I'm primarily a 'Weekend Warrior' mountain biker from England.

I once tried a Yamaha Breeze on a MX track, which was fun, but slow.

On holiday in The Phillipines I rented a Quadrunner 160 for half a day whilst we were on Mindoro. the public roads over there are mostly dirt tracks used by Jeepneys and trail bikes and I was able to take in a lot of different terrain from rocks to mud to concrete. After getting used to the unusal quad handling characteristics (very different to my Santa Cruz Heckler MTB!), I really enjoyed it. It certainly wasn't the fastest vehicle I've driven, but it was fast enough for the terrain and really satisfying to use your body to get it nice and balanced in the corners, getting a bit of air over small jumps  and even a couple of drifts on loose ground. Probably because it is normally impossible on an MTB, I really enjoyed the fast *UP*hill sections!

Although it was nowhere near street-legal, nobody stopped me maxxing it out in top lying flat on the tank (~45mph, at a guess) on a concrete section of road :-)

Great fun! I'm now itching to have another go, preferably on something a bit more powerful.

Unfortunately, there aren't many places to ride legally over in the UK....

Emigration to North America suddenly became more appealing!

Dear MTBer:

Welcome to ATVRider message board. I know what the bug is like, can't sleep at night (unless you get a quad 'fix' for the day), find yourself looking for anyplace to ride, can't drive by an ATV shop without stopping, reading everything you can about ATV'S. I only 'cure' I think that can help you is to come to the USA and rent you a quad and ride some of our great riding areas!

Later,

David Wilmot

I wouldn't mind an old quad, as I like working on vehicles. What would be a good choice of used quad for a keen beginner? Yamaha Blaster 200??

Where are the 'best' places in North America for a visitor to get a good introduction to off-roading?  It seems that you have purpose-built trails in forest parks over there. We have the same thing for pedal-powered bikes in a few of the forests here, but not a lot for the motorised vehicles.

DAVID! Wouldn't this be "ultimate" reader material? Comin' To America! To the Britton(sorry MTBer, I leaped w/out looking)-Get a 4-stroke! If you are in to sport riding-and guessing by your Heckler you are, a 400EX would suit your needs-for a while. If you wanna ride w/ the BAD BOYS (come on DAVID) get a Mid-to-Big bore 4X4! Blasters are fun, if you are of the right stature. If you are average, you might want something with a little more wheel base.

Welcome to the forum, and be sure to subscribe to ATV RIDER!

I'm 6' tall and 185lbs, so the Blaster may be a bit small.

I'm not sure quite what you mean by 'sport riding', although I'd be loking to ride a wide range of trails slow/technical, rocky and fast/open,as I do on the Heckler.

the 400EX looks good, although I've never seen any for sale over here. I'e seen those Banshees (with the mad RD350 YPVS engine) and Blasters, but not a lot else apart from kids quads.

-Unfortunately, due to the lack of riding areas and the cost/availability of ATVs, it would probably make more sense to buy a trail dirt bike with an extra set of wheels for the road here in the UK.....

you could always join a club over here in the uk there's meetings to go to if your a non member to  

Have you any info/addresses?

Thanks.

try www.cotswoldenduro.co.uk           www.ukquadscene.com     www.adrenalintrip.net    is a chat room for like minded quaders click on forums scrole down to quads  

Hi guys!

MT 4x gives some good advice!  As far as good places to ride, the Hatfield McCoy trail system in West Virginia would be a place worth the trip 'over the pond'. Also the Coal Creek area that the Windrock atv club manages would be good also. I don't know how to put links in on this, but I bet 4x does!

Later

DW