I've looked at Suzuki, Polaris, Yamaha, Honda... none of their youth models offer four wheel drive. We get snow around here and as it gets deeper, the non-driven front wheels become a liability. My son's Suzuki LT-A50 is fine for now, but the day is coming when its inability to handle deeper snow will be a BIG problem so I'm starting to think about the future.

I won't consider Sunl, Eton, Kazuma, etc. unless there are NO youth 4WD's available from the respected brands. Thanks!

 

I dont think Ive ever seen a youth 4X4 quad.

 

Sir,
I'm not aware of any...for reasons bigger than us, they will not build one for safety purposes. If young kids need 4x4, they may be doing things they shouldn't. I know that is subjective...I usually, if not always ride with my daughter. I would supervise, but it is a perception thing. It will change probably in the future and the Chinese will probably do it first. SEADAWG

 

Price, weight, lack of power and low ground clearence all keep there from being a youth 4x4. Except for the snow and steering traction that you mention, there is really not much need for 4x4 in a youth quad. Our two youth models are so light weight that they can go most anywhere that our full sized 4x4's can go - only getting stuck when they get high centered in deep ruts. I've seen many times when both my boys have cruised right past big bore 4x4's that were stuck in the mud (I guess that proves that a youth quad is better than any belt-driven 4x4 with a locker [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img])

I think the smallest engine size 4x4 was 250, but the size and weight of those made them full sized bikes.

Jaybee

 

I agree that kids can get themselves into trouble, but that's mostly related to speed and (to a lesser extent) engine power. No matter how small or lightweight the quad, deep snow causes non-powered front tires to act like snowplows - becoming a liability instead of the asset that two additional drive wheels represent. I would think this could be helpful in sand, too, where I know a lot of kids and their sub-100cc quads ride.

Oh, well... I'll be one of the first in line for a sub-100cc 4WD quad. If anyone is listening, that is!