Can’t help you get another Ace but it’s great to hear a first-hand account.

We only discovered the Ace in 2018, having by chance seen one at dealer when we were looking at kids’ bikes. We bought one and found it to be an ideal vehicle for mustering. I really can’t emphasise how mission-perfect it is. We then bought a second in 2019 and it was just last week we found-out that the Ace has been discontinued, so have added to our little fleet one of the few remaining new ones in NSW.

I understand that on particular types of farm (particularly smaller ones), people will want to use one vehicle for all missions. But in a bigger enterprise, the Ace (for us) perfectly fits the void between a motorbike and a full-sized 4WD. It’s narrower than a SxS, can turn at least as well as a quad, and you don’t need to be always looking-out for logs and holes and needn’t worry about being knocked-over by a beast. The places these things can go, in (relative) safety, needs to be seen to be believed.

We’ll lovingly maintain the three we have, hoping that market forces see the re-introduction of something similar before too long.

What is your opinión about automatic ROPS? They do not interfere in daily use, keep cdg low and expand when rollover cannot be avoided, providing full rollover protection

The Ace really is not marketed for work or industry. As others have pointed out, it\’s storage is weak at best. However it can pull 1500 lbs and has numerous hitch accessories. Additionally there are plow blades available as well. I think for this light duty work the Ace will do very well. It has a lot of low end torque. Again there are better machines better suited for the job but if you are looking for a 70/30 or 80/20 (recreation to work) machine the Ace will certainly work well.

Another consideration is comfort. A number of Ace riders are older riders who\’s bodies just aren\’t up to the beating a regular ATV/Quad will give them.

The 50 inch wheel base, with the ROPS is a bit tippy. I dumped my Ace over within 5 minutes of riding it for the first time. I\’ve since learned how to ride it and I don\’t have problems any more. I\’d much rather tip over in an Ace than a standard quad.

That said, I have purchased a four point harness for my riding, but I like to jump sand dunes and other things that the manual says not to do.

Quite honestly if I was looking for a Polaris for work it would without a question be a Ranger and I\’d leave the Ace for having fun on the trails or dunes.

One cheeky wag contacted Back Paddock and made the suggestion after it was reported last week the peak motorcycle body won\’t classify the new Polaris Ace as an ATV.

Instead, the Federated Chamber of Automotive Industries has decided it will be classified as a two-person side-by-side vehicle.

Which is no mean feat, considering the Ace is single-person vehicle.

So our man suggested that what better acronym to reflect the confusion than WTF?
http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/country-living/back-paddock/cheeky-expression-is-latest-candidate-in-atv-name-game/story-fnkerakj-1226816568242

There have been various models of UTVs available from several manufacturers in North America for a number of years. While the Polaris model shown above is designed for recreation there are models that are designed for work or accessories that would allow them to be used for many tasks. In looking for information I found the TomCar which is an Australian designed utility vehicle that is similar to the Polaris but appears designed primarily for work rather than recreation, Why hasn’t it been seen as a safer machine for work use than quad bikes?

John pointed out that 75% of ATVs in US are used for recreation, however with more than 7 million of them in use that still means that at least 2.2 million are used for work related activities. Figures I could find for Australia suggest that there might be a 1/2 million in use for both work and recreation.

A presentation on ATV safety also gives numbers of ATV fatalities in USA (2000-2007) 4518 and Australia (2001-2010) 127. however in the USA only 869 of the fatalities were farm related while 83 in Australia were, a much larger percentage.

Perhaps the the fact that in Australia quad bikes are being used for tasks that they were never intended for is contributing to for the number of fatalities in farm operations. The suggestion that seat belts are an inconvenience that farmers cannot put up with suggests a problem as well, if quad bikes were to be equipped with ROPS then they would also be equipped with seat belts which would have to be used if the ROPS is to protect the rider.

Unsafe operation of ATVs also contributes to many of the injuries and fatalities suffered by users. Whether it is a youngster operating an ATV that is to large for them or an operator travelling at to high a speed for the terrain or attempting to operate the machine on slopes that are too steep for safety or carrying loads that affect the stability of the machine are all too often contributing factors in ATV accidents.

Perhaps quad bikes should be equipped with ROPS or perhaps we should be looking at safer and more suitable vehicles for certain work tasks.

Ed Gannon adds some useful information:
Polaris is not a member of the FCAI.
Polaris has increased its production target of the Sportsman Ace.
The collective term \”quad bike\” could remove the semantic distinction.

The big one is the fact that you need to climb in and out of a bucket seat and be meticulous with the seat belt.This does not suit any style of farming where you have to get on and off dozens of times a day.

It also makes it incredibly difficult to get jobs done if you can\’t bring tools with you.

This lack of functionality is no different than controls on a piece of industrial machinery that don\’t allow for maintenance and therefore invite users to bypass safeguards, rendering them useless.

It may be necessary to accept that the Sportsman Ace is neither an ATV or a UTV but a hybrid. It could also be considered to be a \”reconfigured quad bike\” as one person told SafetyAtWorkBlog.

I see some of the discussion as convenient semantics, others see the difference between ATV, UTV and this new model as vital point of difference. What this blog has tried to do throughout the many years of the quad bike safety debate is focus on the issue of Safety. We look for the options that provide the greatest degree of harm prevention without impeding the use and functionality of a vehicle or article of plant.

The Polaris Sportsman Ace remains an example of how improved safety can be designed into a vehicle that has much of the same functionality and, indeed, the same \”footprint\” as a quad bike. For years, in Australia, the manufacturers resisted this safety-in-design option, emphasising the need for helmets, better rider education and other low-order administrative controls. The Sportsman Ace shows that redesign was always possible.

The manufacturers can, and probably will, continue to hold to their long-established position on ATV safety but the Sportsman Ace is a \”gamechanger\” in terms of safety and the reduction of harm to drivers. When it comes time to upgrade a quad bike, this sort of hybrid quad bike should be first choice.