Hello all, new poster here. I have been reading several post on this site. Some very good info posted here. What I am asking is that since I see quite a few post's are from dissatisfied posters ready to scrap their China ATV. I am looking at the Chinese made ATV as an alternative to the much more expensive "name" brand ATV's which I simply can't afford a new one without going into debt for. I'm looking for a 250-300 CC range ATV. I'd really like to hear from some "happy customers". Please include brand name if you reply. Thanks again for a good site. Charlie

 

Welcome to the forum cbourbeau32!

Ive got a few of them...As long as you are good with a wrench... like wrenching and dont mind hunting for parts at times youll be ok..

If your not good with a wrench, dont like wrenching or think your buying a Honda for a low price youll be severely dissapointed..

I own Jetmoto's and a Yamoto...From what Ive heard neither are still selling quads....


If I was going to buy a Chinese Quad right now I would look at The Tao Tao brand...

 

When you say "wrenching" do you mean constantly or do you expect to be able to ride and enjoy it for months between repair jobs?

 

Go used. I sold a 86 Yamaha 250 Moto4 and 89 350 Yamaha Big Bear to friends years ago that are still running and were better build and cheaper then a New china brand ATV of the same size, easily.

Heck I would buy them back without a second though about it,before a 2010 Chinese with lead bearings and gears.

 

I've had my 150cc Hensim quad for a little over two years. I didn't put a speedometer/odometer on until much later, but looking at the mileage on typical rides, and extrapolating back I'm confidently estimating I've got 1700 miles on my quad. My neighbor has exactly the same quad, and since he has to call me over to help adjust the thermostat in his house you know that I have to fix his quad too.

I wouldn't say that I work on the quads constantly, but I wouldn't say that I go months without problems either. Most problems are minor. Things need tightening, or I have to replace screws holding on the plastic that fell off, etc. Some things are a little tougher. The air tube from the air cleaner to the carburetor rotted and split on both my and my neighbors quad. I replaced it with a vinyl tube, but I had to modify the air box with copper plumbing parts from the hardware store and do some brazing. It cost me $10.00 dollars to fix both, but not everyone is ready to deal with stuff like that. I bet a lot of people wouldn't have noticed that, and just continued riding while sucking in dirt though the air tube, then complain about the engine failing.

My neighbor drove his quad in the ocean at pismo beach. The starter failed soon after. A defective oring allowed salt water into the starter which caused the positive brush holder to clog up with galvanic action crud. I cleaned the brush holder up and replaced the oring and it has been working now for over a year.

The rear axle swing arm bolts kept loosening. The cause was a gap between the swing arm mounting flanges on the frame and the swing arm itself. I made some shims. No big deal. Problem solved.

Would you be willing to deal with things like that?

Neither of our quads has broken down on the trail and ruined a good weekend - other than wrecking the quads. Both of us have now done that once, but that's not the quad's fault. But I'm on top of keeping the quads running. I inspect them carefully before heading out. I take tools, but I've never had to use them.

If you go chinese then do your research and make sure the engine is as generic as possible. That way you have multiple sources for parts. Make sure that you can download a service manual for your engine too before you buy. Two year ago that was easy - it's getting harder now that many quad dealers are going under. And make sure your dealer can provide parts, and that they are not going out of business.

Used name brand quads are an option too. My experience is that there aren't any in my area. At least not if I want a clear title, and a california green (smog) sticker so I can ride all year long. YMMV.

I've towed out many broken name brand quads. I've only been towed out once - I wrecked my quad and sheared off the front brakes. Actually I wasn't towed, I was lowered down the mountain by rope to another quad (it was a Yamaha).

 

I am a satisfied Chinese quad owner.....within reason.

Ive got 2 Chinese quads....for my kids. One is a Kazuma brand....the other an Eagle (god knows who actually makes it). The Eagle has many hours of use in the yard on it.....I think my son rode it for 2 years before it started showing enough wear and he started pushing it hard enough I didnt think it was safe for him to keep riding. The Kazuma is new and its for my 4 year old daughter.....so its going to likely see many years of use as she is VERY small.

At any rate as a Chinese quad and gokart owner (Ive got a few of each) this is MY opinion.

Great YARD toys for the young ones.....dont push them to hard, to fast or do to much with them and you will MOST likely get 2x your moneys worth out of it......but its NOT going to last forever, my sons is literally an unsafe pile of junk at this point. Does that make me unhappy.....no. I gave $525 for it and he rode it almost daily during the summer for 2 years....it introduced him to ATVing and he had a great time.....well worth the $525.

The thing is compared to a used name brand ATV they just dont make sense.

