I have been on here reading and posting for a few months, I have had my share of all the same problems as everyone else, loose chain that just keeps stretching, loose bolts, busted swing arm weld, wont start, running rough, ect. But I must say with all the little problems that seem to come up, by far this little quad holds up nicely for the price $599.00. I have been at the track letting my son practice with the kymco's, Yamaha’s, Eton, bombairer's and this quad has much more power than all the others. I have had just about every parent come up to me and ask what type of quad this is and cannot believe it’s a 50cc and how much faster it is then the others. You can spend $2500 on a name brand bike and yes it wont have all the issues that the SunL does, but once you understand how to fix the issues and resolve them once and for all you have one hell of a machine! I was starting to think this quad was a waste but after some time and work it runs like a champ. This is a great starter quad for any kid, its not as high quality built as a Honda or Yamaha but it’s not $2500.00 either but it hold up just fine, it does take some knowledge to fix the issues but its worth it once there fixed.

What I have fixed and replaced:
Re-align sprockets
Replace chain
New fuel line and filter
Wheel spacers
Tuning carb until it was right
Spark plug
Re-welded rear swing arm
Re-enforced rear swing arm
Replace eye bolts that align rear end with heavier duty bolts
Tighten/replace every bolt (all where loose) a lot of problems are fixed after completing this.
My engine mounts where all loose causing the motor to shift under torque stretching the chain and popping it off all the time for 6 months!, since replacing the chain and tightening everything it has not happened since. If you take off all the body panels you can get to them better and tighten them all at once.

Not too bad for a $500 machine, you do get what you pay for but from what I see after a year of abuse by a 5 year old and me 6'1 180lbs it can hold its own, This red headed step child can take a beating and beat its big brother with no problem! Check out my pictures.

 

My daughter has 5 full mos. on her 70cc version now. My kids ride almost daily. I just had to replace the brake pads. I will have to remove a link or replace the chain the next time it is loose. It runs like a top. I did have to fiddle with the carb often when the weather was cold.

The 70cc is a one-gear auto (is the 50 a semi-auto?). The ratio is pretty decent. It will pull some pretty steep hills (40 to 45 degree with runs of 60 to 70 feet or more) with the 7 y.o. but struggles with the 9 y.o. I've seen complaints with other similar looking brands and maybe some sunls too - such as it won't pull over a brick. I dont know if the factory used a diff ratio, sprocket or what in their's. I've not had that problem.

The one my daughter has is the blue camo version. The paint has faded and cracked in places but it still looks pretty good.

I would however, recommend a perspective buyer having mechanical skills.

Rodney

 

Wow, thanks for the 1 year update. Long term info is really what is needed on these Chinese quads, much appreciated.

 

Yes it is a 4 speed semi auto (no clutch), it does not have a problem over hills, or as last Wednesday over the top of a Honda pw50 at the track. My son was getting ready to pass when the other child decided he would make a pit stop on the side and cut the track right in front of him. Down went the Honda and over the top went the SunL. No body was hurt (thank god) but now its kind of funny as the sunL just ate up the Honda like it was a pile of leaves on the ground.

My opinion as a SunL owner is if you have mechanical skills and have some common sense about motorcycles this is an investment well spent! But if you do have $2500.00 to spend on a name brand machine I’m sure my son wouldn’t mind showing you who's faster! LOL
I Hope this helps everyone make a good decision for themselves on what type of quad they should invest in.

 

what did you use for your wheel spacers !!! thanks Terrye

 

The Sunl is the same bike as my BTM 50cc. I scrapped the 19mm junk carb and put 16mm on it. I had some of the same problems you guys had. My motor is a Zongshen, a Honda trail 50 clone. Had to set the valves when I first got it and had problems with the chain coming off, got all the bugs out finally. I am impressed on how you got it to hold up racing the thing, one thing about the chinese quads they have made all of us better mechanics[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img])

 

Good job on not giving up on it. It looks sweet with those wheel spacers! Thanks for the review, (have a baby cousing turning two soon)

 

Peavey,

Thanks for the writeup. Our 50 has had some of the issues you described but no frame or swing arm problems.

Where did you find the alignment bolts? I stripped them out a while back.

Are you saying that you were able to reduce engine movement by tightening bolts? I'll definately give that a try. I added an engine brace in the front of the engine, but that sends lots of vibration through the frame.

The sprockets on the 90 were in better alignment, but it also had the engine movement problem.

I would add to the list of problems, tires losing bead seal. Flat tires are common, but there never seems to be a hole. Luckily, it's pretty easy to wiggle the tire while airing it up to make it reseal.