Suzuki Ozark 250 and Z400 ATVs
Suzuki joins the ATV party with a 250 and 400
YOU SWING A LEG OVER the saddle, twist the key fob, select first gear and go. The rear wheels spin violently at the press of a lever, and you barrel straight ahead towards the nearest tree. At the same time the rear is kicking out and counter steering on the handlebars is having exactly the opposite effect as you’ve experienced on motorcycles. You panic, brake, come to a dead halt and breathe. More on the riding experience later, but let me welcome you to the world of ATVs, a world that aims to get you far away from conventional motoring.
The two ATVs we have here mark Suzuki Motorcycles’ foray in to the ATV segment; but Suzuki isn’t the first to join the party. The trend started with Chinese all-terrain vehicles but they never really caught on in the Indian market for the obvious Chinese reliability issues. Then there is Polaris that really set the ball rolling for this segment in the country, known more for the sideby-side RZRs (with a steering wheel) than the Sportsman, Outlaw and Phoenix brand of ATVs (with handlebars). Those aforementioned RZRs are the one’s really making all the right noises, especially with victories in gruelling rally raids like the Raid-de-Himalaya. And now Suzuki has decided to step into Polaris’ backyard with the Ozark 250 and Quadsport Z400. If these vehicles catch the fancy of Indian consumers, we can expect other mainstream players like Yamaha, Honda and Kawasaki to follow suit.
Most of these manufacturers have a sizeable number of ATVs in their global portfolio and for good reason. These mini runabouts might not be road legal but they are well-received as smaller alternatives for farming as well as recreation. Suzuki sells more than 20 different variants abroad and seems to be testing the waters with two of their more popular ATVs before bringing in more from their international line up. While Polaris has a more extensive range to choose from, Suzuki has a very good dealer and service network already in place, which can be used to their advantage. Price-wise, both offer similar value (which translates into a shocking sticker price, but we will come to that).
The ATVs arrived at our regular proving ground at Patas, an hour away from Pune. Now Patas has been our testing ground for two
YOU HAVE TO RETUNE YOUR BRAIN TO THIS NEW STYLE OF RIDING
good reasons – it has a mix of flat land, ruts, mounds, quarries, the works, and it has the Ed’s farmhouse at one corner, our haven for the weekend.
Tarmac bores me. I need dirt, slush, water and large chunky rubber tyres clawing into loose soil to get my adrenaline pumping, so Patas is my (very, very large) playground. But this is my first time astride an ATV. If you think riding an ATV is like riding a bike with four wheels, in a way you are right. But you are wrong as well. Allow me to elaborate.
I swing a leg over the Ozark 250, fire it up and wring the throttle, but the 246cc single refuses to budge. It does not have the conventional motorcycle throttle. You need to push a lever below the right handlebar with your thumb to get going. Modulating it is another task altogether, so it’s best to stay committed to the throttle or completely off it, till you get the hang of it. Now this push lever was invented as a safety feature lest you get overzealous. When you’re losing control, the first reaction is to hang on to the ’bars and the risk here is you might twist the throttle and get into an even bigger problem. The thumb throttle takes care of this. Also if you fall, the throttle will revert to its original position and you won’t have the problem of a runaway ATV.
Looks can be deceptive. The Ozark 250 looks like a toy you can play around a dirt track with, but it’s not as easy as it seems. The riding position sure is similar to a motorcycle, but the technique is completely opposite. As weird as it may seem, you have to yank the handlebar in the direction you want to go, lean inside and thumb the throttle, as opposed to countersteering on a conventional motorcycle. It’s one part car, one part motorcycle and ten parts mayhem. Till you get to grips with the ATV, it seems like it is taking you for a ride and not the other way round. You have to start retuning your brain to the new style, and then it feels like you are having the best of both worlds. This is the joy of riding ATVs.
Well you do have the side-by-side ATVs that have two seats positioned er... side-by-side with a steering wheel like in a car. They are obviously faster, more stable at high speeds and bounce around less but the trade-offs are the price and compact dimensions. Comparing the two is like comparing a car to a bike.
Back to the 250. It comes with a clutchless
foot operated five-speed semi-automatic transmission and a reverse gear, while its sibling the 400, gets a clutch similar to a conventional motorcycle.
The Z400 has got more torque than the 250, so you can get it sideways at will. The 398cc single is similar to the Suzuki DR-Z400S dirt bike except that it is fuel injected. The highcompression motor makes it feel like it has inherited the soul of its dirt bike donor, but on four wheels. And it looks exactly like that with its minimal bodywork and Baja-style long travel front suspension with competition-spec dampers. Thumb the throttle lever and the Z400 will jump off the line, with its meatier bottom-end kicking its tail out.
Both the Ozark 250 and the Z400 are bonkers for sure, but they serve different purposes. The 250 is built to be fun to ride but it is also relatively utilitarian with its load carrying capacity for your farm produce. It gets a 4-litre under seat storage, a front and rear luggage rack, and more substantial and durable bodywork to take on the beating associated with farm life.
The Z400 is all play. It comes with minimalistic plastic cladding and the swingarm, front bumper and skid plate are made from a forged aluminum-alloy, making it 6kg lighter. The low weight and slimmer tyre means the Z400 takes less effort to steer but make no mistake, riding either will give your arms a good workout. Both the quads come with an independent front suspension and monoshock at the rear. The Ozark’s 210mm ground clearance is similar to the Renault Duster AWD’s, but the ATV’s short overhangs and wheelbase make it a lot more capable on dirt than any SUV on these lands.
The Z400 sits higher with its 265mm of clearance. Once I had built up my confidence after riding the 400 for a while, I ventured into a stone quarry nearby. It was supposed to make mincemeat of lesser rocks at the quarry but the 400 doesn’t. The suspension setup is stiffer than the 250’s, so you can feel every jolt travel through the handlebar and the seat. It isn’t as pliant as the Polaris RZR and most of that is down to its weight of 193kg, which means it bounces about quite a bit. Splashing through puddles, riding over rocks, going sideways, jumping over mounds, the Z400 really makes you feel like you are on a roller coaster ride. The Ozark 250 without a doubt is easier to ride, but the Z400 is faster and crazier.
If you have a farmhouse and need something as a runabout in the fields and think the Thar is too big, the Polaris RZR too expensive and the dirt bike too adventurous, then these ATVs might just fit the bill.
Of all the vehicles mentioned above, the ATVs aren’t exactly affordable. The Ozark 250 will cost you ` 5.5 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) while the more powerful Quadsport Z400 retails at ` 8.5 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). Essentially these ATVs are niche products and are more ‘heart-over-mind’ kind of vehicles, considering they cannot even be registered for road use. They do give you a good workout and might make you a thumb wrestling champion if you ride them often. The Ozark 250 as the workhorse of the two can double up as an excellent work-play companion. The Quadsport Z400 on the other hand is for the recreational rider. I think it would make for an excellent competition ATV, something you could take to the Desert Storm to kick some ass. Ultimately though, when the fancy strikes, both are game for a lot of hoonery.