LMAO[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: mywifesquad


Gotta wonder if vacuum users at the beginner level are easier on their machines than a expert level vacuum user. [img][/img]</end quote></div>

Now I need to see about piping and jetting our Bissell.

 

I believe that I can offer some insight into this issue. After reading some positive info on these machines I bought a Hibird 200 (Tornao 200) last March. I used to race dirt bikes and I enjoy working on and improving bikes so I thought that this would be a fun project for myself and my son.

HUGE MISTAKE.......

My first discovery after assembling the ATV was that the rear sprocket was misaligned with the countershaft sprocked by about 1/2 inch. I then found that the whole rear end was dog tracking the front end by about an inch. This would explain the thrown chains. The only real way to fix this would be to saw a section out of the swing arm, bend it into position and re-weld it.

Upon the first trail ride, it took about 5 minutes to realize just how idiotic the gear ratios are in the 4 speed transmission. About 45 minutes of mild riding , the rear brakes quit completely. Upon inspection, the pads separated completely and were gone. I then noticed that the chain was slapping badly during riding but was extremely tight when I got off the machine and checked it. I come to find out that the swing arm bushings are gone (or were never there in the first place) and the whole swingarm has about an inch of side to side movement - thusly tightening and loosening the chain.

But the real clincher was the dangerous high speed handling (20 mph ) characteristics. My son told me that he had to fight to keep the machine going straight at higher speeds. I tried it out and found this to be true. If you lighten up on the handlebars, the wheels want to go to their steering lock. On a trail with trees, this is extremely dangerous. On closer inspection, there is noticable difference in steering rake between the right and left front tires. The right tire has around ZERO rake - a very dangerous situation.

Believe it or not, I am leaving out a ton of lesser issues that I re-engineered on the bike. I then did what I should have done in the first place, I bought my son a used Honda 2004 250EX for $1700. This was roughly twice what I paid for the Hibird - and well worth it. There is a world, no, a universe of difference between these machines.

I can't speak for all China quads but I can tell you this. DO NOT BUY THIS MODEL!!!!. I will also go out on a limb and say that I would recommend that you not buy any other model made by this factory/company.

Please take my lesson to heart. I don't want to see anyone get hurt or killed on one of these.

 

Hi All,

I'm sure I will take a beating for this post I am sure but its my take on the subject. I have a lot of Chinese products and so do you, you just may not know it. Heck even my new Motorola cell phone was made in China. I lost my other on this past weekend riding the ATV.

I will start with the facts. Yes the Chinese machines are cheaper and do require some work. Yes you can get bad apples in any cart. Did you know that John Deere is having Tractors made in China Now? New Holland too. Yamaha, Honda,and Polaris are also built in China. I am not saying all of them are But that some of them or the parts for them are. If you are reading this you have a powerful search machine at your fingertips check it out.

Now I spent the last 6 months looking at used ATVs and for under $2500. They were all junk. I looked at Polaris and Kawasaki and Honda for the most part. Most everthing I saw needed major TLC and $500. worth of parts or more. Now I am not out to race or fly through the trailes I just want to get around my property (36 ac in Lunenburg VA). 4X4 would have been nice but I decided that a new 250 2wd would do what I need.

We don't have much money I have MS and my wife is disabled I do enjoy working on things though not nessarily repairs but mods.

In Dec 2006 I got a 110 RedCat for my 6 year old daughter and its been great we all ride it. The only problem I have had with it is the carb got trash in it. Simple fix pull it off cleaned it and back together in 30 min good as new. This machine is great in the woods. Its an auto, which makes it easy to ride. And it has enough power for me 200 lbs. No its not a speed demon but it is fun and will fit any where. IT JUST SIPS ON GAS. Now I will admit we don't ride it hard but it has been flipped a few times, and nothing has broke YET! It has around 50 hrs on it and I realise thats not much. But it has always started and ridden. We have never jumped it or abused it.

So with this in mind I just bought a 2008 HiBird 250 STW. We took it and Kyrstin's 110 out to our land last weekend and had a blast. The manual 4 speed is not as nice as her auto 3 speed but ok. The gearing stinks for what I want, which is hill climbing and poking through the woods (slow). So I am looking for a differnt Rear sprocket for it and If I can't find the right one I will find one close and make it work. Its not as large as a Polaris 300 Sportsman thank god or I would never go half the places I went last weekend. I did have to adjust the clutch when we got home and I know thats on account of the gearing and the places I went. If I had open trails it would be fine the way it is. Reverse is real high speed. So far after less than 10 hours I am vary happy with this machine. One thing inparticular that I don't like is no chain tensioner. So I made one for it. I know its not even broken in yet but I believe it is going to work out great for me. Maybe not for everyone though.

I am pretty handy with a wrench or welder. Parts are hard to find if needed so I buy what I can make work and addapt it to fit. Just like my China tractor, although parts are easier to get for that than my dads Kubota.

I hope this helps those who are looking in to a ATV. If you are short on money but strong on DIY projects then go for it if not buy a Name Brand just remember you are going to pay for it. Either in sweat or $$$.

