Taking notes: two quads made for the flat track.(PERFORMANCE PROJECT)(all terrain vehicles)(Product/Service Evaluation)

Publication: ATV Sport

Publication Date: 01-OCT-04

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COPYRIGHT 2004 Ehlert Publishing Group

In this topsy-turvey world that can be confusing more often than not, we believe in a few simple truths: wearing a white shirt while eating spaghetti is asking for trouble, there's nothing quite as invigorating as the smell of race gas and the sound of thundering thumpers, and two TT race quads are better than one.

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Proving that last ideal is Legacy ATV. When we heard the company, which operates out of a big yellow semi trailer at all the National TT and MX events, was going to put together a Yamaha YFZ450 and a Honda TRX450R using what it thinks is the best setup for the TT track, we have to admit, we teared up a little. Indeed, two quads are so much better than one.

John McGhee of Legacy ATV took a Yamaha and a Honda and made the TT bikes he'd like to ride. But, the purpose of building these two quads was not just for personal gratification. McGhee says TT is big in North Carolina, and Legacy ATV, based in High Point, heeds the call of the racers who need a competent TT setup. In order to build quality, useful products, Legacy has to do extensive testing. We caught up with the company as it pitted the Honda against the Yamaha on the flat track, in the name of testing products to better both machines.

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"Basically, we wanted to make two different TT bikes," McGhee explained. "We were curious about how each bike created power and we wanted to see how these bikes performed as far as suspension. When we set up these bikes, we did a comparison on the shocks, too. We had Axis on the one and Elka on the other. And we also wanted to see how the riders felt--the YFZ has a narrow seating area as compared to the Honda's seat, which is a little bit wider."

On top of the findings from its own rigorous testing, Legacy and its products benefit from racers' comments. So, in the name of research, these two beastly race-ready machines were entrusted in the capable hands of Pro racer Nathan Dallas and Women's-class competitor Amanda Slaton.

The two test riders spent time on each machine and...

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