parents fault. Plenty of examples in that file of riders hitting the accelerator when they meant to hit the brake. That's just operator error. Also there were quite a few alcohol and drug related crashes that were blamed on the 3 wheeler, as well as people not wearing helmets that could have saved them.

The 3 wheelers aren't too stable, which is why I never ride them. The lower powered ones seem harmless, I'm thinking the ban was because of the Honda ATC250R. That thing is a beast. If someone rolls one of those, its either because they were riding out of their skill level, or their parents bought them too much of a machine. Dealers might be to blame for selling it to some unsuspecting folks unaware of how advanced a rider is required. I look at it like motorcycles. If the same kids that crashed their 3 wheelers got on motorcycles or dirt bikes, they'd probably wreck those too, just for riding something out of their league. I've got a TRX250R, that thing flies, never ridden the ATC250R but I can imagine that's probably a little faster, and a lot less stable

Parents faults. They wouldn't send their kid out on the highway with a motorcycle in the same situation... 3 wheelers are just as dangerous. If a parent gave their 12 year old a gun and the extent of the training was "here's the trigger, safety, and this is where the bullet comes out... have fun!" I think we'd blame the parent. ATVs are something that requires lots of training and ramping up of skill level (ie start on a kids ATV, then a Blaster...)

No, look at how bad the .gov fucked up gasoline. They have no business being involved in anything.

I had a Yamaha Tri-Moto 175 just like this one.

Attached File


The motor set way back under the seat.  When riding it, all the weight was to the rear.  It was nearly impossible to keep the front wheel on the ground.  I had a lot of fun and a lot of crashes on this thing.  I sold it and bought a Honda Big Red.

When the 4 wheelers came out, I had a hard time adjusting to them.  You could turn the handlebars and gas a 3 wheeler and turn it around quickly.  I couldn't do that with a 4 wheeler. I kept the Big Red for a long time and never did get a 4 wheeler.

Jesus H Christ, you are the reasons we can have nice things! It was the 80s we didn't care if it was rated for two. We did Shit and had fun, we didn't piss our pants reading warning labels.

Yup

Not to mention "kid" and three wheeler were a bad combo and the only one to blame are the parents. Adults had their fair share of stupidity as well, large quantities of alcohol and a three wheeler were not a good combo either.

Got my '84 200S for free from a buddy 20 years ago because it wouldn't run. 20.00 exciter coil and a carb cleaning and I was off and running.

Eventually put a Honda XR200 cam and carb on it as well as a SuperTrapp exhaust, I can get just a little over 50mph on a flat straighaway according to phone GPS.



Attached File



Built a ski kit for it about 7 years ago:



Attached File

They aren't banned right now. The consent decree expired in 1998. Mfgs could start making them if they wanted to. There's just no demand. Heck, every mfg but Yamaha discontinued the race 450s. ATV sport is dying.

Apparently you missed this link:

bvc trikes

There are companies making three wheelers, just not the main manufacturers

Here is another company, not sure if they are still making them:

TPC trikes

Yep, I remember the tire crawling up my leg and pinning me under it the first time I rode it and put my foot down as I was coming to a stop. I only did it ONCE.

Lotta people here blaming the machine for their lack of skill and/or experience, not to mention the ignorance of youth and their parents letting them on a machine designed for adults.

I lost a friend to one of those things.   18 years old.  Familiar trail, on the family farm.  Rolled over and broke his neck.

Yes, they were dangerous.  No, they should not have been banned by the government.  The free market would have solved the problem.  Offroad parks disallowing them on their own, poor sales, etc.
You can't even use the "public roads are a privilege" argument like people do for cars.  They were not used on public roads.  Which is not really a valid arguement anyway.

I had a Honda 185s, Big Red 250 and a Yamaha 220

Three wheelers were stupid AF.

They were absolutely fun but just a novelty when compared to a actual 4 wheeler

I’m being serious too a 4 wheeler is so much better to have if you actually use it for work

And a few people who want to pretend human nature isn't what it is.

That happened to me on a Yamaha Blaster (4 wheeler). Doesn't just happen on trikes.