The ATV/MX racing market has experienced more than its fair share of ups and downs during its 24-year history. To liken it to a roller-coaster ride would probably qualify it as the world's biggest understatement. The vivacity of the sport itself has defied odds, silenced critics and somehow managed to bring itself back from the brink of extinction.
On the downside, the sport has braved the attacks of the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), courtesy of "20/20," survived a 10-year consent decree which forbade production of truly race-ready equipment, watched helplessly as the OEMs pulled out of racing completely, endured a political battle which almost tore the sport in half and managed to thrive despite the elitist mentality of many in the "anti-quad/pro-dirt bike" off-road industry.
On the upside, the resilience displayed over the last 20-plus years by the ATV racing community, the formation of the WPSA ATV Tour, great television exposure, a healthy aftermarket, the reinvigorated sport ATV market and, most importantly, the two completely separate forays into the sport (more than 10 years apart) by the factory teams.
Rather than bore you with our opinions on what's going on in the sport, we decided to let you hear it straight from the people affected by and responsible for this new "factory invasion."
Looking Back
Figuring out where we're headed is much easier once you figure out where we've been. The early days of ATV racing (1984-'89) enjoyed the first wave of factory support, and Kawasaki's current team manager Jimmy White was one of the first full-factory ATV racers.
"It's much more competitive now since there are five factories involved," White recalled. "When I raced there was Honda with anywhere from three to five factory riders, depending on the year. These guys were true factory riders with Honda employee mechanics and boxvans; not like it is now with Honda where they give you some bikes, parts, money and say, 'Here you go, let us know how you did at the end of the year.' Then there was Kawasaki; I was the only true factory rider with a full-time mechanic, but Kawasaki had around five support riders who were basically set up the same way as how Honda does it now. Yamaha had support riders with bikes, parts and help, but no factory rides. In total there were truly three to five factory rides back then."
Unfortunately, the bad press associated with three-wheeler (ATC) injuries coupled with national news agencies jumping on the "ban ATVs" bandwagon and a litigation-crazed society led to what could very well be the biggest hurdle the ATV racing industry has ever faced: the CPSC's infamous consent decree.
(Editor's note: The CPSC and ATV manufacturers signed a 10-year (1989-'98) consent decree wherein ATV manufacturers agreed to cease production of three-wheeled ATVs, offer safety training, prohibit sales of adult-size ATVs to youth, promote safety warnings and develop voluntary ATV manufacturing standards. All of which are reasonable requests. Unfortunately, litigation-weary OEMs voluntarily ceased production and development of all sport models as well. With the exception of Yamaha's Banshee and Blaster models, the sport ATV market was essentially dead in the water.)
The 10-year decree effectively crippled the racing market, the factories pulled out entirely, and if not for the aftermarket, ATV racing would've ceased to exist. ATV racers were relegated to a single machine, the 1989 Honda TRX250R. Keeping the actual limited numbers of 250Rs alive is when the aftermarket came in. Every aspect of the 250R platform was reproduced and actually improved upon. As a result, 250R-based machines dominated racing from '89 well into '02. With the exception of Kawasaki's 1999 GNCC effort (in which a KX250 dirt bike motor was stuffed into a TRX250R-based chassis for Bill Ballance), the OEMs kept their noses out of the sport side for about 14 years.