I have to wonder if even though the chinese ohv explosion and the lack of following of the cpsc guidelines by most of their "distributors" exists, will they fall back on the cpsc guidelines to protect themselves from lawsuit's? If and when it is necessary. What is kind of funny now, is I am kind of leaning towards the negative view of the chinese invasion, it may be helping on one side while forgetting there is another side to the problem.

 

Ah.. you have taken the first step towards enlightenment grasshopper... It is a vicious circle is it not? I know that many parents are buying these things with little or no knowledge.. and their children are getting hurt... and the rest of us are suffering because of it.

Almost makes you "want" more legislation/protection doesn't it? Now you know why I have done a complete 180 on my rants...

Education and discovery can change a person. Even dinosaurs like me...

Welcome to my world...

 

My problem was not looking at the big picture. Never even thought of the negative aspects of it all. I just figured that if you bought one of these chinese quads you would know how to work on them, etc... Never even considered the parent with no knowledge of the dangers. Thanks for the welcome, that is why they say, ignorance is bliss. I felt better when I was uninformed.

 

These Chinese youth ATVs are cheap. That's probably the #1 motivating factor? You couldn't buy a new Japenese youth ATV for less than 3K before this Taiwainese explosion. Now you can get a new Chinese quad for under $1,000. That puts these in the range of Christmas and Birthday presents for the Average Joe. You can't blame a parent for wanting to see the excitement on their kid's face when they get a new quad as a present. Especially when they could never afford something like this until these came around. It's the responsibility part after buying your kid a motorized vehicle that is the problem. You don't buy a motorized vehicle for a kid then not supervise them operating it. These are not battery operated toys.

 

I agree that the china syndrome explosion is a big partr of the prob but when were minis over 3k? Well maybe in bellevue [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]

 

What's the difference between buying a new Chinese quad versus a used name brand. You are not offered a course either way.

That's the choice of that average Joe that can't afford the name brands. And the name brands have NOT prioritized safety for more than a handfull of years. Many older mini's don't even have full floor boards. It was the cheap mini invasion that made the big dogs step up to the plate.

 

Can you give some examples of the big dogs stepping up to the plate?

 

I think Polaris and Artic Cat are offering minis with very competative features. Yamaha has a good trail quad. Full floor boards, electric start and restrictors were things you sure didn't see 10-15 years ago.

If I owned a suzuki, I'd prolly be asking the same question. I think Kawasuki and Honda need to step it up a notch. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Hehe, I'm referring to Raptor 80's and up I suppose....I'm not including 50cc quads...Sorry for not making that clear...

 

Most, if not all, of these Chinese quads have nerf bars and floor boards. As cheap as these are perceived, they do seem to focus on safety at least. The Eton minis seem to be pretty solid quads that beat a lot of the Japense minis in lot of tests. Competition is great and that's what built the USA. I don't feel sorry for Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda, Kawaski, etc.... They have been setting price points too high for many years. I know it's the dealers that drive prices up with their incentives as well but it's all business. Honda did the same thing with automobiles back in the 70's. Now we have Korean automakers like Hyundia and Kia doing the same thing today. You can buy a brand new car for under 10K (Elantra?) with all power options. Don't they have a 100K powertain warranty as well? If I was Joe lunch bucket making 35K a year, I would buy a Hyundia or a Kia. My elderly Aunt bought a Hyundia and she loves it. I rented a Hyundia Sonota on vacation last summer and it wasn't a bad car at all. It was gutless in power compared to my Lexus LS400 but it felt better than a Civic when driving it. It looked pretty cool too. It had those round headlights like a Mercedes. This is good for us, the consumer! The ones paying the money!