This idea started with my love for all types of riding, yet to get it I needed many different types of vehicles. One for off road, one for on, one for racing at the drag strip, one for the track. One to travel, and one to ride the twisty roads. Upkeep alone was a full time job.
Sometimes weekend at the sandhills on the Cannondale quad. Next at the mountains, on the VFR Honda. Next at the drag strip in the dragster. And the next, doing upkeep. All in all, not that much time riding. So I started riding the bike to work and back. Better, but, riding a bike in west Texas can be really tricky. Traffic is bad enough, but throw in the hot days and the occasional oily patch of road from all the oil field tankers running around, it is only a matter of time…….
One of those times sliding down the road after trying to stop on some oil, I had an epiphany. You know what that is, sometimes something just hits you upside the head and you think, why hasn’t this been done already? And then all the reasons why not hit you. And sometimes, the answers come also. And then you got to decide. Are you going to prove it or not?
To have a vehicle that would do it all and do it all well, now that would be something. To be legal in all the forms, has not been done, until now.
I don’t pretend to know everything, but I’ve been in the business of fabrication, process design and engineering for over 40 years. I am pretty capable of doing most anything. And learning is something I just do. But, what I really wanted to do was build stuff. And I have. Lots of stuff, for business and pleasure. But, I tried to keep them separate, most of the time.
When I started to gather the parts for my best idea yet, those that knew me thought I had lost it. So many negative comments, “won’t work”, “dangerous”, on and on. But, I had done my home work. I knew that the Department of Public Safety had approved my plans and the insurance company had too. As long as I started with a legally titled bike, I could modify all I wanted. And once plated in my state, I would be able to ride it anywhere.
Now it was keeping me up all night. I had to know. There is only one way to find out. Start cutting. Only one way to find out if it will stay together. Abuse it. Only one way to find out how it rides. Ride it. Only one way to find out what the other states will say. Go there.
I ran it in the sand hills for two years. Then I ran it at the 1/8 mile. 7.0 at 100mph. Took it to the three sisters south of Kerrville TX. Rode it to Pikes Peak Colorado to the hill climb. Took it to Eureka Springs Arkansas, and rode through the Ozarks. Rode it to Bonneville Utah, to the Bub Speed trials. Rode to the Texas Mile in Goliad Texas and to Galveston . All in one year. And that is just the trips.
I never thought that it would be as appealing to others as it was to me. I didn’t care that it would be unusual. I just didn’t want to fall down again on hot asphalt. And I wanted to ride. For days at a time. To just go and forget all the worries. No matter where. Dual purpose is nothing.
All purpose is better.
As seen in Sand Sports magazine in the July/August 09 issue.
Stan Benham and the High Power Quads Team
