I am considering purchase of one of these bikes for my 4.5 year old. I would like to hear from anyone who actually has one. I have looked at Kazuma's as well and from what I can tell they have very similar features. The big plus to the Giovanni is that I can buy it here in Canada and avoid duty etc.

My son has worn out his Powerwheels 12V and needs to move to the next stage. Obviously my concerns are mostly centred around his safety, but I also want something that will last him a few years. Usage would mostly be just bombing around the yard (2 acres mowed grass). Very little use in fields or bush.

Any reviews on Giovanni are welcome. Especially interested in those who own both Giovanni and Kazuma meerkat.
Thanks

 

Buy the Giovanni, for consistency on torque and quality it seems to be the best I've seen other than E-ton, they actually are as good as midwest for quality control, bolts are all of a decent grade, and torqued to a similar (+/- 2 lb) the shocks stand up ok, they are a "bigger" 50 cc quad in size than most and runs quite well, get rid of the oil and spark plug immediatly,and drop the tire pressure to 2.5 to 3.5 lbs, they will haul anyone from 40 lbs to 185 lbs at the rated top speed of 35 to 38 miles an hour and can be controlled to about 5 miles an hour on the bottom side, after building 5 of these (sixth and seventh on the way) 0 problems with any of them as of yet with any person I've built them for other than 2 which have burned out taillight bulbs. All of them have been shipped with horrible oil in them, I've pulled gel packs out of carbs before start up cause I don't like the gel packs and used zip ties on wiring to ensure they are out of harms way, they seem quite stable for anyone untill you try to push them into slides on hills and slopes they seem to sit a little higher than some of the 50's its really a great machine, my 5 year old girl rides on one the only issue we've had is wet snow--4 to 6 inches and it just doesn't have the "zip" factor it could, but it is only a 3.5 horse motor; very, very stable as a golf course / yard / field machine, not really certain for trails as to how well it will take hills, loose rocks etc .I don't think it will function in sand at all; its a little low on power on the bottom end for sand running

 

Consider purchasing a Polaris Predator 90. They are great little quads. They have a tether for the driver as well as a back end tether for the parent (so you can follow behind.) The Predator also had the throttle control (which is very important!) Lastly, the Predator has little foot platforms which raises the foot rests up for smaller riders. When your 4yr old gets older, you can remove the platforms for more leg room.

Last year we purchased a Polaris 50 for my 7yr old daughter. It was a great beginner quad. We have since moved her to a 90cc Predator (which she races) and gave the 50cc Predator to our 4yr old son. It is perfect for him!

I think they are also the best looking mini quads out there!

A quick note: for some reason the manufacturer recommends the 50cc for riders over the age of 6. If you purchase new, don't tell the dealer that it is for your 4yr old child, they will not sell it to you. There is not any law prohibiting your child from riding it, it is just a requirement the manufacturer has asked the dealer to enforce.

 

Excellent! Thank you guys for your comments. I really appreciate them as I am new to the atv scene.

Oldkawi, one other question - does your 5 year old have any difficulty with the handbrake? How easy is it to use? I see the Kazuma's only major difference is that it has an "oversized" footbrake which I thought might be easier to use. Your comments would be appreciated. Anyone else have a thought too?

 

I just purchased a Giovanni for my 8 year old daughter, the neighbour kid already had one, and I checked it out before I bought. The new ones even come with and alarm and a command start!!! Easy to assemble, seem to be pretty strong, I'm 210lb's and I've been ripping around the streets with it. Daughter loves it, the current model has few updates over the neighbours. He had problems with fasteners coming loose and falling out. All mine are now locking bolts or have lock washers on them. Have had nothing come loose yet. Fit and finish and overall quality are now where near what a Honda or Polaris would have, but for $500 each or so, you can buy 4 or 5 of these for the cost of one name brand. Engine seems to run fine, no problems what so ever. Seals on the rear axle and stuff aren't of high quality, I would think I will be doing axle bearings regularily. Kids have been plowing through mud and water for days now. If your mechanically skilled and aren't looking for a cadillac at a pinto's price I would so far recommend these little quads. Heck my daughters powerwheels was almost the same kind of money!!!!

 

I took the supplied hand brake off 3 machines and went with an aftermarket type thats a soft rubber/ plastic and reshaped it with a heat gun for smaller hands, and readjusted the cable tension. so far, and I live in North Central Alberta, all 5 machines have survived operating in cold weather, powder snow, wet snow, some mud; they are predominantly yard / acreage quads for kids ranging from 5 to 9 years old, none have had seal or suspension issues, none have lost bolts, BUT the first 3 I did out of the crate, I stripped the front end and suspension looking for issues after reading the threads on chinese kids quads, after finding no issues other than bad oil in the engine and diff which was changed immediatly and an upgraded pair of bolts in the rear shock cause I figured a 9 mm soft grade wasn't gonna hack it we have done next to nothing on these units, between 5 sets of parents we figure the units have accumulated 250 to 300 hours of ride time for the price of 9 spark plugs (5 "pre start up"), 15 oil changes (5 "prestart-up"" 2 flat tires and 2 taillight bulbs
Parts / OIL 95 bucks CDN
Tires 142 bucks CDN (71 each with mounting) as they were ruined by sharp sticks (Both right front, both while adults were riding, doing things these machines were probably not designed for.

Delivered to the door I pay 836.00 CDN per unit on an adverage delivery time of 9 days from ordering including shipping.
4.6 of these machines are cost equivalent to a TRX 90 i think its a better price myself but you get what you pay for, at this point it includes 6 months of happy kids and no failures. Adults really shouldn't use a machine this small on a regular basis and not expect issues with the suspension etc.

 

Hi
My giovanni did not come with a manual ,what plug did u replace it with and where did u get the plastic brake lever????The stock lever is not really suited for little hands,other than that seems to run really well.

 

Emgo / emglo levers and the plug I took to the Honda dealer and got the equivalent, I'm not at home and don't have the nkg plug off the top of my head

 

Oldkawi - can you post the part # for the replacement hand brake lever you got from EMGO? Also the part # for your preferred spark plug would be great! Thanks for all of your help so far.

 

NGK BR6HSA on a couple, BR7HSA on 2 others, it makes no differece with 1 heat range change though, either plug works equallly well. one of the first ones we had used a CR7HSA ,I can't remember why it was so different, but I beleive it was a different bore on the plug hole (12 mm vs 14 mm) I haven't measured up the brake lever yet, sorry. The middle daughter (15 says I have different handles on 3 machines so I might not of gone standard, again take off the handle, and compare the extension and tab area to the genereic plastic emgo type handle


I live down around Barrhead, Ft Assinaboine, Whitecourt so you know the terrain

Darrel