Hi,
Thanks to all on the board for helping me decide to go ahead and blow a whole $550 on a green Meerkat lookalike. My 4 year old will only be using it to ride around the lawn so I'm hoping it will hold together for a while.
I've already changed the plug, richened it up a bit on the needle and it runs great - he's thrilled. The nice part about the 4St is that you can slow it all the way down to walking speed -his brothers 2 st KDX50 wouldn't move with that little throttle.
It appears the things I am going to run into are :
Tank delamination. I've seen it written that there's a liner in the tank which comes loose. Is this just local to the mounting bolt holes or is it the whole tank ? - I can't see it at all. Any ideas on how to prevent the problem ?
Intake manifold failure. Hopefully I won't see it as he rides on smooth grass, but will make steel one if it happens.
Starter burnout. I've added a second switch to disable the starter button. Most failures are supposedly because the little folks like to press the button even when it's running and I'm sure mine will be no exception.
Rear brakes. It appears from postings that they are just fiberboard - but even my little guy can lock up the rear wheels. ( Witness the black lines on my drive ). However, I expect they will fail after a while. Are there any better replacements ?
Switches getting wet shouldn't be a problem as it lives in the garage.

All in all - (so far) we're really happy with the purchase. For my purpose it's a great little ATV with better features ( 4Stroke, 4 Speed, Electric Start ) than the famous brands at about 1/4 of the price. I wouldn't however buy one to go into the back woods on a regular basis.

 

I have not seen any bad comments on the meerkat. So far it has been a good, reliable starter atv.

 

If someone over the weight limit of 80lbs rides the little 50's over bumpy terrain, the suspension/frame flex will cause the intake manifold to hit the frame and break. If you follow the weight requirements, the ATV should yield some great years of service.

Jonathan

 

Thanks for the responses. The little guy loves his ATV and has ridden it every day. From the comments, I'll not worry about the intake manifold - I see the interfernce could happen since the engine moves with the rear axle. Any thoughts on the tank issue ?