Hey everyone, thought this would be the definitive forum to ask for help on this. My wife and I are starting an ATV tour here in Thailand (we're American) and we'd like to know what you experts say are the best types of bikes to get. I pose these question to ya:

1) Air-cooled vs. water cooled (It's hot as hell here in Thailand, but these bikes will get used for about 6 hours per day, every day, up mountains)
2) Drum front/disc back , drum/drum or disc/disc (sounds like a no-brainer, but figured i'd ask)


Any other advice you'd have in my purchasing?

Please keep in mind these bikes will be getting used ALOT in hot climate, every day. I have about 300 offers from companies in Asia here with full specs and I don't know what is a winner and what is a loser.

Thx in advance [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Kevin

 

I would get liquid cooled, for hot climates. They are less likley to overheat. Also, i would look at EFI models since you will be changing elevations, and i would look for 4x4 utility atvs, depending on the types of terrain you will encounter most. Honda, Arctic Cat, Can-Am, Yamaha, ect are all good brands and very durable and reliable.

 

Liquid cooled hands down

Disc brake if you can get it!!!

If you are running them 6 hours a day stick with the brands we know here in the USA like Honda, Yamaha, Polaris, Suzuki, ect...

Recommend autos so your customers can enjoy them

 

Do you think you need utility quads or sport quads???? Utes give big fenders for splash protection in the wet, and you have the option of 4wd. Plus your guests can carry their gear on the racks. Sport quads on the other hand are lighter and just plain more fun, easier to handle, and safer in a roll-over.

Probably all your riders are going to be inexperienced, right??? So, you want smaller, lighter machines that beginners can easily handle, not huge 700 pound monsters. Unfortunately, you aren't going to find water cooling on the low end machines. Plus, you want a reasonable purchase price. I would suggest the Honda Recon if you need a ute, or the Honda 250EX if you can use a sport. If you must have 4wd, then the Honda Rancher is a real peach and it is water cooled.

The Recon and Rancher give you the option of "ES" push button shifting which would be nice for the beginners. But, in the end I will bet you will go with some kind of foo foo automatic, just to keep it simple for the beginners (sorry folks, but automatics are for little girls IMO). In that case, the Yamaha Wolverine (4wd) is the only thing I could recommend. It attempts to be a hybrid that falls somewhere between the utilities and the sport quads.

So be sure to run 20W50 oil for the hot weather, and a synthetic if you can afford the higher price.

 

Or, why not side-by-sides????

Everybody knows how to drive a car, and these things drive just like cars! No training and no special experience necessary. Just require that the dirver have a valid driver's liscense. And, there is a roll cage for when the beginners dump it over.....and they will dump the quads over, mark my word!

And, a roof for the rain and hot sunshine! And they are riding with someone they can talk to, so that makes the whole experience more enjoyable. And some people are just not going to want to dirve anything quad or otherwise (like kids and grandma), so they can just be the passengers. Turns it into a family friendly experience. That will increase the variety of clients you can attract, which means more business for you!

Plus for you, reduced liability and chance of having to deal with an injured client! Have you thought about all that?????? The trouble is, the purchase price is greater, but one side-by-side equals 2 quads, so you only have to buy half as many.

It's a no brainer solution!!!

 

thx for the advice guys, keep them coming.


reconranger: interesting thoughts, i'm mulling them over right now.. thx again

 

Look more are specific features rather than brands. I would suggest several features that will help you narrow these choices down. Independent Rear Suspension, Fuel Injection, 4x4, disk brakes, liquid cooled, and automatic transmission. I wouldn't think you would want to invest in big bores, so mid sized bikes with these features are going to help you narrow the list down signicantly. The new King Quad 450 has all the features listed, as well does the new Can/Am Outlander 500 and the Polaris Sportsman 500efi. One thing the Can/Am and Polaris offers that may be beneficial over the KQ450 is a single brake lever that operates all 4 wheels as in a car. Also they have a one touch 4wd switch as opposed to the muti-step 4wd system found on the other brands, including the kq450. The more simple the better when it comes to your purpose in these machines. If you are open to more specs the choices are endless, but I honestly feel based on your desciption of use the 3 mentioned above suite you best.

 

I ride often, and my thumb is in pretty good shape. But, I rode last weekend, and my thumb was absolutely killing me all day! Really detracted from the beautifull scenery I was riding through.

Think about the prospects of taking 10 rookie riders out on a 6 hour cross country ride. I think some of them are going to have sore thumbs after the first 15 minutes, and wish they were somewhere else. And, you are going to have to give them enough training for them to be reasonalby comfortable, safe, and secure on the machines.........and I just don't see this as even being possible.

On the other hand, doesn't a side-by-side that drives just like a car solve all those problems for him????

 

go with the can-am they are the best for what your going to do with them if not the honda has no belts if you go with the honda go with the rincon

 

Go to polaris of chatanooga. (sp)? They sell quads for way below invoice and if you're going to buy 10 of them then the savings can really add up. I'd go with about five 500 sportsmans, a couple 700 sportsmans, an 800 sportsman of course and maybe a couple sport models for the more experienced rider. The nice thing about the sportsmans is the body on the 5,7, and 800 are the same and have a lifetime warranty on the belts all the plastic, tires, racks, etc. are interchangeable. I just checked and you're saving $900 off msrp alone on the 500 not to mention they don't charge that prep and doc BS. fees. After 10 quads my math says you're saving atleast $10,000.