Guess I'm an optimist Jack. Since Yamaha, Polaris and Honda OEM parts are being made in China, what parts on these no-names will last just as long at half the price?

Would love to hear from all the people who have had trouble with their bearings? Unlike the Japanese counterparts, most of the no-name quads have grease zerks.

 

I have not heard much about bearing troubles. I have 2 jap quads with no problems to date. Not saying that they will not have problems but none yet. The jap quads will not outlast the name brands but they are getting better every year and you cant beat it for the money. Even if i have to change some bearings to better ones it is still worth it.

 

Here are my reasons.

I looked at the big 3-4. Here where I live non of the dealers carry any spare parts so everything has to be ordered, I can do that myself. I work on all my stuff so service, except for parts, isn't important for me. We are racing so I wanted a 2-stroke. Not saying a 4-stroke can't be made to go fast but usually more expensive. Honda 4-stroke. Suzuki 4-stroke, small for my kid, don't like the suspenion. Yamaha 4-stroke, like the looks, don't like front suspension, shaft drive not for racing. Polaris, almost bought one, price, rear drum brake.

I ended up with a GPX Raider 90 that is identical to a Unison Desert Cat 90 except GPX has rear foot brake. Price for me, shipped to my work, was $1000.00 less (parts budget) then the Polaris and Polaris parts fit it.

So far I have been very happy with it. Most of the small problems with it have been due to racing and the beating it recieves. Some of these problems I have been worned by the Polaris guys to watch out for as they are things they have encountered. Racing this weekend my boy bent the swing arm. Not a real problem for me, have the stuff to fix and reinforce it. Lock-tit is a must for these bikes. Every bolt that comes out goes back in with blue Lock-tit. I do this on my older sons name brand dirt bike and all our name brand snowmachines and quads.

When my son moves to bigger quads I will spend the extra money and go with the big 3 or 4 that are closer to race ready off the floor. Just wasn't worth if for me as he will only be on this one for a year or two. As far as resale, yes I believe name brand is easier to sell and holds value better. As far as racing modifications, that is money under the bridge, you never get that back.

If my kids would stay little for alot longer and trail ride it would be worth spending the money for the name brands. On the other hand I may already have a name brand. We will know more in a few years.

Everybody needs to look at what they want to do with their kids and how they want to ride. Not everyone wants to or can work on their own things either. My kids like to do the maintenance and learn about the machines they are on.

For now this mini quad market is growing like dot.coms a few years back. Some will come out winners and some not. What a wonderful time to be little, I want to be little. Thanks for your time.

 

One thing for sure is that none of the jap bikes are race ready or even close. They definately wont hold up to the abuse. My son and me do alot of trail riding and some small jumps but thats it. No high speed trails or tracks. I know it wont hold up but for his first quad it has been great and a name brand will be in the future when his riding gets more agressive and then my little one will get the cheapy.

 

I guess I'm confised. You keep saying "jap bikes" but seem to be referring to the chinese bikes.

 

Sorry I mean Chinese bikes. I stand corrected. Later!

 

Wassup cheapass? Thought you fell off the face of the planet! How's business? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]


I knew what you meant Ed. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

LOL!!

 

I work in the semiconductor industry importing electronics. I deal with China on a daily basis. I can’t begin to tell you about the kind of garbage that comes out of this country and this is why you have seen an influx of china quads in the last couple of years. In the past, only select types of companies were licensed to export products. China lifted the state monopoly on export trading rights in December 2003 so exports of counterfeits from China were expected to increase significantly. The independent distribution industry is, in fact, reporting a growing number of faulty products from China. Do you really think Yamoto is an undercover subsidiary of Yamaha? You have got to be kidding me! We did an experiment last week; we took a Honda CRF50 frame and had a metal density / integrity test. We then tested a Yamoto frame we were able to get on ebay. Yamoto’s metal did not hold up. The test center had a hard time identifying what the compound of the steel was. Probably made of some melted down mother boards with a side order of solder and a pinch of soy.

 

Can't speak for Yamoto, but go look up QJ Motorcycles, Sundiro and Linhai, then come back and tell me the big dawgs don't use China. Not subsidiaries, joint ventures. Not saying ALL Chinese quads are good quality BUT there are quality products coming out of China. And a lot of your so-called Taiwanese quads are assembled with Chinese parts. So these parts are better quality on a Polaris than the off-brand? Guess that brand name label must have some magic glue in it or something? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]