I am looking at buying an atv for the kids and saw some good reviews on the desert cat 90. First question, I live in Wisconsin, can this quad be run in mud, little water etc...or is this a quad that should only be riden on the beach away from the mud and water? Thank you.

 

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Hey darton43, welcome to this forum. We don't see "1" post very often...

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Water depth questions of 2 strokes & CVTs are often asked.



Many / Most 2 stroke fan cooled engines with CVTs are vented. They are vented on the stator side and vented on the CVT tranny side. I know the E-Ton and Polaris brands have "over vented" CVT trannys. To view pictures, surf:

From the outside: http://community.webshots.com/photo/...88676262cUFNvv
Behind the tranny cover: http://community.webshots.com/photo/...43251365ipkLSY

From the outside: http://community.webshots.com/photo/...84454544bYHNwF
From the inside: http://community.webshots.com/photo/...84458786adkOPq

As seen in the above pictures, it self explains why many mini-quad factories recommend water NOT be above their running boards. RE: 2 stroke engines & CVTs remain above their vent intake openings.


For the folks who do have "desert cat 90" , you may need to remove your side panels to confirm if your brand of minis have these vent openings as well. As per the manual, (surf: http://www.unisonmotorsports.com/images/products/pdf_10.pdf ), it appears water should stay below the floor boards as well. See page 19 & page 37 for visuals.

Note: If water & deep mud is your passion, then go with a 4 stroke with a sealed transmission. In looking back, our family should have bought a 4 stroke with sealed tranny as well. Shhh.... Don't tell my son. Regardless of the number of "water / mud" overload repairs I do, my son still loves his Pred-90. Probably too much...



Hope this helps....

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I would say you would be okay as long as your not fording stream daily. Make sure you clean out around your stator area often as that seems to be a problem area on a lot of minis

I have not had a chance to take mine out in the woods yet, hopefully next weekend.
I would say go for it there are a great mini.

Roman

 

Thank you guys for the welcome and information. I feel better about ordering one now. The quad will be driven mostly on solid dry ground and alittle mud. I was mainly concerned about getting mud/water in the vented side panels but like you stated, just keep the water under these vents and dont ford through streadms it will be just fine.

Darton43[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Darton, you may want to consider one of the Kazuma/Yamoto/Redcat 110's or a Honda or Yamaha.

 

The Redcat FX-150 has a breather that is down low, if you snorkel the breather up a bit, what other risks do you have if you go in water above the floor boards on that particular model?

 

KCRider, the problem with the Unison/GPX/Kasea/Eton/Dinli/QJ engines is that the fan, stator, oil pump and cvt are all pretty vulnerable when it comes to getting gunked up and water can cause the belt to slip and cause rust and shorts to components that were not meant to get wet. While I'm sure many people have rode these through mud and water without any problems, the potential is there. My mini is staying where its dry.

I'd have to look at your 150 to tell you if it's the same. Something else a lot of people have griped about is the brake pads. Be sure to inspect them after they get wet.

 

How big are the kids riding the atv?

 

This is my first reply and it may be a little late, but I hope this info helps. I have a 2002 Fmc 90cc quad that has the same scooter engine as the desert cat 90. My quad has approx. 120 hrs on it driven all year round in Alberta, the first time my son got the O.K. to go through water, he got wet. And so did the Quad. The first thing I noticed after we parked it was drips under the air filter. I popped it open at the three screws and got my feet wet, there was approx 1/2 cup of water left in the filter housing. ( I drilled a 1/4" hole on the air side, install a rubber plug to check for water after riding. I am looking for a after market air filter to replace the original.) Two weeks later I thought I had elec. starter problems so I removed the clutch cover and discovered there had been some moisture in this area,( not much, just enough to make it damp.) and with the clutch dust , oxidation on the aluminum cover this made a 12mm needle roller bearing fail on the starter transfer gear(12.00$). (didnt know what to call this part) I did some easy cleaning, inspected all parts, and I think I saved two other bearings that are not sealed.
If you run through water it will pay to do a little inspection after riding in water. P.S. the quad was well 10"under water and keep running through the puddle 8 feet long.