I bought a Kazuma 50 off ebay from County Motorsport. In there ebay ad it lists it as "holds up to our 180lb rider". They forgot to say" The suspension isnt design right and the carb. will hit the frame and brake the intake in half."

It broke and didnt look it over real close and figured it was cheap chinese metal. I didnt see it was hitting the frame. I emailed County Motorsports and they said it ussually breaks from hitting the frame. Oh, they know about this!!! I also noticed the head was also hitting the frame. It wasnt ruinned so never told them about that. They wont cover intake on warranty and quit responding to email. They want me to buy it for $30. Just to brake again and get another $30. Yea right.

It broke with my 40lb son on it and I honestly have only ridden it a few time to the truck to load. I am 165lb. It could of cracked with me on but didnt finish it off untile he was riding but still. It is under 6month warranty and have had it only 3.

My brother works at a fab shop and welded the intake back together which is cast aluminum. I replaced the shock with a dummy shock made out of a pipe with holes in it to mount it. And now my 3 month old Kazu ma has been rigged to a rigid.

I was really pissed but have cooled down now. Just though I would inform everybody about it.

Other then that it always starts right up and runs good. Very quite also. It has the rotory shift which lets you shift it through the gears and then goes to neutral and through them again by shifting in same direction. At first I was pissed about that because never mensioned that in ad and have only heard bad about it in other ads. It accually is nice because my son isnt strong enough to upshift. With the rotory shift it works good for him because he can get to any gear by downshifting. It will also start in any gear and take off in any gear "without harm" it says.

Theres my 2 cents on the Kazuma meerkat 50
Larry

 

xljimmy,

You must have gotten an older quad. The new ones dont do that. I have one and it has been great for aver 7 months now. My 4yo drives the crap out of it almost every day. He even has a small jump that he likes. The new ones have a modified frame so the carb will fit in between the frame and not hit it. All the older ones have had problems cracking. HAve not heard of any of the new ones with this problem. Over all everything that I have read other than the carb intake they have been pretty much bulletproof. If you know a good welder you can cut the intake and shorten it up. Some have run a rubber tube to connect the two halves so it can flex. They are really good little quads. It is unfortunate that you delt with a bad dealer. Should have bought from Raceway. Ebay quads suck!!!! And yes there is a difference.

 

I bought mine from Raceway & have been very happy. It was purchaced for a (5) year old granddaughter who rides in almost every day. I am 190 lbs & her dad is 180 & we both have ridden it without a problem. Me to tune it up!! Her dad rides it for the joy of it. I researched sellers before buying & Raceway is the place. It is the new 90cc with single speed & we love it.

 

The Meerkat is rated for 88lbs. They lied. While the intake is a known problem, my best estimate is on less than 5% of the machines, and usually there's an underlining cause such as motor off center, bad shock, exceed capacity, dropped in crate, etc.

At any rate, your dealer should have provided you with an intake under warranty. Do you know who the distributor is? (would be on the MSO, or on Bill of Lading if drop shipped.)

 

Just wanted everyone to know about a safety issue with these quads.Bought my son one last year from a online dealer and uncrated and did the set-up myself.After 20 hrs.took quad to our local quad mechanic for normal first maintenance and he showed me something that was not addressed in the set-up guide.The throttle cable was loose where it passes through the plastic sheath(need to remove gas tank tosee and adjust)and he told me that he had a customer whos' child had crashed because the throttle stuck open.luckily the child only had a few cuts and bruises.I would have never thought to check that and its not something that was showing any problems plus its not very visible.

 

Also check to make sure the throttle slide cap is tight. It was loose and just sitting on mine when I went to address the intake issue. Luckly it didnt come off creating a open throttle situation. It could of come loose from the carb hitting the frame but would check it to be safe.

As mension earlier I replace shock with dummy shock. I ask my son if it felt differant and he didnt even notice. I think they should put some A arms up front so when turning the inside tire dont come off the ground. Why have it in only rear? Seems like ussually the suspension is in front if not both.

 

If you look at the Yamaha raptor 50 and 90 thay have a straight front suspension with no a arms. Just like the meerkat but they have a shock in the front. The tire still comes off the ground with the Yamaha.

 

So the front of the yamaha must be something like a backwards swing arm Im guessing? The kazuma needs something that would allow all four tires to be on the ground when one is higher/lower then other. Something to pivot or A arms would work.

 

I think Yamaha calls it a swing arm, it is pretty much the same as the meerkat but with shocks to the frame. Most of the mini quads have such stiff suspension that 1 tire will always come up in certain situations. You figure how small these are so they cant have much travel in the shocks. You are right that it needs to be changed but these little meerkats are very tough and run great. It is a basic quad just 1 step up from a power wheels but on steroids.

 

I don't know how anyone can complain about the Kazuma 50cc atv. For a little more than $500,you can have one shipped to your door.I have one of these atv's,and just handed it down to my third child.It's over three years old,and I have done nothing but changed the oil(and to be honest,I should have changed it a lot more than two times!)I also sell these atv's,and only had 4 intakes crack in over 2 years(and I sell a lot of the 50cc) In my opinion,It is an awesome entry level at an awesome price!