Anyone have, or willing to make/post a list of manufacturers crossed to brand names for the Chinese quads?

Also, what about a list that rates, or puts the brands in order form best to worst? I realize this might be quite subjective, but if there are any that do stand out among them all, certainly those will end up near the top.

 

I've heard the unison's are good, but they are manufactured in Taiwan not china.....Thats why I ordered one yesterday....I think this is there official web page

www.unison-atv.com/cgi-bin/main.cgi

.....anyway ....raceway sells them( Thats where I ordered mine)

 

Heh, depending on who you ask, Taiwan is China...but that's a political discussion best left for elsewhere.

I've been doing woodworking (as a hobby, pseudo-business) for over 22 years. I have a lot of woodworking machinery built in Taiwan and it's good stuff. Jet brand tools are always in the top ratings. Taiwan can make good stuff, but there is a catch.

Much of the machinery built in Taiwan is sold in the U.S. under various brand names (much like the Chinese quad bikes). Some brands go so far as to have special modifications or options added to their machines (at a cost, of course). Jet, for example, is innovative in the things they have the Taiwanese add or change about their machines, and they do pay for it. Of course, that cost is passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices, but the quality is always good.

If you ever look closely at Taiwanese or Chinese made tools and machinery, you find more than a casual similarity among brands like Jet, Craftsman, stuff sold at Home Depot and Lowes and Harbor Freight. The difference is in the quality control. Each brand has paid inspectors and representatives working at each of the factories. Each brand also pays for their rights to which tools they get off the assembly line (after quality tests are done). Jet is a premium company and they contract (at a higher bid or price) to have pick of the better tools off the line. They have a minimum set of standards for each tool they take to sell under their brand name. This way you know that each Jet tool is most likely going to be the best quality of the tools the Taiwanese produce. The other companies all pay less for the tools and contracts, and thus, we end up with cheaper, but lower overall quality tools under that brand name. Harbor Freight is like the bottom of the barrel. They basically take everything no one else wants. That's why stuff is so cheap there, in more ways than one.

I suspect the Chinese made quads are in a similar situation. The brands all buy a few models of any given size and slap their names on them. Some of the brands might pay a slightly higher fee in order to get the better quality stuff, and that might indicate why we see a few of the Chinese brands that are gaining favor in terms of quality. The brand may also add or change things about the bike on their own, or they may even have these changes done at the factory. It all depends on how things are negotiated.

I saw a show on the Discovery Channel a month or so ago called "China Rising". It was very interesting. The Chinese are extremely gung-ho to get into the mainstream in industry and product production. They are really getting on the bandwagon and many of their larger factories are now, or about to be ISO compliant. Not too many years ago, poorly made Chinese copies of stuff was the norm, but even the Chinese themselves are now frowning on that sort of activity and are seeking to do things right (like legally negotiated licensing to make copies of tools, machines, etc). They still have a ways to go, but they are coming on strong. Too strong actually. Their industrial revolution is leaving the country in shams. Many of their major waterways are so heavily polluted that the fish are all dead. Their air pollution makes LA look like a country breeze. They are losing arible farm land at an alarming rate. They are trying to feed something like 35% of the world's population on only 7% of the world's arible land. If they continue the pace, they are going to be in severe crisis very soon, but as for their products, they are getting better every day.

 

I see where you are going with the "Taiwan is China" thing and I really don't think polaris is gonna sell a china quad under their own name as they do with the Taiwan built preditor 90....IMO