I have read a lot of reviews on the Yamoto 150, both before and after I bought one for my son. I am shocked that so many people like these machines. Any vehicle labled as an ATV should be built to withstand such terrain. I understand that parts fail everyday due to abuse, improper maintenance, etc., but this thing is a joke. The distributor for these bikes is less reliable than the bike itself. It's very hard to get a real voice on the phone and when you finally do, they won't assist with any questions or problems. All orders must be faxed or e-mailed, oh yeah, you better know the part number when you place an order, and don't expect them to help you get it. I would rather have a customer friendly voice when placing an order, that way your sure to recieve the proper part. Makes sense, right? Anyway, let's go over the bike. I will start with the problems in the order in which they occured for me. It's cold in Nov and Dec, right?. Good luck with the electric choke functioning right. It really sucks to give your kid a new quad for X-mas, only to have not start because it's too cold outside (havent found a replacement yet). The few times it did start, it was a great little engine with plenty of power, however we do not live on a Drag Strip and need to turn on occasion. A 200" wheelbase Pete with a 53' trailer has a better turning radius than this little bitty quad (modified steering stem & widened stance, so it's a little better now, but watch your toes, LOL). Before time for it's first service, it stops running all together. With a little help from the dealer(who doesnt sell Yamoto anymore) we discover the air box was not sealed, lots of dirt inside. So they fix it (with lots of silicone) and it was covered under warranty. Did'nt last long, so I replaced it with a K&N with an outwear (which is cool because we dont ride in water). Everthing seems to be okay now, so we plan our first family outing. Turkey Bay here we come. After we finally get the thing to start (we almost ended the weekend early and had to recharge the battery) an hour or so of riding and the sprocket bolts break. It took a little while but I fixed it, thinking maybe they just were not tight enough when they broke. A little later the shock separates and my little riding buddy goes off the trail and into the woods, luckily we were going slow when it happened. That is a hard fix when you dont have any way to compress the spring to screw the head back on the stem. Upon inspection, it appeared the stem was only two threads deep when assembled. Okay, time goes by with minor problems here and there, nothing major. Junior is getting a little faster and more courageous, one little jump and the cross-member where the a-arms mount bends and the front of the bike hits the ground. Straightened that out and welded some strong gussets across the bottom of the cross member. Almost forgot to mention, the front brakes suck too. Never really got that worked- out. The latest malfunction was the sprocket again. As I take the swing arm assembly apart, while I am laughing out loud at the design (have you seen this thing), I discover the bearings are already shot. The problem with the sprocket is that the hub and sprocket do not have the same hole size. The holes in the hub are a little larger, which gives room for movement and SNAP! So I welded the two together, and have no plans on replacing it if it fails in some way. Had no problems matching bearing locally, seals?, well they came in the form of John-Deere replacements, don't ask, just a hunch since everthing is metic. Now I am trying to find replacement brake pads without going thru Patriot. Not much luck though. This quad is only 6 months old and has many mods not mentioned here, but it is still a piece of junk. I don't recommend that anyone buys one, unless some huge improvements are made by Yamoto. I know some of you will disagree with my opinion and that's cool. I am open to all replies and suggestions. Thanks and Later, Steve.

 

For legal reasons I must state that the turning radius being greater than that of a Peterbuilt was a sarcastic remark. It is slightly smaller. LOL. Steve.

 

You probably should have bought a big 4 if you don't have any mechanical skills. I have a Yamoto 150, and went through it before I took it out. All of the mods on here have to be done before you go out, not on the trail. I haven't had a problem yet. It junk, but its cheap junk.

 

The above mentioned mechanical failures have nothing to do with mechanical ability, of which I have plenty. It will be a cold day in June before I ever rebuild a quad before I even take it out. I also own 2 Kawasaki's and a Yamaha, perhaps I should have bought another of the big 4, since I have had absolutely no problems with any of them. Thanks for your response, don't take my opinion of the Yamoto 150 personal.

 

I have limited tools and ability as well. But a big tube of Blue Loctite Gel goes a long way with these Chinese Yamoto quads. That stopped most of my problems. I had to make a trip to Ace Hardware a few times for little stuff, but I haven't had any serious parts problems in about 120 hours of use. We've gone out every weekend since Christmas, sometimes during the week. Now its 113 degrees here, so we'll be taking a few months off for the heat.

The way I figure, you can spend a few hours the first day, and save several hundreds of dollars. I have a Honda as well, but I haven't even touched a tool to that one, except for the oil drain.

 

Welcome to the forum worley4, I think the reason so many people like the yamoto 150 is they accept them for what they are. Not expect them to be something they arent. There is a reason they cost 1/2 as much as the jap quads. LOWER QUALITY, plain and simple. You get what you pay for. All of the problems you stated you had have been discussed here before. And a few more problems too. There is a bunch of advice from other owners in the thread yamoto 150 review. Too bad you didnt read it before buying one, it could have saved you some trouble. There is even a manual fix for the e-choke too. The '04 yamotos are definitely only entry level machines. I dont know why people buy something for 1/2 the price and expect higher price quality.

 

Thanks for the welcome, and I did read many of the post before I purchased the quad, as I stated in my review. As for the cheap price, I paid as much for the 150 as I did for a new Raptor 80. My mistake, I know. I did expect the Yamoto to be subpar, but not borderline unsafe for my kid. All I am stating is that if I had it to do all over again, I would buy something else. BTW, I am an experienced, well paid, mechanic for a championship winning, professional roadrace team and have all the tools I need. Does everyone agree that one should not have to rebuild a quad before it is ever ridden?????? I don't get it. Thanks again.

 

Hey Ramtech, you stated that there are many Yamoto dealers in your area. Do you think you could help me out with some of the parts I need? Just tell me which dealer you recommend, as I said there arent any around here. Also mywifesquad stated there was a fix for the e-choke, hook me up with some info, I dont see any post on that. Thanks and any info would be appreciated.

 

There was a post on page 15 of "yamoto 150cc review" There was a link there to a manual choke fix. The link is not any good anymore, not sure what happened.

 

Here is the largest Yamoto Dealer in Chandler, Arizona. Toy Junkies They have the largest slection of parts and Hop-ups for these type of Chiensse quads.

For the choke, I never use mine, too hot already.