Anyone heard of this brand?It's another new to Canada outfit bringing in off-shore stuff. They say they've been around about 10 years. It's scary buying thesse unknowns and then reading some of the nightmares on these unbiased posts. Seems the only good ones have been Eton and Kasea (after the Mighty-mite). Kazuma and Meercat seem to get trashed here.

Thanks for any help.

 

I saw these last year in an advertisement and I was very impressed with the look of the 90.Seemed to have some cool features and I really liked the look of it.I recieved some negative feedback(not on that particular model)but on a 125 cc unit.The complaints were about poor handling in a racing environment so I don't know how they are for reliability and trail riding.I remember the muffler falling off of this unit during a couple of races but again this may have been more mechanic related than the bike.Its unfortunate when a company gets a bad name right away and then it may take years of building top quality machines before they are accepted.I'm hoping there will be some newer versions of this brand at the races this year so I can get a good look at them in action and get some feedback from the owners.

 

LRX and Blast are the same as Kasea. A lot of people like Xtreme too.

 

It makes you dizzy tring to keep up. I found a link by accident once that showed all the different off-shore brands and which ones were made at the same place. It was from an atv magazine.Now I can't find it anywhere, despite several different searches. I'm so scared to get stung with a piece of crap manufacturer, or no parts/service. We also have a local guy distributing: atvsforless.com, allegedly factory direct from ?? China??, and they are brands that have been successfully sold in the US for 10 years.

We've had many Mighty-Mites dumped here that were Kasea's first run at trash. They were clever how they dumped them. They sell 2 at a time at different auctions. Keeps the price high at the auction and not everyone knows the word on these , so they pay way more. Makes me wonder if this is what the atvsforless.com guy is doing. Maybe no one will buy his brand in US anymore?

 

If the off brands scare you and you don't think you can find parts, then I say bite the bullet and buy something you don't have to worry about. At the very least buy from a reputable dealer. You mail order a quad, you better be prepared to tinker with it to get the bugs out. You buy it from one of these warehouses, you better be prepared to do it without much if any help. These forums are nice but if nobody is familiar with your brand.........know what I mean Vern? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Okay, we test drove their 4 quads a few days ago, 50, 90, 125 and 250cc. I wrote a review for our web-site administrator. He should have something posted on www.quads.ca in a day or two.

The 90 and 125 are both worth a look. The 50 is a little scary unless you're confident in your kid's ability. The 250 didn't appeal to me.

 

My concern with MFC is that they don't seem to be able to keep any dealers or sub.distributors for more than 1 year. All the sub. distributors they had in Canada have packed it in leaving customers without any parts or support. MFC also seems to be bringing in a new chinese manufactured ATV every year, which means that they can't find the right balance of price and quality. The only non Japanese/major OEM that I would consider is E-Ton. E-Ton has proven themselves as great quality and great parts support..

 

Great points. Kasea went through this with their first foray into the market. The Mighty-Mite was a lemon. But now their quads are highly regarded by lots of members on this site. Some claim the best kids quad (that's an individual opinion everyone can debate another time).

I addressed all those things in the article i wrote, but I'm not sure how much will be printed after the administrator edits my verbacity (is there such a word? I just made it up!). I tried to do my homework ahead of time and spoke to a couple of Alberta dealers that trashed MFC. I confronted the distributor with this, and I was impressed by his candor and he took all of it head on without trying to B$ me, or avoid the questions.

MFC has a huge parts warehouse in Nanaimo, B.C. He claims they're very well supported by MFC. They admit MFC changed manufacturers, but now they feel they have the one that will work with them, and build to their specs. Sound familiar to you Kasea guys? MFC are about 3-4 years into it, so I think they're getting their kinks worked out. The new distributor is Marlon Recreational Products.They've been around a long time, and distribute several other lines of unrelated items. They have some high end products and didn't want to be saddled with junk. They think they 've done a lot of research into MFC. The other distributors probably got po'ed and have given up on MFC, perhaps for good reason as you indicate. But any new business venture will have growing pains until the kinks are ironed out, and i think they're getting to that stage with the 90 and maybe the 125.

