Atk Motorcycles

[0dmz0]

Has anyone heard of atk? They are an American made off road motorcycle/quad company. These bikes look awesome especially the huge 2 strokers. Has anyone heard there quality and reliability? http://www.atkusa.com/Default.aspx

[Matt2105]

Not a fan of them. The 2 stroke looks ok but they all look the same. It does have fuel injection, but american made bikes just frighten me now. I'll stick to the Japs. Plus the Japs are cheaper.

[RLthumper]

jesus christ, a 700 cc 2 smoke??? you gotta be kidding me. i bet that bike is insanely fast.

[HawkGT]

ATK has been around for a long time, no? Makes you wonder why they haven't penetrated the market much...

[Ferdinand]

They have a reputation for being fast. But you pay for it.

[rebel1916]

spare parts are extraordinarily expensive. it is also harder to get parts for an atk with a few years on it then it would be for a jap bike the same age. when parts are available they take forever to arrive. cool bikes powerful, some innovative features, but i got rid of mine at a loss, cause if your in a points race, and your depending on an atk to get you to the finish line each sunday you might end up real disapointed

[FLboy]

Didn't they buy the Cannondale design?

[georgestr]

Yes, there new engines are base on the old Cannondales.

[SWALL]

Didn't they buy the Cannondale design?

Looks like junk;expensive junk.Yes ,same thing.

[Estevahn]

700cc!!!!!!!!!! I got to get me one of them!!!!!!!!

[Octane250F]

ATK bought the rights to Cannondale's designs, but Cannondale's designs were never that good in the first place (the engines were known for blowing up).

Id stick with a Japanese bike...

[Yamaharacer989]

The shop my dad manages was a Cannondale and then an ATK dealership. They were very pricey, and pricey to maintain, but they were FAST and came out the door ready to race w/ a list of after market parts. They were ahead of their time too, with fuel injection and computer mapping (ignition and firing pattern). They had aluminum frames before they were the thing; but again, you paid for it. The quads were a bigger hit around here than the bikes, and quite a few are in the local race scene STILL. I've ridden the 450 motocross bike and it was quite powerfull. The early ATK's actually WERE Cannondale motors; they were'nt even rebadged. My dad couldn't sell the bikes, so he liquidated them on Ebay and moved on to sell just LEM, go carts, and E-Tons (for the motocycle lineup, which the whole motox part of the company is dying due to new laws restricting ATV age... B.S.). Anyway, the ATKs are NICE if you can afford them and can find a dealer near or online to get parts from. Hope that helped?

[pantera]

I'm not a big fan of the new Cannondale inspired ones, but the 2003's and earlier are tough to beat. I've got a 2002 ATK 260LQ for the tight slick stuff and a 1997 ATK 605 for dual-sporting. They come stock with the best parts you can get: Ohlins Shock, Paioli or White Power Forks, Brembo Brakes, Stainless Brake Lines, Gold Talon Hubs, Pro-taper Bars, 160W (260) or 190W (605) lighting coils, Chromoly steel frames and swingarms (as light as aluminum but much stronger), supertrapp exhausts, and much more. These are hand assembled motorcycles that come with things that would cost thousands to add to a typical mass produced Japanese bike.

The 605DS is air-cooled (reliable with no radiator, waterpump, or hoses to crush or bust and leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere) and weighs what a Honda XR600 does but it comes stock with all those goodies, is street legal, and has kick and ELECTRIC START!!! Stock they put out a reliable 50hp. Switch to a High compression piston & clean up the head and you've got 60+hp. Add a cam for 70+. Got to love that. An ATK 605 will walk all over a Honda XR600. I should know, I used to own Johnny Campbell's XR628 with all the Honda goodies on it.

The 260LQ 2-stroke is liquid cooled, has a radiator that is darned near puncture proof due to being wrapped around by the very thick one piece gastank/shrouds, comes with all the goodies, and puts out 50+hp, and weighs 235 pounds wet.

Parts availability is very good, and in general are MUCH LESS than a Japanese bike. On both the 260 and the 605 the majority of the plastic is from a mid 90's KTM, so you can get those from ATK, KTM, or aftermarket. Replacement rear sprockets are the same as a RM suzuki, brakepads are the same as most KTMs, seat cover and padding KTM. The Rotax motors they use have been around for years and their quality and reliability is legendary. Should you need Rotax parts they are very easy to get.

