i like my 250cc a lot. i have 2, one blue that my son who is 12 rides, and a red one. the red one wont start today and that is the first time i encountered any problem whatsoever. the factor i returned i never really got to test. i saw my son would outgrow it realy soon and decided that the 250cc was the way to go. the factor didnt start after 1 day, maybe battery, since the battery was oozing.

my son rides his 250cc everyday if he can. we take it to open field and small walking trails thru woods.

im going to check into chatsworth and maybe take them there to get more trail riding.

 

To all,

Anyone try out the Exel 150cc? I have seen if for sale on EBay and was wondering how it held up to the Yamota 150cc. I am leaning towards the Yamota 150 for my kids (16 & 12 yrs old). Just something they can ride on our new atv track on the back of my property. Anyone have any suggestions? It seems from the reviews here, the Yamota 150 is doing pretty well as long as you break it down and tighten all of the bolts and check everything. Also the addition that one of the guys said about changing out the shocks for an LT160's shocks sounds promising.

Thanks for any info.

Ski

 

Hey Battman, I'm very interested to know more about what you have done to replace the shocks on your Yamoto 150. I have two of them and ran the crap out of them last weekend. I spent two days here in the mountains launching it with all four tires off of the ground routinely through sereral miles of trails.

Just like "DirtForAShirt" said, that these factory Yamoto shocks are for light use. Eventually by the end of the first day the shocks softened up but also left the ATV in an stance (with no weight on it) with the wheels bowed out - toe out - as if it had too much weight sitting on it. Of course, I think I beat up the shocks too much and they had lost their integrity.

How did you find discover that the Suzuki LT160 shocks were a direct fit? Did they fit perfectly or are this a tad too short/long? Where there any modifications to be done to bolt them in or was it just a straight forward bolt-in process?

Thanks,
Mandrake

 

Great forum guys. I bought 2 Yamoto 150's for myself about 2 months ago. I am a dealer here in AZ. I actually took a trip up to the San Francisco area and paid a visit to the Yamoto Distribution Warehouse. I met the folks there and checked out their inventory.

The two units I have are essentially demo / test units that I am tying my best to beat up and break-in.

As you can read above, I did manage to beat up the front suspension that will need to be replaced. The 150 drove fine still but with the wheel significantly tilted outward. They're pretty fun to launch and can take a beating. Definitely worth the money, as others have also said here. Just be sure everything is bolted down as things can rattle loose.

A few warnings though. I am not sure what some of you mean when you talk about removing the "baffling" in the mufflers for better flow. There is no provision in the muffler where it can be dismantled and gutted. If you do however, BE VERY VERY CAREFUL. I believe these mufflers have ASBESTOS IN THEM (as some mufflers are known to have). I am not 100% sure but if you notice on the parts catalog in the muffler section, some parts of the muffler are noted as the, "Asbestos Plate." I wouldn't go there if I were you. Moreover, China is one the leading producers of the Asbestos material. I say this becuase I read somewhere here that someone was entertaining the idea of taking the material out of the muffler...not a good idea.

FYI: last week I did receive a memo from YAMOTO to all dealers of a few corrections that need to be made for the 150's and I thought you guys should know.

1. The rubber hose that links the airbox to the carb was made 1/2" too long and therefore ends up pushing itself into the airbox and thereby breaking the seal where it connects to the box. You have to cut that extra 1/2" off of the hose and re-mount it. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS. Both of my 150's carb's were litterally caked with dust on the inside and one of the units failed to run properly. Clean the carb and cut the hose at the side that connects to the carb. That will fix the issue.

2. Yamoto suggests replacement of a few key bolts in the unit. The bolts that need to be replaced are the axle bolts that hold the axle assembly to the real suspension sway bar. They need to be replaced with a hardened steel metric bolt. There are four of these bolts but only the top two need to be changed. These are the large ones to the left of the sprocket that link the rear suspension arm to the axle assembly. Screw them in with Locktite and a lock-washer. The bottom axle bolts do not need to be replaced but they do need to be reinstalled with Locktite and a lock washer.

