Polaris Industries Inc.

Mihai Rasidescu

Richard Raymond Maki

Alan S Olson

Timothy S Wysocki

William Wood

An all terrain vehicle with a foot-shifted manual transmission and a full platform-style footrest. The all terrain vehicle has a chassis carrying a straddle-type seat which is sufficiently narrow to be straddled by a rider. A laterally extending footrest is provided on each side of the chassis. The manual transmission includes a foot-operable shift lever located on one side of the chassis adjacent the footrest for shifting the transmission among a plurality of forward gears. The footrest is generally rectangular, having generally horizontal heel and toe portions, and the shift lever is positioned at approximately the same height as the heel portion. The toe portion is positioned lower than the heel portion, permitting a rider to depress the shift lever to a position lower than the heel portion of the footrest to downshift the transmission, and permitting the rider to insert his toe in between the toe portion of the footrest and the shifting lever to move the lever upwards to upshift the transmission. The platform is configured and arranged so as to prevent a toe of a rider's shoe from extending therethrough, however, thus providing full protection of the foot from below. The footrest includes a cleat formed integrally with the platform, the cleat having an upper surface positioned higher than the heel portion of the footrest. The cleat defines the forward edge of the heel portion and the rearward edge of the toe portion of the footrest, provides good foot heel location on the footrest and provides an edge about which the rider's foot may pivot during shifting.

All terrain vehicle with full platform style footrest and foot shifted manual transmission

An all terrain vehicle (ATV) with a dual hydraulic brake system. The brake system includes a first master cylinder, a pair of front hydraulic brake units, each one being associated with one of the ATV's front wheels, a rear brake unit associated with the ATV's rear wheels, a hand-operable brake lever mounted to the handlebars and operatively connected to the first master cylinder, and hydraulic linking the first master cylinder to the brake units so that when the brake lever actuates the first master cylinder brakes are applied to both the front and the back wheels of the ATV. A second master cylinder is connected to a second hand or foot-operable brake lever carried by the chassis near one of the footrests. Hydraulic connections link the second master cylinder to only the rear brake unit so that operation of the second brake lever actuates only the rear brake. The rear brake unit preferably is a disc brake that includes a caliper body and a stepped piston disposed within a stepped bore formed in the caliper body. The stepped piston and the stepped bore together defining two separate hydraulic fluid chambers. The first master cylinder is connected to one of the hydraulic fluid chambers and the second master cylinder is connected to the other hydraulic fluid chamber so that the piston can be actuated independently by either master cylinder, thus permitting the rear brake to be applied without activating the front brakes of the ATV.

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Warroad, MN, United States of America

Mihai Rasidescu