I got my son a mud hawk 6 for Christmas. Got it home and every time he goes to ride it won't start. When it does get started it runs crappy. I got it from a small shop and have taken it back several times to get it fixed. The guy keeps telling me that they all run like that. I have worked on my own bikes and quads so I know it should run better. He has replaced the carb, spark plug, and the computer. I still can't seem to get it started when my son wants to ride all the time. Should I start working on this myself and try to fix the issue? Is there a better carb on the market than stock? the choke cable is loose and I think that could be causing some of the problems. Just don't want to dive in and void any warranty I may have until I give up on the shop all together.

 

Kids quads are a nightmare. No idea why, but they take more time to fix than complex EFI stuff. I got one to fix recently, valves had closed up, so no compression, adjusted them and it still wouldn't start, engine was turning a lot slower now it had compression, so put new battery on, still wouldn't start. Cleaned carb (twice) would fire up if started with battery charger jump start, and run and start fine once warm. Tried new eBay CDI and coil, CDI seemed to slow starter further, so checked and ignition was advanced 20% over the old CDI. So back to old CDI, it now has turned into an "only starts when you take your finger off the start button" machine. A fairly common affliction that nobody seems to have the answer to, and seeing as ignition and starter circuits are totally separate, defies logic. Anyway, answer to your question is, have a go if you think you can do better than the shop, do it right and they won't know you have been "fiddling" with it if you do need to take it back to them.

 

Do you want to know why kids ATV’s are so tough to work on?
It’s because they are made in China by people making Pennie’s a day, with materials that are not even permitted to be used around the rest of the world . The electrical components are all specifically designed to do one thing and made with sub standard material. The wiring used does not even match any standard gauge code or safety standard and the coatings is basically near nonexistent.