Patent ID: 7819220

Claim:
An all-terrain vehicle including: a frame, comprising a front frame portion, a mid frame portion and a rear frame portion; a front suspension supported by the front frame portion; at least two front wheels coupled to the front suspension; a front differential supported by the front frame portion and drivingly coupled to the front wheels; a seating area supported by the mid frame portion, comprising side by side bucket seats having a seat back and a seat bottom; an engine supported by the rear frame portion, the engine positioned rearwardly of the seating area, and each seat bottom has a seating surface with a low point of the seating surface being below a top of the engine, the spaced-apart seating surfaces including a driver seating surface and a passenger seating surface; a transmission coupled to the engine; a rear suspension supported by the rear frame portion; at least two rear wheels coupled to the rear suspension; a rear differential supported by the rear frame portion and drivingly coupled to the rear wheels; a front drive shaft extending between the transmission and the front differential for coupling the transmission to the front wheels; a rear drive shaft extending between the transmission and the rear differential for coupling the transmission to the rear wheels; a protective panel positioned between the pair of laterally spaced-apart seating surfaces and the engine wherein the front driveshaft extends under the protective panel; and a fuel tank being positioned below one of the seating surfaces.