Chinese motors in ATV's. Any good?

bczoom · Jul 12, 2005

Re: Chinese motors in ATV\'s. Any good?

When I said "smaller" utility/sport I was actually referring to a 250cc (as opposed to a 400+).

If you're open to all options, I think you should give a small utility (250cc) a consideration. For $2700, you could get a decent (although not new) Suzuki, Honda, Arctic Cat... machine with 4 wheel drive, racks, snow plow...

They'll still do 40+mph but it provides a lot more options for other uses.

GeneD14 · Jul 12, 2005

Re: Chinese motors in ATV\'s. Any good?

I have bought 6 ATV's for the family over the past 5 years and I would consider an Eton only if I could get local parts and service. Sooner or later every machine will need parts or fixing and it is frustraiting if you do not have a good local dealer.
I recently looked at buying a Yerf Dog utility vehicle at TSC. It was tempting for $4299. I asked the 18 year old sales person where do I go for service. He said they don't do it and they can't recommend anyone. He did say that they have sold 5 Yerf Dogs and 3 of them were returned for major problems. That was enough for me, so I went with a major brand.

GerardC · Jul 12, 2005

Re: Chinese motors in ATV\'s. Any good?

GeneD14:

If dealer support wasn't an issue, what do you think of the units build overall?

jwstewar · Jul 12, 2005

Re: Chinese motors in ATV\'s. Any good?

Were kinda comparing apples to oranges here, but my Sister-in-law bought a 2-cycle 50cc Viper for her son to ride (he is only 2 1/2 so not much use/abuse). For the most part it seems to be OK. Though the one time that I've messed with it, it sure seemed real hard to start even after being warmed up. I'll say maybe 10 - 15 seconds of cranking.

Now what we did, we found a guy on e-bay selling atvs. I purchased 2 what he called Hunter ATVs. These were 50cc 4cycles. They start much easer than the 2 cycle and are quieter w/ less smoke. We paid less for our 2 (we were less than $1300 for both including shipping) than she paid for the one Viper. They've both been fine little machines other than some crummy fuel lines. About $3 worth of fuel lines, new clamps, and new B&S fuel filters and all was well on both.

For our kids I would have been real hard pressed to pay $2000+ for a Suzuki, Polaris or whatever when in a few years they will out grow them and want something bigger.

GeneD14 · Jul 13, 2005

Re: Chinese motors in ATV\'s. Any good?

( GerardC,
If dealer support wasn't an issue, what do you think of the units build overall? )

If they had local support and FWD I would have bought a Yerf Dog. For their 2wd model at $4299 you can't beat it. The engine was some foreign name that I've never heard of so not having local service scared me off. If it had a Kohler or Briggs and Stratton I might have taken the risk. Styling wasn't quite cutting edge but that isn't so important to me.

cowboy40 · Jul 15, 2005

Re: Chinese motors in ATV\'s. Any good?

I own and use a Chinese made Kazuma Dingo 150 ATV and believe I got the most bang for the buck of any 4-wheeler on the market. The engine is very strong , smooth running, and I see no indication that it wont be durable. Its a air cooled 4 stroke, and supose to be a Honda design. IT looks tough,starts right up every time and takes me everywhere I need to go and back. All for less than $1500. No, I dont sell them. I just had not seen this one mentioned, and what it will do for the money is amazing

GerardC · Jul 16, 2005

Re: Chinese motors in ATV\'s. Any good?

I've seen those (on the net) also. How hard is it to get parts if you have/need to? This seems to be what makes people shy away from the no name brands.

OKnewguy · Jul 16, 2005

Re: Chinese motors in ATV\'s. Any good?

Hey guys, just to add some more confusion to the mix, I have 2 kawi bayou 220's that I bought used (98's for 1000 each) and have been using them for work and play for the last 4 years. They are great machines for the money---but then my 10 year old girl started to get interested in riding. Sooo I started my research /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif. After lots of net surfing, I went with a Komoto 150 (same as yamoto). I purchased it from ebay from a dealer that had great feedback, plus he was local to me (okc). It has exceeded my expectations, it starts great, has reverse and has a ton of power. I can do donuts all day long on it, and it will pull my hefty self up a 45 degree slope. It did reguire some assembly, but I took that as an oppurtunity to get to know the machine. Just make sure that you loctite stuff during assembly. This machine cost about $950, and should last her a long time. If you get a 150 for the inexperienced rider, you might want to set the throtle limit screw down some (when my girl rides, it is cranked way down).
You might try atvconnection.com (or something like that) they have a forum for kids/china made quads. you can get a lot of usefull info. For me, the little quad has been great, the chinese quads actually have more features then the big name bikes of simular sizes. This is different then my Jinma tractor which is a tough great machine but very basic.
Good luck, Dave

goodoleboy · Jul 17, 2005

Re: Chinese motors in ATV\'s. Any good?

( Were kinda comparing apples to oranges here, but my Sister-in-law bought a 2-cycle 50cc Viper for her son to ride (he is only 2 1/2 so not much use/abuse). )

Is that noirmal age for a kiddo to start ridding a 4wheeler? Not bashing Ive heard other people also letting kids that young start riding which kinda scares me.

Durbob · Jul 17, 2005

Re: Chinese motors in ATV\'s. Any good?

I see kawasakis and Honda 250s for less than $3,000.00. The chinese 250s aren't but maybe $200.00 less than the name brands around here. I would definately check out prices for the main brands before i bought a chinese one. The chinese dirt bikes are a good bit cheaper ,but i don't think their Atvs are a great deal except for maybe the 50cc ones.

Dur