Ask The Editors: How Do I Identify My Machine

A common scenario.

We’re assuming you have absolutely no signs of identification to draw from? Since nearly all of the major manufacturers (especially the Japanese manufacturers) tend to stamp their name or branding on other areas of the ATV in question (most commonly on the bottom end casing), it stands to reason you are looking at an off-brand ATV.

China and Taiwan are responsible for a slew of typically small-bore engine-equipped machines with very little by way of identification markers. To make matters even more difficult, exact replicas of the same machine are often offered by a whole variety of brands from these regions.

We do have a forum specifically for this type of machine that can be accessed here.

If the machine in question is a Side-by-Side/ UTV, here is the forum for that.

Either way, a bit of advice when looking for model identification help, pictures are certainly your friend. Exterior, engine, VIN number, get as many in your post as you can as visual clues go a long way in pointing viewers in a direction. Further, if you wish to place photos and VIN information in the Ask The Editor forum, we’ll do our best to take a stab at it as well.

In the mean time, this off-road VIN decoder should get you on the right path of what you’re actually looking at, but again, keep in mind that the off-brand machines don’t adhere to these standards, making photos all the more important:

Got questions for us? Ask them here!