3. Replace the three bolts holding in the rear disc for the disc brakes as well as the three bolts that hold the sprocket in place. They can shear and you don't want that to happen when you're in the middle of nowhere. These bolts are to be replaced with hardened steel (grade 8) bolts and re-installed with Locktite and a lock washer.


If any of you want the actual email sent to me from Yamoto I will be glad to PM it to you because it gives detailed pictures of "how-to" and what to replace.

Mandrake

 

Any of you guys with Yamoto 150's have those spacers on each side of the rear axle constantly rattling. I mean, they aren't mounted or bolted in, they're simply sandwiched bewteen the wheel and the sprocket (left side) or disc brake (right side). They're constantly rattling with that annoying metalic pining noise. Moreover if you simply tighten the rear wheels onto the axle to sandwich the spacer real tight, it simply rattles loose within a mile.

It's really not big deal, just annoying noise that I'm tired of hearing. It's also kind of embarassing for people to hear my drive by with a 150 that sounds like something's really loose.

The one problem is that if the spacer is essentially free-floating, it wears a little bit agains the wheel and when it's ever-so-sligtly loose to where it can rattle, that also means that the wheel can also rattle. Although the wheel's held in with a castle nut and a cotter pin, I don't like the feeling of knowing that my rear wheels are not tightly fastened onto the axle.

If you lift the atv on a stand to where the rear wheels are off the ground you can actually jiggle each rear tire. With that kind of play, that's gotta where on the splines where the wheel seats into the axle splines. It's definintely unecessary wear and tear. I was thinking of stitch welding the spacer to the disc and sprocket assembly to that it is no longer "free-floating" and elimintates jiggle in the wheels and that annoying rattling noise.

Have any of you had that similar annoying problem??

Mandrake

 

The LT160 shocks are a direct replacement, no modifications necessary. as far as the rattleing axel tubes, the cotter pin holes on the end of the axel are drilled two far out keeping the cotter pin away from the castle nut on the hub. the fix for this is a couple of washers between the hub and the castle nut so the cotter pin is actually locking the castlenut.

 

On my post about removing the baffle, it was for the 110cc unit. I don't know if the 150 model has the same type of exhaust muffler, but the 110's that I purchased have a removable steel baffle. It comes out by just removing the two screws and pulling the steel baffle out. Much like many guys do on their Harley exhaust that are to cheap to buy custom exhaust but want the louder Harley sound. I did not have to remove any packing material, nor did I see any that would be removable. I don't know if the 150 is the same though.

 

Battman,

Thanks for the reply. I will defininitley give the LT160 shocks a try! By the way, since this is a direct replacement does this correct the stance of the wheel to be straight and vertical instead of being bowed out or does it perhaps allow the wheels (with no weight on it) to be slightly pointed inward?

I ask this becuase you said it gives an extra inch of travel. I am hoping that that 150, without anyone sitting on it, with those shocks has the wheels pitched slightly inward which then would straighten out once someone's siting on the 150.

...or perhas you meant that the extra 1" of travel is only becuase the shocks have a greater travel on them when compressed but do nothing to the stance of the tires?

---------------

Also, I already had the proper washers in place to ensure that the cotter pin was seated into the castle nut. This made the wheel real tight onto the axle and eliminated the play as well as the annoying pining noise. However after about a few minutes the noise came back because the spaces gained just enought space to rattle only when the axle is spinning. This little bit of extra space was also enough to bring the wheels back to that semi-loose state in which it is now no longer tightly mounted to the axle...

I think I'm going to weld the spacer to the disc brake mount and the sprocket mount so that the spacer no longer "floats." We'll see if that works. I post my progress after this weekend when I ride it...

Thanks!...Mandrake

 

Good point Shevalik. The Yamoto 150 has no provision anywhere on the muffler where you can open it up or remove any baffle(s). It is completely sealed by weld unless you take a grinder to it and open it and re-weld it closed. However that could warrant unecessary exposure to possible asbestos inside...

 

The shocks are the exact same length as the original, they just have about an inch more travel. when i set on the quad (230lbs) they bow in just a little, not as much as the originals. the ride quality and look is much better.