ATV Magazine Decade In Review: 2006

ATVs, Features, Home Page Slide Show, Uncategorized — By Tom Kaiser on December 22, 2009 at 7:33 am

Editor’s Note: ATV Magazine Decade In Review is a daily, 10-part series on all-terrain vehicles from 2000 through 2009. We’ll cover the most significant machines, the major races and other notes from the sport in the first decade of the new millennium. Check it out each day for the next two weeks, continuing today with Part 7, the year 2006.

ATV Magazine - Buyer's Guide 2006

After the terrorist attacks of 2001, the start of two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Asian tsunami of 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, 2006 was shaping up to be a calmer year on Planet Earth. Saddam Hussein was convicted of crimes against humanity by an Iraqi court and subsequently hanged in Baghdad, Democrats gained control of both houses of Congress in the midterm elections, the U.S. unemployment rate had dipped to 4.6 percent and there were now 300 million Americans living within our borders.

In sports, the Pittsburgh Steelers overtook the Seattle Seahawks in a 21-10 victory at Super Bowl XL at Ford Field, in Detroit, a city very excited to have some economic stimulus from the event. News reports claimed the event brought $274 million to the Motor City. It was also the year that the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Detroit Tigers in the World Series, and Carolina Hurricanes defeated Edmonton Oilers, winning Carolina’s first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

It was the International Year of Deserts and Desertification, leading to record crowds at the country’s dune riding areas, and it was also the 250^th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, which was likely a very popular choice on iTunes for the year.

Album of the Year: “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” — U2

Highest Grossing Movie: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Best Female Country Vocal Performance: Carrie Underwood – “Jesus, Take The Wheel”

2006 ATV Magazine ATV of the Year: Bombardier Outlander 650

ATV sales continued dropping in 2006, and the year’s total sales of 747.581, nearly 33,000 fewer units than 2005. However, with the UTV market exploding, Polaris, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Arctic Cat sold a total of 108,900 UTVs, making up for the slight drop in ATV units. The market was still hot, and growing fast, with aftermarket companies rushing to build product for the UTV market. Factories continued the rush toward higher-tech big-bore utility quads, more 450cc sport quads than ever and a UTV market that was beginning to explore its sporty side.

The ATV Magazine ATV of the Year went to the “monumental” Bombardier Outlander 650, which was soon to become the Can-Am Outlander with the Canadian company’s name/branding change that occurred later in the year.

“While the larger sibling, the Outlander 800 may be attracting a lot of attention since its introduction, it’s the 650 we were surprised to see and have fallen for,” we said in the March 2006 issue. “In this day and age, when bigger is still often better, it’s refreshing to see Bombardier downsize and target what was already becoming a forgotten class.”

ATV Magazine - Buyer's Guide 2006

During the year, the athletic Arctic Cat Prowler side-by-side was also revealed as the UTV market continued its exponential growth during the period. In ATV Magazine’s Buyer’s Guide 2006 issue we compared eight top utility vehicles: Arctic Cat’s new Prowler XT, Club Car XRT 1500, E-Z-Go ST 4×4, John Deere HPX Trail Gator 4×4, Kawasaki Mule 3010 Trans 4×4, Kubota RTV900, Polaris Ranger XP and the Yamaha Rhino 660. The winner? The Rhino, because “all in all, the Rhino is a top notch utility vehicle…it does a lot of things well.”

Best of Class Heavy Duty: Bombardier Outlander 800 H.O. EFI

Best of Class Mid-Level: Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI

Best of Class Light Duty: Polaris Hawkeye 4×4

Best of Class Utility Vehicle, Sport: Yamaha Rhino 660

Best of Class Utility Vehicle, Work: Kawasaki Mule 3010 Trans 4×4

Sport Quad of the Year: Suzuki QuadRacer LT-R450

ATV Sport's 2006 Sport Quad of the Year - Suzuki QuadRacer LT-R450

Suzuki’s introduction of the QuadRacer LT-R450 was a big deal in the ATV sport world for 2006, and the revolutionary racer was the recipient of the year’s ATV Sport Sport Quad of the Year. At the time, we said “for the pure racer, no other ATV, in stock form, comes closer to being race-ready than the LT-R450.”

Competition potential was a big reason we honored the new ‘Zuk 450. With the ATBA-sanctioned width limit of 50 inches, a 50-inch-wide QuadRacer it also came with eighteen-inch rear tires, 8-inch rear wheels, so racers didn’t have to replace their tires and wheels, saving a lot of money for budget racers. It also came from the factory with a plus-one steering stem, and also came with electronic fuel injection.

“Suzuki engineers bring this technology to the 450 class even before the dirt bikes have it,” ATV Sport said in June 2006. “This is an unprecedented move in an industry where technology usually trickles down from the dirt bikes to the ATVs. EFI should usher in a new era in ATV and dirt bike racing, and Suzuki is at the cutting edge.”

We had also stumbled upon some spy shots of a new Kawasaki KFX450 that appeared to be sporting a unique aluminum hybrid chassis. Interesting.

In our annual Racing X-tra section, we asked, “Where do we go from here?” as the sport of ATV racing continued moving into the main stream.

“Five years ago, quad racing was mostly ignored by the television word and now it’s on ESPN2 and other cable channels. For so many seasons, there was only one “national” ATV motocross series. That changed last year with the arrival of the WPSA PowerSports ATV Tour. In fact, we’d argue that the WPSA series has brought a new level of respect to this industry…but let’s not forget the ATV manufacturers have played a big roll, too, by offering racing models, factory support and contingency programs.”

ATV racing legend Doug Gust sporting the #55.

The 2006 WPSA slightly segregated the top echelon of mx racers between the promising new series and the ATVA. Doug Gust (Suzuki) led the Pro 450 class, followed by Dustin Wimmer (Honda), Pat Brown (Yamaha), Jeremiah Jones (Suzuki), Jeremy Lawson (Honda), Chad Weinen (Honda), Jason Dunkelberger (Suzuki), Jason Luburgh (Suzuki), Josh Creamer (Honda) and John Natalie (Honda).

Racers that stuck with the ATVA National Motocross Championship had five new tracks and two new rounds to work with. All were very aware of the WPSA series, with a few racers like Doug Gust, Dustin Wimmer, Pat Brown and John Natalie choosing to race in both. Joe Byrd had a big year, taking the ATVA championship, followed by Gust, Keith Little (Honda), Jones, Natalie, Wimmer, Brown, Joe Haavisto (Honda), Travis Spader (Yamaha) and Harold Goodman (Honda) in the top 10.

In GNCC, Bill Ballance edged close to record-breaking territory with seven consecutive titles, while fighting off increased competition from the newly formed Kawasaki 450 team, led by William Yokley in the Pro class. Ballance was once again followed in the year’s points lead by Chris Borich in second. Duane Johnson, Chris Jenks, William Yokley completed the Top 5. Walker Fowler was the kid to beat in the youth GNCC series, and Traci Cecco was the top lady, followed by Angel Atwell and seasoned rider Stephanie Parton.

ATV Sport - June 2006

For the flat-track-style Extreme Dirt Track action, it was a memorably wet season, with several races and practice rounds of the eight-round series rained out. Tim Farr continued his reign aboard his Honda, followed by Keith Little, Harold Goodman, Michael Coburn and Daryl Rath. Mitch Reynolds made a big splash, and joined the Pro class for the final two rounds.