Hi all, am new to the forums but spent a lot of time tonight reading through other posts and being new to the ATV scene found tons of useful information. Here is my delima: I am looking at a 2005 250cc 4 stroke ATV by a company called Rakatak out of Ohio, with a Loncin engine from China. Here is a link to the site www.rakatak.com. It is in good condition with about 25 hours put on it. The price to buy it is 1900.00. I am looking for something to ride my kids around in, nothing to dangerous, but to have some basic trail fun. However I am trying to watch my money as there are 7 kids that I have to ride around. I have read some ok some bad on these Chinese ATV's but seems like the 250cc engine is a decent one. I know it has reverse and that the guy that has it started it cold tonight and it fired right up. He kept it in his garage and hadn't started it in a couple of weeks. Looks like a no frills ATV, and tops out at about 45 mph. My only problem is I'm not mechanically inclined. I have a guy that works on almost anything though and I'm sure he'd work on this if I had problems. I am just looking for something safe, yet fun, and worth the money paid. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Steve

My other option is a 1984 Honday TRX200, that has been rebuilt. This one is about 1400.00, but I keep reading "but its a Honda" despite the age, so I am wondering if this is the safer bet since it appears they will run forever. Thanks for any help

 

If youre not into wrenching...run from the cheap tiawan and chinese ones. Parts and info are hard to come by, and some mechanics refuse to work on them.
It makes me wonder why someone would go to the trouble and time, and money to rebuild a quad, and sell. It makes me think something went wrong, or is about to.So pass on that rebuilt one.
There are lots of good low mile quads,two or three year old quads with no issues for around 2 grand.
I sold a 2003 suzi ozark for 2200, about a year ago. They will ride it for years, and probably sell for 1800 or so. Total cost for their years of riding will be about 400 bucks. If you buy a chinese one, itll drop to almost zero in two years. Whats cheaper?
Stick to hondas, like the recon and ex, suzi ozarks, kawi bayous, and yami timberwolfs. The parts and information are easy to come by, and even if you total it out, it still has value.
Check local dealers, and local papers, then check the atvtraderonline and ebay. Try to find one from an old guy,(like me), who didnt use it much, and took care of it. If it isnt running, or runs poorly, move on to another one.
If you bought one of the chinese ones, youd be so disappointed and pissed, it would forever taint the experience. If you buy a quality quad, youll get back almost all your money when you resell, providing you did the maint and there wasnt any damage.
Bottom line...theres way too many good ones out there to settle for second rate stuff. Keep looking, and welcome to the forums
I did a quick search, and know this is a ways away, but heres an example thats a very good deal.
http://adcache.atvtraderonline.com/5/5/2/82119552.htm
They are out there, youll find one thats close and right for you.

 

Welcome to the forum sdelliott31, Unless this friend of yours really likes you Id but the Honda. He could work on the honda for a few hours and you could ride it for years. The chinese quad may be the other way around.