For instance my son wore his China wheeler out so I went looking for a replacement. What I found was a 1988 Suzuki LT80 (80cc kids quad) for $750. Now some may say thats a ridiculous price to pay for a quad thats over 20 years old when a brand new Chinese quad costs less. It was well used but it was in perfect running order. Think about it, that quad has been around for a loooong time and my son can still go out in -10 weather, hit the starter and ride in the yard. His China wheeler in 2 years time (vs 22 years on the LT) is a rolling scrap heap. The LT80 is tighter suspension, steering etc wise after 22 years then the China wheeler was when it was NEW. Parts are EASILY found.....vs guessing what may or may not fit on the China wheeler. The LT80 is plenty powerful, fast and capable......the China wheeler is weak, the suspension sucks and its not capable on anything but the simplest and flattest trail. The China wheeler was a yard quad.....the LT80 is a real quad.

Now the larger Chinese stuff is more capable then the kids equipment.....but does it still make sense to buy? Doesnt to me.

What does a 250cc Chinese quad cost? Im not really sure what your looking at so here is what I found.

A cheap 250cc sport quad runs about $1200 most places Ive looked....some of the nicer ones almost double.

A cheap 2wd utility quad costs about the same, $1200.

A cheap 4wd utilty quad ran around $3500 for a 300cc model that I found. I did find a couple 400cc machines for a few hundred more.

Now I dont know your market....so maybe I got great deals and prices where you live are ridiculous.....but bare with me.

That 250cc sport quad for $1200.......is that a better deal then this 2001 Honda TRX250EX I bought for my son for $1275.



Sure I paid $75 more and its not new....but its a Honda. Previous owner put the DG bumper, nerf bars, Accelerator exhaust, White Bros full skid plate, Renthal bars etc on it. Its a great machine.....

Now that 2wd Chinese 250cc Utility ATV at $1200 isnt quite a cc for cc comparison to my 1994 Honda Foutrax 200 but its all I have thats close, I paid $700 for it.



Again, not new......but almost half the price. Small 2wd utility ATVs are everywhere (in my area) for less than $1000. Heck before my son decided he wanted a sport ATV I was going to buy him a 2006 Suzuki Ozark (250cc 2wd utility ATV) that was setting local for $1500. Despite this machine being 50cc down on power compared to the above mentioned Chinese ATV I would go head to head with it on the trails any day. Ive had this quad in some places it and me should have never been. Its a Honda....parts are everywhere and its a reliable, simple and rugged machine.

Then the (in my opnion WAY overpriced) $3500 4wd ATV. Wow....I could be disillusioned but considering my experience with Chinese metal do these hold up to any type of actual workload....maybe light trail riding. My comparison quad is this 2001 Suzuki 300 King Quad.





I gave $1450 for this ATV with a 50" Moose snow blade and a generic no name winch (literally no name....none, anywhere to be found on it). It also has brand new (just installed....saw it done) ITP Mudlites all the way around it. So for about $2000 LESS than a Chinese quad I got a blade and winch.....and again Suzuki name, reliability and parts availability. Its got plenty of power (it easily pushed that snow.....you cant see the blade in the pic but its under there) and its very capable. Starts and runs great....think it had about 1200 miles on it when I bought it (barely broken in).

I know this got long winded and off topic but do yourself a favor and atleast explore the used route. My neighbor bought a Chinese ATV almost the same week I bought that little red Honda.....he laughed because for only a couple hundred more he bought a NEW 4 wheeler and I was riding something 15 years old. About a week later his quad broke.....and its been one thing after another for him since then. Hes actually rode it very little.....and hes not laughing at me anymore.

Are there good Chinese quads.....heck yeah there are.......but even then when compared with a good, used ATV from the big guys do they make sense? For me they dont. Your mileage may vary.......

 

Just bought a china made atv, some say it has a replica of a honda engine which was named gy6 engine. all i can say the engine is impressive tbut the body parts are brittle.

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ATV Accessories?

 

Hi, I've got 5 of them and nothing more than tightening a few bolts with an occasional bolt replacement. 1 taotao 250D, 1 Sunl 250, 1 Sunl 150, a taotao 110, and a Hensim 400 4X4. The 400 odo just rolled past 750mi, I've had it since late Nov 09. The taotao 250 probably close to the same miles. The Sunl 250 is probably nearing 500 and the other Sunl probably has 250mi. My g-son's 110 is the only one of the bunch with less than 100mi. All of them have been surprisingly good machines. We had 2 of the 250Ds but sold one. Not for any particular reason other than I had a guy see it and wanted it. He's had no problems with it either.

 

Thanks to everyone for the replies so far. Arronkelly you wrote me a book, thanks for all that good info. I think used name brand are similar here in SE Oklahoma as what you say there. Great site, keep them coming.

 

Its going to need more attention than a Honda..

For instance... when you buy one of these in a crate YOU become the dealer... If you just bolt on the handle bars and the wheels, install the battery and hit the trails your going to have problems..

On the other hand if you spend a few hours putting the quad together, removing and loctiting a few dozen bolts, checking and or making a few adjustments.. Youll be much happier..

Mine just need chain oiling and a jump start these days...No real wrenching anymore.