I was really impressed with the 90. 4-stroke Honda CT-90 clone, shaft drive. Headlights, brake lights. (No horn). wishbone suspension.Throttle limiter and air intake restrictor. 3-speed will scare some, but it's got a Harley Davidson style 'pivot' shift. They can kick down on the back of the shifter to shift. On 1st try, my 7&8 y/o didn't have any problem figuring it out. Wide rear tires, 18x9.5-8, with really agressive tread design. Chrome bushguard up front, with some chrome finishes on engine area. Raptor 80 clone for styling and looks.

Handled mud and water well, never did swamp it in same riding area where we've swamped Honda TRX 90 and had to continually drain carb. I've heard some of the CVTs don't like water much. Kids beat on it for 2 1/2 hours non-stop, ran great. I thought it was well worth considering.

Old Yeller pegged it when he said company gets a bad name right away and then it takes years to recover.

The MSRP is $2650. Ralph's Arctic Cat advertises the Raptor 80 for $2800. MFC has a few more features, but close to same machine. I'm with you though, given that price difference and resale/brand history, which one would you buy?

Eton is $3000 at Ralph's (NO REVERSE). Our local Eton dealer hasn't returned 3 phone calls or 2 emails. I think they're out of business. I can't tell. Our dealer obviously sucks, which is a shame cuz I'd really like to check one out. I think Eton's network and support in Alberta is WAY better than in B.C. Eton is hard to compare with CVT, 2-stroke.... probably the way MFC would like it because maybe Eton is too hard to compete with for that style. But for MORE $$ than Raptor 80, i have tough time wondering about re-sale, long term reliabilty, etc..

Eton may be faster too, don't know. I'm not racing so top speed is irrelevant to me. Considering the publicity from the Canadian Pediatricians lobbying to have ATVs totally banned for under 16 year old riders, we may ALL want to rethink the speed thing. They are,in the eyes of Gov't, 2000 well-respected doctors. Gov't sees us as barefoot, overall-wearing rednecks and hicks. Tough battle ahead!!

MFC also has a 4-stroke CVT, 125cc. Headlight, brake light, rear disc brake. NO REVERSE, which seems odd to me for a 125cc unit. It's very similar in size and weight to their 90. I thought the price on this one was more in the good bargain range, enough to really entice me at $3000 MSRP. I would think the extra CC would make this unit FLY (oops, that's for you racers). I think they have a different factory make this one for them, the one thing that makes me a little suspect about this unit.

Shame about your Flames bud. It'd be different if it didn't seem like they got jobbed by idiot-Fraser, plus goal judges. They really outplayed TB in games 4,5&6, but weren't that great in game 7. I'm surprised the same group of a$$holes that pre-planned to riot here in '94 didn't make the trip east to destroy things in Calgary, especially after all the controversy. Good for you guys, that showed some class and dignity.

 

Great to hear some unbiased first hand experience with some of the lesser known brands.The two stroke engine is on the way out because of emissions reasons so in a few years all the quads will be 4 strokes.The guys that are making them now should have a big head start.Its also nice to hear of some mini's that are mud and water friendly.You always hear of the needs for people who ride in the dunes but for us people up here in Canada we're more likely to need the rugged off road style that will go through small streams and over rocks and logs etc (do we even have any dunes here?).Sounds like some of these brands could be big in the future.

 

Yes, we have some dunes in Alberta in the Athbasca area. Never been there. Read an article that you're only allowed access to certain areas. Those dam lucky Albertans got everything; NO PST, true Cup champion, good atv dealers!

I forgot to mention one thing on the 90, handbrake controls only, no foot brake for rear, just hand. I'd like to see that changed as foot strength is always better, plus they should learn about foot brake skill as that's the norm on quads and motorcycles. It should be an instinctive move. If they learn without, then when they get on something different and are in a panic situation, they'll squeeze handlebars and may only have fronts for a forward launch.