As for the 2004+ Atks, ATK has spent a bunch of money fixing the engineering problems inherent in the original Cannondale engine design. I'm not inclined to get one of these later models, but ATK will be bringing out a new Rotax based 650 Dualsport in the future. I'll be the 1st in line when they do.

Here are a couple of links to pics/specs of the earlier models:

ATK 605

ATK 260LQ

Heck, while I'm at it here's a link to my DT1 DT1

Jeff

2002 ATK260LQ

1997 ATK 605DS

1971 Yamaha DT1 250

[jwriott]

I had a 1990 ATK 250 off road model 2-stroke. 6-speed, very light with the Rotax engine. Overall it was a pretty decent bike but they have never really taken off. I cracked the frame and the early models had the anti-torque-converter with the sprocket on top and bottom of the swingarm so there was no chain wind up with the movement of the swingarm. I did not like the countershaft sprocket disk brake.

As mentioned above, Rotax parts are very easy to find and many parts were shared with KTM.

I'd stay away from the new/rebadged Cannondales. From what I understand, they bought all the left over parts to create these bikes.

[RobertN]

Looks like junk;expensive junk.Yes ,same thing.

Interesting notion. They have all high end parts on them, always have since the company started way back in the early 80's, yet you call them junk. Interesting! ? I guess quite a few people just never knew they existed, but Dirt Bike magazine did and still does do write ups on the ATK's. The 700 had a story on it about 2 years back. Some people just don't read about what they profess to be interested in. Lack of knowledge about something means you shouldn't post about something you know nothing about.

[pantera]

HawkGT WROTE:

ATK has been around for a long time, no? Makes you wonder why they haven't penetrated the market much...

ATK has always been a speciality bike. They are hand assembled using the best quality parts possible. They appeal to a specific kind of individual, someone that wants quality and doesn't want to pass another bike like theirs every 5 minutes. They don't spend millions of dollars advertising in magazines or on television or radio to market them, they don't have to. When is the last time you saw a TV ad for a Ferrari, or a Lamborghini? Ever seen them offer a rebate or "special 0% financing"? They don't have to.

Magazines make the majority of their money from their advertisers, not from the sale of the magazine. The last thing they want to do is tick off Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, etc and have them pull their ads. That would cost them millions.

If you owned a magazine would you be doing many articles about a company that will never spend a dime advertising with you? And if you did, what if it was the best motorcycle you ever rode in your entire life? Would you report it? I can see it now: "The handbuilt ATK made the mass produced Honda,Kawasaki,Suzuki, etc look like junk". Your magazine would be out of business in a month.

I'm not bashing in any way, shape or form any other makes. In the last 3 years I've had a Yamaha IT-490, Honda XR628 (Johny Campbells), 1998 Suzuki RMX 250 (darned good in the tight stuff), my trusty Yamaha DT1 that I will never part with, and my ATK's. I'm just explaining why it is that most folks don't hear much about ATK. I don't care what you ride, just ride.

[Crash Ash]

ATK builds a good machine. Even the old Cannondale design engine is upgraded for better reliability. Are they junk, NO! Different, YES! The old Cannondale engine had one major problem, out of balanced cranks and the bearings were not rated for the rpm's. Those problems have been fixed and others as well. When Cannondale came on the scene, it was a wake up call to the other manufactures. Time has caught up with the design though. Is it still a good machine, yes, but it is not for everyone. If you like an exotic bike and don't mind wrenching on your own machine, and you like watching heads turn when you ride up, then get the ATK. Yes they are not cheap but they are built with the best components money can buy. You will hear people complain about EFI also, well guess what, every bike will be EFI in about 3-4 years, so I guess it isn't that bad after all.

[Johnyb]

Has anyone heard of atk? They are an American made off road motorcycle/quad company. These bikes look awesome especially the huge 2 strokers. Has anyone heard there quality and reliability? http://www.atkusa.com/Default.aspx

My friend has one and it's junk He rode my CRF450 and his first words where "Night & Day"....

[JJC62879]

I rode a 95 ATK 260 LQ, it was brutal! If I remember right it had a 50+ hp Rotax engine on it. It also came form the factory with top notch components on it. That bikes transmission ended up exploding and would have cost over $2k to fix so the owner it sold it off for parts.

[pantera]

My friend has one and it's junk He rode my CRF450 and his first words where "Night & Day"....

I have to agree with one thing you said. Honda recommends a complete top end overhaul on the CRF450 every 15-20 hours of operation.

I've seen ATK 605's with over 35,000 miles on an untouched engine. That is a night and day difference from a CRF450.

Quantity VS Quality.