ATV mandatory safety rules: All new quad bikes tilt tested and tagged

From October 11, all new quad bikes sold in Australia will have to meet a new safety requirement. Here is what manufacturers must do.

Tilt tag: All new quad bikes must carry a tilt tag from October 11. Picture: Chloe Smith.

TILT tags have started appearing on quad bikes across Australia, as part of the first round of new safety regulations that come into effect on October 11.

Shepparton CFMOTO dealer Richard Renato has already fitted the yellow hang tags on all his quad bikes, showing tilt angles ranging from 30.7 to 34.6 degrees.

Under the national safety standards no new quad bike can be sold in Australia after October 11, without a tilt tag.

“We’ve been fitting them since July and the customer feedback has been good,” Mr Renato said. “People just want to know about how the tilt test.”

Quad bike manufacturers must cover the cost of independent testing themselves, which is done on a stationary vehicle.

While the tilt tags can be removed by customers after sale, the bikes must also have a prominently displayed label warning of the risk of rollover even on flat terrain, that rollovers could result in death or serious injury, avoid sudden sharp turns, steep inclines and riding across slopes.

At this stage manufacturers are not required to ensure their bikes meet a minimum tilt angle.

But that changes in October next year, when the second phase of regulations come in, which demand the mandatory fitting of operator protection devices to all new quad bikes and sets minimum tilt angles.

From October 11, 2021:

Quad bikes must not only display a tilt tag, but:

NOT tip laterally (sideways) on to two wheels on a slope less than 28.81 degrees.

NOT tilt longitudinally (forwards or backwards) on a slope less than 38.65 degrees.

CFMOTO has already moved all its new quad bikes across to the standards that apply from October 2021, fitting the Quadbar flexi to all new bikes for $500.

Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki are all preparing to test and fit their quad bikes with tilt tags, but have told dealers and farmers they will be pulling out of the Australian market before the October 2021 deadline on fitting OPDs.

Suzuki marketing manager Lewis Croft said the company had “spent a fair bit of money” on getting bikes tested and getting tags printed and out to dealers, which wasn’t easy given the current lockdown.

Both CFMOTO and Suzuki say quad bike sales are booming.