Bombardier Inc. is a multinational aerospace and transportation company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Bombardier started as a maker of snowmobiles, and is now a large manufacturer of regional airliners, business jets, and mass transportation equipment, as well as a provider of financial services.
Continuous track, also called tank tread or caterpillar track, is a system of vehicle propulsion in which a continuous band of treads or track plates is driven by two or more wheels. This band is typically made of modular steel plates in the case of military vehicles and heavy equipment, or synthetic rubber reinforced with steel wires in the case of lighter agricultural or construction vehicles.
A mountain bike or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain. These typically include a front or full suspension, large knobby tires, more durable wheels, more powerful brakes, straight handlebars, and lower gear ratios for climbing steep grades.
An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a quad, three-wheeler, four-track, four-wheeler, or quadricycle, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is straddled by the operator, along with handlebars for steering control. As the name implies, it is designed to handle a wider variety of terrain than most other vehicles. Although it is a street-legal vehicle in some countries, it is not street-legal within most states and provinces of Australia, the United States or Canada.
BRP Inc. is a Canadian company making various vehicles. Once part of Bombardier Inc., it was founded in 1942 as L'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée by Joseph-Armand Bombardier at Valcourt in the Eastern Townships, Quebec.
Countersteering is used by single-track vehicle operators, such as cyclists and motorcyclists, to initiate a turn toward a given direction by momentarily steering counter to the desired direction. To negotiate a turn successfully, the combined center of mass of the rider and the single-track vehicle must first be leaned in the direction of the turn, and steering briefly in the opposite direction causes that lean. The rider's action of countersteering is sometimes referred to as "giving a steering command".
Paddle tires are mainly used on off road vehicles, specifically designed for use in sand and mud. They consist of a smooth tire core which has a series of large rubber cups attached to it. The volume inside of a paddle is much larger than the void of a knobby tire, so it is unlikely to clog up with sand/mud. A street legal mud tire is a more or less normal tire, but with extra large gaps or "voids" between each tread block to allow centrifugal force to "self-clean" or fling the mud out of the gap. Smaller gaps trap the mud in between the tire lugs, which turns the tire into something resembling a "slick" with no tread at all, which will have no traction in mud. A paddle tire is an even more extreme version of this, optimized for mud or sand. The paddle provides superior traction in the sand, in part, because the paddles dig into the sand and push off from the buried sand, not just the surface, and in mud, the gigantic "voids" give no place for mud to stick. They work something like a paddle wheel on a paddle-steamer. Street legal mud tires are a compromise between large voids and a smooth rolling shape for on-road use. The more "extreme" a mud tire is, the harsher and louder it is on a hard surface. A "tractor tire" on a farm tractor is a somewhat more mild version of a paddle tire, only the voids are smaller to allow for limited use on hard surfaces, and the "lugs" are angled to give lateral traction. A paddle tire is so optimized for mud that the shape is of no use on anything other than a soft surface, since the vibration and lack of control of the tire would render a vehicle almost unusable. One other way the paddle tire is a specialized-application-only is that it gives only forward/rearward traction. This means that it is used on a wheel that drives a vehicle to push it forward, but gives little "lateral" (side-to-side) traction. For that reason, the tires of the vehicle that steer it are generally more "normal" tires, since a paddle tire on a steering wheel will just slide sideways rather than pulling the vehicle with it. So many 4WD vehicles will use paddle tires only on the rear, although the front wheels are powered as well. On a 2WD or a motorbike, the rear wheel is the only drive wheel, and so putting a paddle tire on the front wheels is useless or worse, since steering performance will be negatively impacted.
A minibike, sometimes called a minimoto or pocketbike, is a miniature motorcycle. Most minibikes use two-stroke engines and chain drive.
There are many systems for classifying types of motorcycles, describing how the motorcycles are put to use, or the designer's intent, or some combination of the two. Six main categories are widely recognized: cruiser, sport, touring, standard, dual-purpose, and dirt bike. Sometimes sport touring motorcycles are recognized as a seventh category. Strong lines are sometimes drawn between motorcycles and their smaller cousins, mopeds, scooters, and underbones, but other classification schemes include these as types of motorcycles.
A motorised bicycle is a bicycle with an attached motor or engine and transmission used either to power the vehicle unassisted, or to assist with pedalling. Since it always retains both pedals and a discrete connected drive for rider-powered propulsion, the motorised bicycle is in technical terms a true bicycle, albeit a power-assisted one. However, for purposes of governmental licensing and registration requirements, the type may be legally defined as a motor vehicle, motorbike, moped, or a separate class of hybrid vehicle. Powered by a variety of engine types and designs, the motorised bicycle formed the prototype for what would later become the motorbike.
An electric bicycle, also known as an e-bike, is a bicycle with an integrated electric motor which can be used for propulsion. Many kinds of e-bikes are available worldwide, from e-bikes that only have a small motor to assist the rider's pedal-power to somewhat more powerful e-bikes which tend closer to moped-style functionality: all, however, retain the ability to be pedalled by the rider and are therefore not electric motorcycles.
A dual-sport motorcycle is a type of street-legal motorcycle that is designed for both on and off-road use. The terms all-roadon/off roaddual-purpose are also used for this class of motorcycles. Dual-sports are equipped with street-legal equipment such as lights, speedometer, mirrors, horn, license plate mounting, and muffler and can, therefore, be registered and licensed.
Öhlins or Öhlins Racing AB, is a Swedish company that develops suspension systems for the automotive, motorcycle, mountain bike and motorsport industries. Approximately 97% of all production is exported and Öhlins has distribution in over 50 countries worldwide. The company also produces other types of vehicle components, including steering dampers and ride height control systems. A two-wheel drive system for motorcycles has been produced in the past.
Motorcycle components and systems for a motorcycle are engineered, manufactured, and assembled in order to produce motorcycle models with the desired performance, aesthetics, and cost. The key components of modern motorcycles are presented below.
Ben Gulak is a Ukrainian Canadian inventor best known for creating the Uno, an eco-friendly, electric-powered vehicle that bears a resemblance to a motorized unicycle. The vehicle had its first public unveiling in 2008, and was awarded a Top-10 prize on Popular Science's list of 2008 Invention Awards. Gulak founded the Massachusetts-based company BPG Motors, which has also developed a design for the DTV Shredder, a portable all-terrain vehicle with the handlebars of a Segway and treads similar to those of a tank.
Gopher Dunes is a dirt track near the community of Courtland in Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada. Many of its sponsors are either locally based companies or local franchises of popular restaurants like Wendy's and Kelsey's Neighbourhood Bar & Grill.
Rupp Industries was a Mansfield, Ohio based manufacturer of go-karts, minibikes, snowmobiles and other off-road vehicles founded by Mickey Rupp in 1959. Rupp Industries operated from 1959 until bankruptcy in 1978. Rupp vehicles are known for their performance and bright red coloring, particularly the snowmobiles and off-road vehicles. They have since become extremely collectible.
