Been riding ATVs for about 15 years and generally have experience on all the major manufacturers. I am a casual rider who uses the ATV primarliy as a means of transportation in the back country for fishing and some hunting. I stumbled across the following website of a dealer who is local to me. The pricing is perfect as that is my budget and I had been looking at older Yamaha 250 4 wheelers for the same price as this model is new. Any comments on this bike and would you recommend the air or liquid cooled model? My personal concern about the liquid cool is there are more things to go wrong, however the liquid cooled normally means longer engine life.

Just for comparison sakes, the cheapest Japanese ATV I have been able to find locally is the Suzuki Ozark 250 at 5599.00 +taxes. This 200 is running 1699.00+taxes. Three for ones means I understand the Suzuki is "better".

http://www.addictionracing.net/atv200ccsport.htm

Anways, any feedback would be appreciated.

 

Looks just like a Jetmoto. 5599 for an Ozark? Is that American money? If so that is expensive cosidering I bought my new Ozark for 3400 out the door.

 

Sorry never answered your real question. For casual riding this looks like a good buy for you. I would also go with the liquid cooled if they offer it. As you said, it will last longer that way.

 

Nope...that is canadian so basically worthless (Canadian money that is)!!!

I looked at Jetmoto and thought the same thing that they seem really similar. What are the engines like for reliability?

 

I wish I could answer that for you, I know the 150s are pretty reliable but I do not know about the 200s.

 

I can't speak on the scooter type motors, but my 250 has already handled some pretty heavy abuse and never complained. My clutch plates on the other hand hate my guts! I "smoked em" pretty good last weekend, and they froze. Nothing that had to be replaced, I only had to pry the plates apart and re-lube.

My engine handled high temp, rapid shifiting, and LOTS of mud with no real problem. I'd say the clutch/tranny is going to be the weaker link. These engines are all time tested and cery simple mechanically.

 

If everything looks and runs good with the used yamahas, you'd probably be better off going that route. If you notice in my sig. line, my wife has a yamaha 250 timberwolf. If I recall correctly, my father-in-law bought it in '93. In it's 14 year life it hasn't been beaten but there has been times where it was hard by various niece's boyfriends or my brother-in-law. The thing still runs like a dream and parts are no problem. Just the other day, I bought a tail light lens, filters and front brakes - all straight off the shelf at the local yamaha dealer - no having to order. Parts should be available for some time because this is pretty much the same bike underneath as the bear tracker and whatever the current semi auto yamaha 250 utility is called.

I would suspect, that you would have to do about as much wrenching on a decent used name brand bike to get it in tip top shape as you would a chinese bike to get it set up correctly.

Based on what you want to do with it, I suspect you would be happier with a ute than a sport machine, as pictured.

Also, FWIW, I think that I've read that the better appearing 250 utility bikes such as the jetmoto or baja, are fairly close copies of the timberwolf/beartracker line. Unfortunately, they are not priced sufficiently lower that what you can get a new yamaha 250 or honda recon, etc for, to make the chinese bike worth it, IMO - at least around here.

On the other hand, if I were just buying a quad to putt around on and haul my fishing gear and/or rifle to a pond or hunting area, I would consider one of the 150 chinese utilities. I bought my older daughter (10) a kazuma dingo 150 for Christmas. It is big enough for adults. It is slightly taller than the timberwolf but slightly narrower. However, it is not quite as spacious as the timberwolf in the seating area. The front tires are roughly the same size - the rears on the dingo are noticeablly smaller although both say 22-10-10. The dingo will outrun a timberwolf or recon up to say about 30 mph unless the other driver is smart enough to start in second gear - in either event, the difference is not much. The cvt transmission and gearing help the dingo with the hole shot - and skipping the 1st to 2nd gear shift. The suspension on the japanese/american bikes is better. The fenders on the jap/am bikes are wider and keep more mud off of you. The jap/am bikes have shaft drive, whereas the dingo has a chain.

I've only had problems in three areas with the dingo: 1) factory forward lighting - I added two lights under the front of the rack and got rid of the factory light; 2) the chinese carb was subpar - raceway replaced it under warranty with a mikuni - runs perfect now and 3) chinese tires - it is hard to get the beads to seat properly (slow rim leaks) and relatedly, the rubber/nylon compound is stiff so traction is not as good - also the chinese fib about tire sizes - the 22" tires on the back of the dingo are smaller than the 22s on the timberwolf & the 23s on the front of the dingo are almost exactly the same size as the 22s on the front of the timberwolf (same tread design on both).

Just food for thought.

Rodney

 

I would look for a used Yamaha or Honda....

I bought my 2000 Rancher for $1800........ sure it had bald tires, bald grips, no front brakes, and a small crack in the plastic. But the thing runs like a beast and works like a dog... I wanted a work machine, and I looked at some of those Chinese ATVs for sale at places like Gander Mountain and Tractor Supply, but they seemed so junky compared to the Japanese machines. At that point I figured it was better to spend $2500 on a used Honda or Yamaha, than it was to spend $2999 on something new that I might end up hating.....

I found the Rancher for $2000, talked the guy down to $1800 with cash on the spot and that was it.......

The difference is that an older Honda or Yamaha, or even a Kawasaki or Suzuki are easy to fix and get parts for.... the parts are plentiful and for the most part affordable......

Good luck getting parts for a Chinese ATV, I have heard nightmare stories of people basically have to literally throw the thing away because they cannot get parts for it. Of having it sit in the garage while parts are on back-order for six months....

 

I appreciate all the responses. The local dealer (15 kms from my house) for the chinese ATV includes setup as part of the deal and stocks parts. So the bike is ready to run from day one.

As for the used bikes, I have gone that way three to four times before with a Yamaha, a Honda and a Suzuki. Each of the bikes needed at least 500 - 700 dollars work after purchasing. Everything from new tires, bearings, exhaust, rear end, etc. Are these chinese ATVs that bad or is it a case of perception? I noticed some of those responding to my message and other messages in the forum, don't appear to have owned one themselves or perhaps bought on the internet and had to put them together, get them working, with no local support. Is the main problem the initial stuff or is it more serious than that?

Keep your opinions coming. Negative and positive will help me decide if I'll take the plunge or keep looking for that used bike.

 

Parts are quite plentiful now. I live in a town of 10,000 people and just yesterday, found 2 locations that can get me parts. In my part of the country, you can find dealers for chinese quads springing up everywhere.