Here’s Why The Honda ATC Trike Is A Banned Death Trap

The Honda ATC may have sold like hotcakes but after a decade or so it became a villain, so much so it was banned in the US, forever.

When we talk about banned vehicles in the US, in general, lots come to mind. Like the Dodge Daytona, Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R V-Spec, Lamborghini Strosek Diablo, BMW M3 Sports Evolution III, and many more. What does not come to mind is Honda. More specifically, the Honda ATC.

Frankly, most of us won't even remember the Honda ATC given that it debuted at the peak of the Flower Power culture in the US, and stood as a symbol for everything free, unstructured, and well, hippie!

The Honda ATC was a three-wheeled ATV at heart and sold like hotcakes especially in the rural populace, till it made a massive mistake and angered both the junta and the judge, the latter of which finally put a stop to all sales and banned the trike from America, for good.

Within two decades, the Honda ATC went from being the darling of the masses to an absolute villain, and today it exists as a mere wisp of memory for most, a painful reminder for a few, and a classic for others. Here's more about the Honda ATC and how it became the most dangerous little vehicle in the US, before getting ousted for good.

Honda faced rather dismal sales in the winters in the US, struggling to make itself survive amidst American-made vehicles that could survive even snowstorms. So, Honda engineer Osamu Takeuchi brainstormed the Honda ATC 90, to let the US Honda dealers have something more to sell in winter.

Dressed in four candy colors, the Honda ATC 90 debuted in America in 1970 at just $595, with its 90-cc four-stroke mill jetting just 7 horsepower. A dual-range four-speed transmission with an automatic clutch made the rather bulbous back tires and the single front one ride over anything.

The balloon-like tires may have looked funny, but they came with a certain mechanical logic. Such was the sidewall power of these tires that it created enough speed differential to turn, operated only on a solid rear axle. These low-pressure tires absorbed all impact and so Honda sold the All-Terrain Cycle, or rather its three-wheeled All-Terrain-Vehicle minus an actual suspension.

Even this was all okay, till Honda decided that since the kids were already eyeing this minuscule trike, and it was perfect for little humans, it was time to introduce the Honda ATC 70, only for kids. In hindsight, this was the beginning of the end for the ATC.

RELATED: This Is The Real Reason Why The 3 Wheeled ATC Was Banned In The US

The Honda ATC, for all its faults (getting to that later, below) sold like nothing ever before. Sales averaged around 10,000 per year and by 1978, Honda had managed to sell some 150,000 of these little trikes. All of this is before the dealers discovered that they could make a killing selling these to the rural populace. Given that this was an all-terrain trike, there is only so much "terrain" to be explored in urban settings, so the ATV's utilitarian functions became a hit with the farmers.

By the ‘80s, it wasn't just the Honda ATC anymore as other Japanese and non-Japanese manufactures also jumped in. Soon the market flooded with ATVs from Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, and Polaris. The ATVs seemed omnipresent. The reason for the nearly 10-year delay between the Honda ATC and the others is that when Takeuchi dreamed up the "US90" as it was called in the R&D department of Honda in Japan, the company patented just about everything about the trike. From the engine to the positioning, everything came with a Honda patent, so the other manufacturers either had to pay Honda a sizeable chunk to use this kind of tech in their trikes or come up with something radically different.

The ATC 90 wasn't all tha5 cute and cuddly, it came with deadly marketing intent before it turned deadly for consumers.

RELATED: Here's Why Three Wheeled ATVs Are Banned

Despite the sales surge, the Honda ATC was not problem free. There were repeated issues with the rear axle breaking as well as a flawed foot-peg design. Sadly, when Honda introduced the ATC 70, a mini ATV for kids, problems came to the fore. This three-wheeled ATV came minus a suspension and relied on the rider's ability to transfer their weight atop it to stop it from flipping over.

In 1988, a "New York Times" article concluded that between 1983 and 1988, ATVs causes 1,000 deaths and 300,000 injuries. The same year, a "Times" article also pointed out that 7,000 people a year were getting "mauled" by ATVs. In 1988, the U.S. Justice Department intervened and banned sales of all three-wheeled ATVs, including the Honda ATC. All manufacturers, including Honda, agreed to back a $100 million safety campaign along with buying back all the unsold ATVs in the inventory.

Finally, the age of the Honda ATC came to an end. Even though it was Honda's billion-dollar baby in the beginning, it's a cheap buy today.

Source: TheNewYorkTimes

Arun Singh Pundir has been a longtime media crackerjack and worked most of his life in sales and marketing. In 2018, he officially flipped and switched sides to the editorial. He lives with his wife, two rascally sons and is a car and motorcycle nut in his free time. Not that he has too much free time. He currently writes news, features, and listicles for HotCars on anything that has any number or kind of wheels. He is also penning pop culture, lifestyle and all things rich for TheRichest. For now, he considers his Isuzu D-Max V-Cross, Suzuki Ciaz, and Royal Enfield Classic 500, the three current flames of his life. His dream is to drive around the world; even if it takes more than eighty days.