I don't like the fact that we (my family) can't afford to buy the high end products or "AMERICAN". But whats still made here = nothing unless you do it your self.

Larry

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>If you are short on money but strong on DIY projects then go for it if not buy a Name Brand just remember you are going to pay for it. Either in sweat or $$$.</end quote></div>
EXACTLY! So far, this is proving out with the Jetmotos I purchased in August. I am willing to put the time in to do the extra maintenance and repairs on these things. The thing that is creeping up on me is something I was aware of but may have underestimated the full impact over the longer term of ownership.

That is inherent component quality or lack thereof. I don't mind replacing a part now and then but what I am wondering is the wisdom to replace the part with another equally cheap part. I'm thinking when a part fails I should go and find a quality replacement if possible. That way, I know it will be a long time before I have to expend the effort to replace it again. Certainly the odds will be higher that I will be doing it sooner with a cheap Chinese replacement rather than a good part.

I'm sure that once the warranty is out, I will pursue this strategy but even while it is under warranty I am wondering if I should forgo the cheap, albeit free parts, and just find and pay for good parts now.

 

If chinese quads are so unreliable and POS's then you would think that there would be a flood of used parts on the market. Surely people are not rolling these things out to the curb for the trash man. If it were me I would be selling parts like crazy on ebay. In fact I have been thinking of buying these things, disassembling them, inventoring the parts and double my money.

 

Yeah in Australia we actually have dealers that will NOT touch import quads from china. Due to the third rate materials they are made from.

 

i can tell u from experiance those atv arent worth it u end up puting mor moey in to it gust save some moey for a honda or brand name because the first day i had my chinese atv i put it in t first and the shifter came off then after having it for a month it feell apart so i just ended up buying a 400ex this s a lot better and it was a 110 so it didnt have the power or andthing the 00ex has i love my honda nad will never trade it for anything so i would say g for a brand name they last longer and are bilt to handle 10x"s more then the cheep one

 

justin521 i hope i got your unsername right i don't have on my specks , i had a long debate with my brother judt this past friday about these chinese atv's ; i was telling him that i had heard some folks on here talking about these 200cc class atv's that they were saying had honda clone engine;s on them ! He started telling me his youngest daughter bought her son a small chinese quad , it was a small one and he couldn't remember the name brand ; but he said it was a little 49 or 50cc quad ! He said he told her they were junk and she just wasted her money on it , i think he said she paid almost 200 dollars for it ; and that the guy who sold who sold it to her said they were good enough for a kid to ride ! He told her it wouldn't last 2 week's before it would be junk , he said the one she bought the engine was made out of cheap pot metal ; and the bearings and bolt's would start falling out and that the plastics were tougher than the metal the frames and metal parts were made out of ! I tried to tell him that not all of these quad's were that bad from what i had heard people talking about them ! And i told hime taht people were saying that part's and bolt's wound be missing , and they would get in touch with the dealer and they would send them part's taht were missing ; and taht you will have to learn how to fix them because there were problem's with loose bolt's ! ANd you would have to put them together checking all the bolt's and lock washer's ; and you would have to constanly work on them to keep them rinning ! But my brother loves to argue me and and dan get alone like water and gas when we start talking about anything , and i finally gave up and told him he was right and everybody else is wrong ! About id he is always right and i'm always wrong , and as he said it would the little quad lasted about a little ove a week when the tire'a starting falling off and the engine wouldn't start and all kind of problem's starting popping up and he said i told you so ! But if he had took the time to help her get it put together right and loctite to bolt's and help her to the assemble of the little qud it migh have turen out to be a good starter quad for his grandson the start out on at least ! But he wouldn't would even touch ti for the little guy , he just keep saying it was made out of tin can's frame and all ; we got a litle hot and heavy over these Chinese quad's because i had looked in on some of the post about the bigger one's were made better and were getting better every year ! But there was no use talking to him he had already made up his mind about them ! I grew up in the the late 50's and early 60's and i reminde him taht whe Japan frist started importing motor bike's in the late fifties the Japanese motor bike's were junk when they first started importing the to the states in the 50's they were the same way the chinese quad's are now and that they're getting better every year ; just like Honda's did over the year's they kept getinng better every year ! I would bet that in the nest 5 or 6 year's they will be as good as the Japanese quad's , they're just getting their feet wet right now ; and they will start building them with better metal and better material's if they plan on staying in the import of these quad's and they're already getting biger every year as well Just keep looking , think the best ones here now now are the JetMoto's from Raceway and if i hadn't hadn't lost my leg's jjust below the knees in 1975 at the age of 21 yrs old and had to have a quad that was bullit pruff i would've gotten one just tool around on ! Sorry for the long post and i'm getting tired it's my bedtime so good luck and i hoe if you buy one ti's a keeper ! ..............

 

From what I heard from a mechanic yesterday, Honda lost it's patent or it expired or whatever and the chines atv's will accept the honda parts they are interchangable I was told. as least on motor parts. so when the chines motor breaks repair it with honda parts?

Maybe someone else can confirm that