Part One:

I bought the girls a new dingo 150 and jetmoto 150 to upgrade them from a 110 and a 70. The dingo was pretty easy to put together.

The jetmoto is a bit more challenging. This is my 4th chinese atv to assemble. It comes in a smaller box than the dingo and is accordingly less pre-assembled. Aside from the tires, bumper, battery and handlebar, the muffler, front shocks, tie rods, headlight assembly, rear handle/sissy bar thing, handlebar cover and fuel line (and maybe a few other things have to be installed). There was a ton of packing materials that had to be removed.

I got it together last night - it took several hours. The two main problems I have noticed so far are the turning radius and a bad tie rod end. As to the turning radius, when I finally got the front tires on, I was amazed at how little they would turn either way. There is a bar welded to the bottom of the steering shaft that stops on two tabs. I think I saw mention of this elsewhere on this forum with the recommendation of grinding off either the little bar or the tabs. A quick and easy way to fix this is to take an 8 inch cresent wrench and tighten it until it will fit pretty tightly on the tabs. Then use a pipe on the end of the wrench to bend the tabs back a bit.

As to the tie rod end, I noticed a good bit of slack in the front end. I noticed the right tie rod end where it attaches to the bottom of the steering bar was fairly loose. I removed the cotter key and to my amazement noticed the the threads were mostly gone on the the part of the tie rod end that bolts to the steering shaft. I will have to call raceway and get them to send out another quickly as it cant really be ridden yet.

I did crank it up - it seems to run good. When I finish getting it set up and get the new tie rod end, I'll post back.

rodney

 

Thanks Rodney! Sounds like you will be able to give a good review and even comparison with the Dingo and your past minis as well. Looking forward to it.

 

The tie rod is on the way. Raceway said if I needed any help setting up the bike, just call. They were helpful with the previous bikes I bought from them too.

I've seen the question posted: ". . . why buy from raceway if I can find the same/similar bike elsewhere cheaper . . . after all, it's the same bike . . ." etc.

The answer is, because they'll send you the part you need. If you don't know exactly what you need, they'll help you figure it out. They won't try to blame it on the shipping company (or you) and tell you to file a claim with the shipper. They'll remind you that you have a warranty even if you've forgotten it (happened with a cdi for the sunl 70 - about six months after I bought it).

There are probably a few other good companies like this (have read many positive things about kidatvs.com at atvriders.com) but there are many whose service after the sale is nonexistent.

Back to setting up the bike - the the thumb throttle had about an inch of play in it before it engaged the carb. There's an in-line cable adjuster next to the throttle - the slack is easily adjusted here. If you dont get the slack out of it, the bike will feel low on power.

So far so good. We'll see how it drives after the tie rod comes in. So far I've only tested it in a small area due to the faulty tie rod.

Rodney

 

Thanks for the review rodneygt! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] It will be interesting to see how the 2 150's compare.

 

I went ahead and tapped new threads in the tie rod end nut and on the tie rod end. There wasn't alot to work with but enough to get it tight until the new part comes in. If its not in by Christmas, at least now she'll be able putt around without all the front end slack.

I also found that one of the bolts holding the upper right a-arm was loose. I took some more slack out of the front end there.

There was still some slight slack at the right upper ball joint. I had to tighten the upper and lower some. I think I have this about worked out. Well see when I have some more time.

I replaced the zerks on the ball joints with some that work better with my grease gun - just take one to a parts store and you can match the threads. There are zerks on top of the upper ball joints and on the bottom side of the lower ones. I also found one on the steering shaft. So, at this point I've found five. Any more?

The coil was loose. It only had one of two bolts attaching it and that one was backed out about 1/8". It was also cross-threaded. I couldn't get a new bolt to start in the hole so had to tighten the cross threaded one. Also, I couldn't get a new bolt to start in the other mounting hole, so for now it only has one bolt holding the coil but it is snug. I will have to remove some plastic to get to the mount so I can re-tap the holes or somehow fix the problem.

On a positive note, it sure cranks good and after just a little choking it idles smoothly. It also sounds good.

It has not been ridin at this point other than back and forth in the shop because of the tie rod. I havent had a chance to test it since temporarily fixing the tie rod. It should get some hours on Christmas.

Rodney

 

Among other things, I said: "I also found that one of the bolts holding the upper right a-arm was loose. I took some more slack out of the front end there. There was still some slight slack at the right upper ball joint. I had to tighten the upper and lower some. I think I have this about worked out. Well see when I have some more time."

