Publicity for the AATV

[mudslinger]

I often read in some of the threads on this website how people wish the AATV had more exposure and publicity in the outside world and I often wonder how many people have written to the magazines that do tests of off-road vehicles such as Dirt Wheels, Cycle World, etc. I have done so in the past without much luck asking them to consider testing 6 and 8 wheel AATVs alone or in a comparison test, even giving them hints on what models would best match up against each other, but so far haven't seen any results of my actions. Maybe if more people wrote in they might take us seriously and do a test or two of the AATVs and that would go along way towards publicizing the AATV. I'm sure RI or ODG would love to lend them a machine or two if they knew they could get all that publicity nation wide. Just a thought. Has anyone else gone this route to try and generate more interest in AATVs??

[soutthpaw]

Yeah I still wonder why they became practically obsolete.. guess the modern 3 and 4 wheelers came along and took the wind out of the 6 and 8 wheeler market. Currently i would bet that liability insurance is keeping many small would be start ups from building them. I think the price range they sell for would need to be more inline with current ATV's most 6 and 8 wheelers are 2 to 3 times the cost of a 4 wheeler. If some of the current ATV dealers started carrying AATV product lines along side their current inventory of ATV's they would probably sell. However due to the small size of the AATV companies they cannot afford to build and supply the needed standing inventory to the stores like the big brand ATV's do.

[Robinhood02]

i think that it is the cost of production that has the prices up there just above quads and just below cars, when i am rebuilding my maxs or argos i am allways amazed at how little there actually is in one of these things , considering these are made in Canada and US where most quads made in Asia in huge production lines that our guys are having a hard time competeing with that production, however there is also the issue of long term maintainance ,these units have never ever been really reliable ,one is allways tweaking something on them (mainly brgs and chains) where as the quads after years of refineing have become nearly maintainance free ,untill someone addresses the issue of the chains and brgs by getting some long term use out of them before repairs are nessasary these units will allways be fighting that battle, and as time goes by more and more people are less willing to put their head under the hood to do the nessasary maintainance to keep these running in top condition, I personally have designed 2 different ways of eliminating the maintainance issues but it involves a complete redesign of the chassis of the units, something that RI nor ODG would likely be willing to spend the nessasary cash doing , with (in all likelyhood due to the economy) sales at an all time low , the entire industry needs a rethink from individual components and parts mfg to assembly to sales and marketing to stay competitive in todays market, something that both RI and ODG are looseing ground at

[Dirty Harry]

I think you hit the nail right on the head, Robinhood. A huge portion of today's of-road buyers simply don't want to mess with anything mechanical - either due to lack of knowledge, or pure laziness. Adding "bling" is one thing, (almost anyone can swap out some wheels & tires), but if something actually requires regular maintenance - no matter how simple - they pass on it, in favor of a machine they perceive as being something they can just jump on and ride. The "I don't want to fart with it" attitude is truly naive when you take into account just how easy most of the PM on these machines really is. Sadly, many won't even try.

[6X6]

Well, I'll tell you that quads are not maintenance free, and can be just as troublesome. But low production #s keeps prices higher. Lack of suspension is a turn-off for sure. (You can add Whipper's kit, but that's a 6G price increase, still after 2 minutes in George's I'll tell you it's damn well worth every penny, for sure!) I won't stop riding quads, they have their place and are a blast, but these are simply a whole different class. They are perceived as slow, I know this cause that was my thought before I got my Wolf, and the average person has NO IDEA as to their capabilities (This I know because my neighbor would have bet his house I couldn't make it through the swamp "Pit" behind my house, Maybe I shoulda taken the bet and used his to host some 6X6 GTGs!) Quads have the same bearing and chain needs, and not really much less often if neglected either, (ATVrider93 may be able to confirm this ) just like well maintained 6x6 or 8x8's go for years with no issues, or months if neglected.

Most of us started with used machines, right? My first quad was used and was no less work than the wolf if you take out the crack in the lower tub I had to fix. I hope this hobby will someday expand again, but I don't think it will like quads have, or what these used to be. But who knows what tomorrow will bring. (Seriously, who knows? I need some lotto #s here )

[wfo]

i was at the glamis dunes about 6 years ago and their was this guy from a well known mag. who was taking pictures of my max and he thought it was cool and unique..he seen me driving up and down some good sized dunes but when it came to taking pictures of it going fast and tring to jump it..thats all it took for it not to be in the mag..i think this next year when mine will have the springer kit from whipper it will be different..i think when people see it go faster than a snail they mybe more inclined to ask where i got it..

[Robinhood02]

you shoulda had my Max II with the Bombie 700 MXZ in glamis , it can do wheelys from a stand still and other times it jumps straight up into the air about a foot then slams your head back,,,,,,,,,it also breaks alot of chains LOL i wish i had a video camera to show you guys,,,,,, PS my wife wont even watch when i take that thing out

[wfo]

thats what we need down here more of that kind of stuff...that would be awesome if we could round up about 5 or 6
6 wheelers and make a run on glamis this year and show them a thing or two about 6 wheelers..
hopefully that will happen when im finished..ill be using al hodges 42 hp badilero engine