Quad bikes are fascinating and inspiring vehicles: they capture the imagination because they stubbornly resist pigeonholing. They are neither motorbikes, cars nor buggies, but something quirky yet useful in-between. Perhaps it’s this very element of the indefinable that has inspired record breakers, young and old, to have a crack at one remarkable feat or the other involving their four-wheeled friend. Perhaps the most remarkable achievement was that of Graham “G-force” Hicks, in May 2001, who on a two-mile airstrip in Leicestershire, set the first quad bike world speed record – a stunning 99.26 mph. This was all the more incredible given that Graham is both deaf and blind. He worked with a pillion rider who navigates using touch signals.
Meanwhile, Josh and Anna Hagan certainly covered the distance when they completed the world’s longest journey on quad bike between 2007 and 2008: the couple travelled 16,865 miles from Mombasa, Kenya to Elche, Spain.
Not involving travelling, but requiring a steady nerve and sense of balance, is the stunt pulled off in 2008 by the self-proclaimed “head balancer” John Evans. He balanced a quad bike on his head, and had a photograph taken to prove it.
These efforts, whilst certainly providing plenty of diversion, should not detract from the importance of always handling quad bikes with great care, and observing well-documented safety guidelines, such as wearing a helmet and protective gloves.
Retailers of new and secondhand quad bikes in Lancashire and throughout the UK are always happy to advise on appropriate safety measures, especially if you are buying your first quad bike.