The Complete Handbook of ATV & UTV Bar Pads

Chapter 1: Understanding ATV & UTV Bar Pads

When you grab the handlebars of an ATV or UTV, your hands are resting on a metal tube that runs across the vehicle's width. That bar, commonly called the crossbar or T-bar, is a structural element, but it is also a hazard and an ergonomic compromise. In a crash, your body can be thrown forward into that rigid piece of steel. On a rough trail, it is a hard point that your knees or chest can strike during a sudden stop or a rollover. A bar pad is the engineered component that sits between you and that metal. It is not a cosmetic add-on, though many are sold as such. It is a piece of protective gear, and its design, material, and condition have a direct impact on the severity of an impact.

The context for a bar pad is the vehicle itself. A sport ATV has a narrow, low handlebar designed for aggressive riding and quick steering input. A utility UTV, on the other hand, often has a wider, taller bar that must accommodate a different seating position and a heavier chassis. The forces involved in a crash on a 300-pound quad are different from those in a 1,500-pound side-by-side. The pad's job is to attenuate the energy of a human body part striking the metal bar. It does this through compression, by using a foam or rubber core that crushes and absorbs kinetic energy over a longer time period than