Hi,

I'm an admitted rookie to ATV's and am looking for some friendly advice for an ATV for my about to turn 7 year old 53.5", 62lb son. I don't want to invest a fortune but I want a semi reliable SAFE vehicle...that's a tough balance to come by it appears. I have looked at ATV's by SolidATVs.com which appears to be a Chinese made ATV and the BMX Oddyssey by GoKartsRUs.com which also appears to be made in China. Any comments on these quads and dealers??? They certainly are more affordable. When I compare these ATV's with the better made more expensive quads though they seem to be much narrower and that concerns me. I've read about the Sunl, Kymco, Kazuma, Suzuki, Eton, Dinli etc. and am unsure what may fit us best. Many seem to be a bit narrower than the mainstream quads which concerns me. There has to be a reason the big names like Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki etc. all have wider postures though I don't like the larger price tags. I definitely like the idea of dialing down the speed and having a remote kill switch as well as a tether and would like an ATV that has those safety features.

So I am asking for some quick recommendations....what size ATV fits my sun best 50...70? Considering what I wrote above can anyone provide comments on the ATV's/dealers I mentioned or further recommendations for a lower priced SAFE and semi reliable ATV??? I am trying to get this for his birthday and would appreciate your responses. Thank you!

 

Well...I'm pretty much a rookie myself, but I thought I would reply with my experience thus far. Looking at SolidATVs.com I noticed their 70cc and 90cc quads appear to be the SunLs, just not badged that way. Their 50cc appear to be Kazumas. I bought my 70cc SunL through Racewayatv.com and have been very happy with their customer service and support. Also, the 70cc from Raceway appears to be slightly cheaper than from Solid. On width, I would say the 70cc SunL does feel a little narrow, but I've not got anything to compare it to. Overall this quad is amazing for it's price. You asked about what would fit best, maybe only you can answer that, but I'll say for comparison, I went with the 70 for my 4 1/2 year old and was nervous about it until the quad arrived. I'm quite happy now I chose the 70cc over the 50cc. We can still dial it way down if need be for him to learn, but he certainly won't outgrow it as fast. Plus it hauls me around just fine.

Hopefully others with far more knowledge than I will chime in shortly.

 

Check Raceway and give John a call. He has taken care of me quickly and professionally AFTER the sale. I think from what I've seen from most people that have bought from him , everyone has had the same experience . The quads seem to be made pretty decent & to me they seem like a pretty good value. I just recommended them to a close friend that bought the 70 & they were very pleased as well .
http://www.racewayatv.com/index.php

http://www.racewayatv.com/Kazuma-KMX-110.php

 

Be careful buying anything from china, l brought two last last year and nothing but trouble with them. I have now broughta suzuki LTA 50 and a hyosung 100 they both race these and are excellent runners... Hope this helps ya mate..

 

Here's my $.02. You need to decide what you want out of the machine.

Mini's pretty much fall into 2 catagories. Micro's and full-size. Your child needs a full size machine. Don't believe me? Go have him sit on a Kawasuki 50 then an 80-90cc and see which one he fits better on.

With that said, how many years of service do you intend to get from it? If you buy a machine that your child is bored with in 6 months, don't be mad because it just sits there. I personally would never buy a 50 or 70cc for a 7 year old. Depending on your local regulations, I would consider a 90-110cc. Also, some models you can modify power, stance and suspension as your child gains experience (or to omit a short coming), others you can't (plan to buy up).

What type of terrain will you be riding on? If you think you can buy a sunl 70 and go to Glamis, you're kidding yourself. And most of the 2-strokes don't fair well in wet conditions. Just depends.

Is saftey your main concern? Frankly, I think the DRR DRX and Xtreme Pro's are the safetest mini's out right now at over 40" wide. The DRR also has performance upgrades already done. But it costs more. I think the Unison Desert cat 90 at Raceway is a really good machine too.

I'd love to tell you there's one best mini for any situation but I'd be lying. I'd love to tell you that you can get all the best features for $700 but I'd be lying. Anybody that tells you different is trying to sell you something or just doesn't know any better.

 

And here's .02 more cents,
I bought a 90cc mini falcon from raceway for the first time ever with the chinese quads. Raptorlegs pretty much hit the nail on the head with his question and answers. The 90 is a little wider then the 50-70cc's but no matter which ones you buy I would suggest buying the wheel spacers at the same time. The 90 is a fully automatic with pretty much just the one speed so it's good for my six year old @ 45lbs learning on this. When he get's older and more experienced and as his level of riding get's more aggressive I'll move him up to a name brand quad or bike but for now the 90 is perfect. In fact just two days ago he actually rolled the quad onto it's side at about 10 mph ejecting him from the quad, with all his riding gear on he had not one scratch on him. The plastic fender almost tore completely off but I dont care cause this is exaclty what I bought it for. Hope this helps.

 

I just bought a kazuma 90 for my 7 year old. We took it out for the second time yesterday and I couldn't be more happy with it. Everyone always says you pay for what you get with these chinese quads but for 700 bucks I couldn't be more stoked! I got way more than what I paid for, and they guys I bought the quad from have a pipe on order for me and I am taking it down next week for a unifilter indtall.(yes I am lazy, I will pay someone to put in a filter). I couldn't be more happy.

 

I bought a nice used honda trx90 for my son. Great quad, he beat on it, rode the snot out of it, and it is doing fine. It now has a big bore kit, pipe, and paddles, and goes up most all of the dunes where we've ridden (a couple at winchester and glamis it just would not make it up.)

I bought 2 brand new 2004 Kazuma 110s from Raceway and they were piles. The customer service was ok - John is an ok guy, but the quads broke everytime we went out (NOT hard riding): oil plug exploding, chain breaking, plastic brittle and splitting, muffler falling off, sticking in reverse etc., etc., etc. They would not go up the slightest hill. I was happy to be able to sell them 1 year later for less than half of what I paid.

We bought 2 brand new LT80s for the girls and they are awesome little critters (a bit small framewise, but the kids are comfortable) The biggest girl does not want to move up yet although we have the 90 (bigger frame) and a 250ex waiting.

Now some folks are real happy with their chinese quads and that's great. The family that bought ours uses them to put around their property and they are happy. But our whole family hits the dunes, trails, and track, and the Kazumas did not fit the bill for us.

So, decide how you want to use it and go from there. As for size, I'd go with a smaller frame 90 or the LT80. Stay away from the Yamaha Raptor 50 and 80s (c r a p)

But this is just my 2 cents as a mom of 5 who has had a multitude of miniquads (a badger, trx90, 2 lt80s, 2 kazumas), plus the move-ups (blaster, 250ex, and 225moto4).

Good luck!

 

Oh, BTW, you are looking for your son - are you going to ride too? You should!

It is the most awesome way to bond with your kids and keep an eye on what they are doing too.

 

Knock offs are great if your willing and able to do some work when you first get them to ensure they will last, otherwise it will only be time before you run into problems. I have a buddy break his chain on a Honda which went through the case. The cost repairing that one was more than what I paid for the Jetmoto! Knock-offs for the time being are more beginner machines to get into the sport, it will only take time and a couple of good company's willing to go the extra mile.