Cheap ATV/Quad experiences

[dave#3]

I'm thinking a quad might be in order for our new property. I'll use it tow a gang mower and for generally getting around. I know the old adage you get what you pay for generally rings true, and I'm sure it's no less the case with ATVs, but nonetheless I'm thinking about a cheapie, so .....

Has anybody had any experience with any of the cheap Chinese quads? Good, bad, ugly?

[ty]

Damn - I thought you were proposing a business idea...

[h.b.bear]

Dave,you get what you pay for, ive had about 4 quads ranging from 50cc to 125cc { for kids } and had no problems at all with the engines,the problems i have had is with the electrics but once sorted they seem fine.With the make of the machine they would be fine for poking around the farm on but if i was going to race and do stunts i would buy somthing better.Just depends how much you want to spend ,could get a good one or a bad one,i bought a py90 look alike and its copped a thrashing but still going strong

[Wattie]

my brother has a chinese one.

its a full size thing and does normal stuff ok. it has its issues.
-funny electrics,
-bad carburation
-open center diff (mad for doing 1 wheel burnout/donuts
-runs a manual gearbox with clutch.

depending on your property, you may benefit from a 4wd one?
good ones have centrivicle (spelling) clutch which is much nicer.

but maybe its worth buying a cheapy, and giving it a go? isolate the battery so it doesnt go flat.
you will probably not lose much $$ on it if you wanted to upgrade.

[fireyrob]

These can cover a fair amount of terrain! Terrible attitude when it comes to bath time though...

[Strika]

A mate has two Kymco's on his property. One a conventional ATV, the other like ute with a steering wheel n two seats side by side. Neither has given any trouble in two or more years.

[Frank]

I have one a Chinese 250cc, once a few littlethings were taken care off it seems to run fine, though not as durable as one from one of the bigger manufacturers, but I was still able to have a bit of fun with it at my dads property it handled the hills with ease even lugging my larger proportions around The only thing I could say against it, is that the steering is a little flighty and the seat moves around a bit but nothiing that a teck screw didn't fix.

[laidback]

I can just see this happening...

Bugger1.jpg (45.37 KiB) Viewed 1921 times

[h.b.bear]

These can cover a fair amount of terrain! Terrible attitude when it comes to bath time though...

And with the price of fuel now days you wouldnt want anything else

[z900/zx9]

This one goes ok

[dave#3]

Cheers guys, appreciate your experience. Frank, Mal and Wattie do you happen to know brands? There seems to be heaps of brands and very little consistency between them.

Oh, and Firey, you're one weird fuck - FFS why do you have photos of a naked guy dragging a donkey into the river?!?!?

[Wattie]

My brothers one has a "loncin" engine in it i think. its a paralel twin 250cc (suprisingly not unlike a gpx engine)

i will confirm.

[dave#3]

Cheers dude. I'm leaning towards one with either a Loncin or Zong Shen engine, at least I've heard of them.

[Wattie]

Dave,

My brothers one is an "Atomik Trojan 250"

although they look the same, his is air cooled. the ones for sale now are the Gen 2 version and has a single cyclinder water cooled engine.

seem to be using their own engines now too.

[robracer]

I Had two 3/4 size quads 110cc & 160cc four strokes for pushing litre sprintcars when we raced speedway & both were ok... they put up with a heap of abuse & even though the engineering on them was of the cheap chinese variety they were reliable... 110 cc was $1100 160cc was $1800 new, this was 8 years ago so I am sure they would make em better these days so don't overlook the cheap ones Dave.