Off Road Vehicle Service & Repair Manuals – ORV, OHV, ATV, UTV, Snowcat, Snowmobile, etc.
ATV Manufacturers Service Repair Manual Directory

ATV Manufacturers Service Repair Manual Directory

All Terrain Vehicles (ATV) as the name implies, are designed to handle a wider variety of terrain than most other vehicles. Although they may be a street-legal vehicle in some cases, they are not street-legal within most states, territories, and provinces of Australia, the United States, or Canada.

What does ATV Stand For?

ATV stands for All-Terrain Vehicle: ATV's are also known as a quad, three-wheeler, four-track, four-wheeler, or quadricycle, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). They are further defined as vehicles that travel on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is straddled by the operator, along with handlebars for steering control.

By the current American National Standards Institute (ANSI) definition, ATVs are intended for use by a single operator, although now some ATVs are designed for use by the operator and one passenger, these are referred to as tandem ATVs.

Most ATV vehicles are equipped with three or four wheels, however, six-wheel models exist for specialized applications.

With ATV's, the rider sits on a straddle seat and operates these vehicles like a motorcycle, but with extra wheels that give more stability at slower speeds. Also dirt bikes are considered to be ATVs as that they were designed for off-road use only.

What Does AATV Stand For?

With the introduction of straddle ridden ATVs, the term AATV was introduced to define the original style amphibious ATV category.

The term "ATV" was originally coined to refer to "center seated non-straddle ridden" (which are now referred to as AATV), and are typically six-wheeled, amphibious ATVs, such as the Jiger produced by the Jiger Corporation, the Amphicat produced by Mobility Unlimited Inc, and the Terra Tiger produced by the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company in the mid 1960s and early 1970s.

This AATV category can be somewhat blurry due to the fact that these types of vehicles can vary from center seated operator design, to side seated, which technically transforms them into a Side x Side UTV.

A Short History Lesson On ATV's

Three-wheeler era (1967–1987)

The first three-wheeled ATV was the Sperry-Rand Tricart. Designed in 1967, the Tricart was straddle-ridden with a sit-in rather than sit-on style. In 1968 Plessinger sold the Tricart patents and design rights to Sperry-Rand New Holland who manufactured them commercially. Numerous small American manufacturers of 3-wheelers followed. These small manufacturers were unable to compete when larger motorcycle companies like Honda who introduced their first sit-on straddle-ridden three-wheeled ATV in 1969. These were originally dubbed the US90; Honda then trademarked the term "All Terrain Cycle" (ATC), though ATV later became the term of choice.

Soon other manufacturers introduced their own models. Sales of utility machines skyrocketed, and the 1981 Honda ATC250R was the first high-performance three-wheeler featuring full suspension. Today, the 1985–86 Honda ATC250R is arguably considered the greatest three-wheeler of all time, and aftermarket support still follows the machine.

Over the next few years, other manufacturers developed high-performance two-stroke machines, but did not sell as many due to the reputation already secured by Honda. These manufactures included Yamaha, Kawasaki and Tiger ATV's. The Tiger 500 is considered to be one of the fastest ATVs of all time, which claims top speeds over 100 mph.

3-Wheel ATV Safety Concerns

Production of three-wheelers were phased out in 1987 due to safety concerns raised by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Production ended with consent decrees between the major manufacturers and the Consumer Product Safety Commission—the result of legal battles over safety issues among consumer groups, the manufacturers and CPSC, (manufacturers were not required to halt production but agreed to it).

The consent decrees halting production lasted 10-years and thus since 1997, manufacturers were free to once again manufacture and market three-wheelers. A ban on sales of new or used three-wheelers and a recall of all remaining three-wheelers has been proposed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. However, it was determined in a CPSC study that three-wheelers are no more dangerous than other ATVs.

These safety issues with three-wheel ATVs caused all ATV manufacturers to upgrade to four-wheel models in the late 1980s, as three-wheel model production ended. Recently, the CPSC has succeeded in finally banning importation of three-wheeled ATVs with attachments to bill HR4040. However, Three-wheelers can still be built and sold by American manufacturers if they choose to.

Hazards of 3-wheel ATV's include:

  • Toppling due to a sudden turn of the vehicle
  • Running over yourself if foot slips off foot peg and gets under rear tire
  • Tipping over backwards or forwards on hills

Fix It,  Do It Yourself Service Repair Manuals

Here on our website we offer Do-it-Yourself Service and Repair Manuals for your UTV, ROV, or Side x Side – to get you the right information you need for fix-it-yourself guidance with service, maintenance, and repairs.