Well, the slack is still there. If you push the right tire from the side, you can feel a slight movement of metal back and forth. You can also see slight movement, which appears to be mostly at the upper right ball joint (maybe a bit on the left side too - hard to say). I'm afraid to tighten this anymore. It's almost like the ball joints dont fit in their holes right.

I ran it down a third mile of gravel road. If feels somewhat okay up to say 20 to 25 mph. Above this, upper twenties to 30, the tire (mostly front right) will begin to wobble (somewhat bumpy gravel road). In spite of appearances, the dingo is more stable. Heck, the single A-arm baby falcon 110 is more stable.

I will call raceway in the morning. I know they will help. But, in the meantime, has anyone noticed these problems with their jm 150?

I'm beginning to think this think was assembled by lifers.


Rodney

 

rodneygt, I have done the set up on about 2 dozen or so Jetmotos in the last 6 months or so. There were some bolts loose somewhere on every quad. I made it a habit of loctiting all smaller fasteners and checking EVERY bolt for tightness. These quads are assembled, not built/setup at the factory. When you buy a new Honda, etc... You pay a setup fee for some one to check out everything for you. When you buy a Chuinese quad in the crate, thats now your job for the money saved. I recently read a article in Dirt Rider about all the steps the top factory mechanics reccomend for new Honda, Yamahas, etc... It was practically a complete tear down.

As for the ball joints you should get some new ones sent out to you. All of my Jetmoto's had approx 1/64-1/32" of play when new. I shot grease into all the ball joints and have not had any concerns since then.

 

Thanks for the reply. I already replaced the zerks and greased them as mentioned above (as well as loctite etc, also mentioned above).

". . . thats now your job for the money saved. . . . It was practically a complete tear down." Certainly that's one aspect of it. I know it's very anecdotal with these chinese bikes and my experience doesn't compare to yours but as to initial quality (and I'm limiting this to initial assembly from the factory), the other three I have seemed noticeably better - a number of things have been cross threaded (incl., tie rod end, upper A frame mount bolt and bolts for coil mounting).

I'm not trying to be negative, if anyone thinks so - just factual. I like the bike and am not unhappy that I bought it. It's quite attractive and my daughter loves it. The carb is much better than the dingo.


With the play you mentioned, did you get the wobble/instability I describe? I'm seeing roughly the amount of play you describe.

Thanks
Rodney

 

rodneygt, I would be real interested to here you comparisons of your two 150's! Which do you like best?

 

Hard to say, but I'll try. Of course, this is only based on my two samples. Also, while both share the same engine, one is a sport and one is a ute.

As far a pre-assembly and functional components, the kazuma is the superior bike. Out of the box, both had issues. The jetmoto had a few more. None seem too major at this point.

The main problem with the kazuma was that the carb was subpar and took forever to warm up. Based on what others have said, the idle jet in the chinese carb is often too small. It was replaced with a mikuni by raceway. It now runs great.

The stock carb on the jetmoto is superior. It is a slider type carb. Many 150s like the kazuma use a cv carb with an electric choke. There is a lot of problems with the chinese cv carbs on the 150s. I think this may be why the jetmoto has a slider and why raceway stocks a mikuni cv to replace the kazuma chinese cv's with. So, as originally equiped, the jetmoto is superior in the carb department.

The only other manufacturing problem that came with the kazuma is that one of the rear tires will not seat properly. Also, from a design standpoint, the forward lighting on the kazuma sucks. I've modded it a bit but am not totally satisfied.

You can see the problems I've had with the jetmoto by reading above. The only other thing that I havent mentioned in this thread with the jetmoto is a noise that seems to be in the cvt - that is posted in its own thread.

Overall, the problems arent really that big and raceway has been more than willing to help me resolve them.

As to ride quality, the jetmoto is more comfy. The suspension on the kazuma is pretty darn stiff on its softest setting. The jetmoto does not have this problem.

The center of gravity is higher on the kazuma - it is a tall bike, which makes it seem too narrow. It's at least as tall as my rancher and more so than the timberwolf. Because of this, the jetmoto feels safer - not sure if it really is.

The jetmoto wins the beauty contest hands down. The dingo is ugly - but I like it. One of my nephews says it looks like something from mad max.

The power seems about the same even tho the kazuma weighs more.

I'm not sure which is really the better bike. I like the kazuma better but that may just be because I like utes better. Also, I'm a little leary of the rear gear box on the jetmoto but I believe the ones coming out in the next few weeks have a gear box similar to the kazuma's.

Rodney