Love the look that adds to the machine. Other than the aesthetic, what is the operational benefit to having a rear bumper? Meaning, what am I not thinking about that could happen from the rear that a bumper would help avoid?
2 reasons I can think of
1> trying to do a 30-point turn around on a trail and not having to worry about trees/stumps messing up the rear end
2> getting rear-ended by another driver. Short story: Probably 10 years back, my cousin borrowed an old beat-up ATV I had. It had some half-assed home-made front/rear pushbar kinda bumpers on it. Looked like crap, but they were solid. She was out with some of her friends, one of which had borrowed his dad's brand new artic cat ATV. The kid didn't know how to ride very well, and ended up rear-ending my cousin.
Total cost of repair: $1 for some spray paint VS over $3 grand for the new 'cat. Messed up all the plastics on the front end, busted headlights tweaked the frame etc. It may have suffered less damage if I didn't have the bumper on the back of my atv, but then it would have probbly done a crapload of damage to both, instead of just one.
The really hilarious part, the other kid's dad tried to sue me as "the owner of the atv that caused the crash because the vehicle had a non-functional brake light"