Newbie to the site. I really like all the discussion and opinions I have seen so far. Good info. Like many others (I guess), I find myself trying to figure out if I am going to risk the money to buy my 7 and 9 year old girls a Chineese ATV. I don't anticipate my girls will be doing aerials, etc, and abusing the quads. I doubt I will ride them much [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] as I have my own toys to keep me busy. I expect the girls will ride them around the semi-rocky property we own in the hill country. That being said, I have seen enough bad information about the SunL brand. Although I am a little green about Chineese products, I do see that there are other "manufacturers" out there. Are they all the same? RacewayATV seems to have other lines, but I honestly can't tell if any of the Chineese lines are worth the savings. In short, I really want to get my girls their own ATV, but not at the cost of a Polaris, etc. Should I look for a used big name quad, or do you think my girls usage will work fine on a Chineese model? If so, what is the "best" Chineese brand?
Many thanks in advance, and I apologize for opening up a still open can of worms....

 

Buy a used Fourtrax 90 or LT80. You will save yourself a lot of headaches.

 

"Thread: Is there a good Chineese ATV?"

Yeah...the one that is never sold.......[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I bought my girls, 7 and 9 (now 8 and 10), a sunl 70 and kazuma baby falcon 110 for christmas last year (from raceway). The kazuma has been trouble free (except had to replace the gas tank when my bro-n-law broke it). The kazuma has three forward gears and reverse. It cranks easily and runs perfectly. It still looks new. On the otherhand, the suspension is not very good and the girls dont like how rough it is compared to our larger atvs. But over all, I've been very pleased with it. It certainly exceeded my expectations.

The sunl 70 is okay but not nearly as reliable. The battery failed shortly after purchase. I'm about to have to put yet another battery in it. I had to replace the cdi. The brake pads didn't last very long. It took me a good while before I finally got it tuned to my satisfation - moving the clip on the throttle needle and much tinkering with the air/fuel mixture finally made it easy to crank. Now, the engine is very easy to crank and it runs really good. Initially, it was very hard to start.

It seems that I've spent far too many hours working on it. This may have something to do with my daughter's riding habits, however. From Christmas until early fall my 7 y.o. rode it almost daily. She's driven it through quite a bit of water and I've had to drain the carb of water on several occasions.

Because it is a one-gear automatic, the sunl is not nearly as useful for hills. It is roughly equivalent to the kazuma in 2d gear. Also, it is very low to the ground in the rear - just a few inches of clearance. It gets stuck in the mud easily and "collects" hay in the pasture.

Also, the one we bought is blue camo - this was very cute when new but it faded and cracked badly.

I decided to buy them new ones for christmas and ordered the 10 y.o. a 150 kazuma dingo and the 8 y.o. a jetmoto 150. From what I read here the quality is better on these bikes. I will probably sell the old ones or just keep them for their friends. The sunl is about too small for the 8 y.o. and the 10 y.o. wanted a utility style atv.

Just because my experiences with these chinese bikes have been relatively positive, that does not mean this is always the case. There has been plenty of anecdotes on this forum of people with bad experiences. I don't think someone would be wise to buy one of these without possessing some mechanical skills. Initial setup is very important (including changing oil, checking bolts, etc., using di-electric grease in the connectors and switches and getting the carb set right). Additionally, I doubt the bikes would hold up nearly as good with boys as riders.

A lot of people have a hard time grasping this but another important factor is from whom you buy. I'm sure if you have a local dealer with a shop you trust then, that would be good. But, if you're buying online or a streetside sale, you cant be too careful. I bought my chinese atvs from raceway. I've also read very good things about kidatvs.com.

Rodney

 

I have a Redcat 50 that is about 2.5 yrs old, and a Redcat 110 that is just over a year old. I have a 7 yr. old boy, and 4 yr old girl (just starting) that ride them. The 50 has a broken front seat tab, and one of the heat protectors (small/cheap wire frame) in footwell broke off. Fouled plugs bad at 1st, hard to start, but adjusted mixture and starts/runs fine. No mechanical problems so far. Only problem with 110 is that an intake bolt backed out while riding, started sucking air and wouldn't run. Went over entire bike tightening/lockwashering etc. Definitely loose bolts on this machine. Also don't like the boot between carb & intake. It also runs good, has reverse, and boy loves it. Both dealer-bought new machines with about $2000 total invested, which so far has been well worth it. On other hand, have buddy that bought his son a mini 90, not running after about a month. Hasn't determined problem yet. For the money, and not being sure the kids would even like riding, thought this would be a good place to start. So far so good.

 

They all, in theory, are good bikes. Heres the simple key to buying a no-name quad, if you cant turn a wrench, or change a spark plug, or tighten a bolt correctly, then dont buy a no-name quad. Go with one of those overpriced name brands. I guess my quads are considered chinese? I think of a Tiwanese build. And I dont buy things that are junk, or have a history or falling apart. Thats why my 2004 Volvo has 452000 miles on it, on its original engine and tranny.

In either case you are going to get some of those people that are diehard "dont by no-name quads". The problem is, only about 10% of them actually know what they are talking about. People that talk about a quad, and give you intimate details are the ones to listen to. I dont know anything about RaceWay ATV's, the local forum member/dealer. But as I have read thru the topics, they seem to be the one to buy a "no-name" from. They seem to offer good tech support, hell, even SEADAWG supports them, if that means anything...

 

laPurr, where do you ride? I live in O'fallon, MO.

 

I have ridden out at St Joe park, But other than that, I trailer my quads out to Colorado, and get lost in the mountains.

There really aint much around us for riding, and Missouri seems to be so against ATV's. Of course the St Charles county ward members are also members of the Sierra Club [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

 

The good chinese quads are the ones RaceWayAtv sell's!!

 

I've been to St. Joe handful of times. How about Fingers lake in Columbia? Chadwick in S.W. MO? Long drive (4 hrs), but great trails, I go down there about once a month. Proving Grounds in Troy, MO? Private with couple of Moto X tracks and some trails which I have not seen, out there first time last month but did not ride. I think $15/day to ride unless you join. I have been out to Wyoming couple of times, great time, want to get to Colorado one of these days. Sorry for off topic.