Hello all, am new here and seeking guidance. My kids tell me I'm in the market for an ATV so I've been researching them on-line. The 110 Lance caught my eye but I can't find any feedback on it. Can anyone here tell me anything, good or bad, about it? Or recommend another brand in the same price range (approx. $630)? Haven't had a quad since my '91 Blaster and am amazed by the amount of new stuff out there. Thanks in advance. My daughter is 11 and my son is 7.

 

I have a Coolster brand that looks just like that that I bought for my 5yo son. It seems to be a pretty good little quad, so far. I had to add home-made weel spacers to make it more stable in turns as he tipped it over on his first ride. My fault for not setting the throttle limiter correctly.

These machines are definitely for people that can turn a wrench on their own machines! With that said, if you don't have the technical expertise to keep these machines running, you will most likely end up with a bad experience!

Some other things that I have had problems with:

All of the nuts and bolts need to be gone through and tightened. Not all were loose, but you need to put a wrench on all of them to be sure!

Some electrical gremlins - found loose/bad connector in cdi circuit causing random backfire/stalling. A well placed zip tie and was back in business.

Rear hubs loose - axle uses steel sleeves that slide over the axle shaft. Hubs bolt against the end of these sleeves. Have not been able to keep these tight, so back wheels have some play in them. Most noticible when you lift the rear end off of the ground. This allows wheels to rock slightly back and forth on end of axle. Pretty much gave up on trying to keep them tight. Now, just keeping an eye on them to observe for excessive wear.

While riding one day, noticed wheel angle would change in turns. Wheel would lean over in an odd off center position. Found front spindle bolts loose between upper and lower a-arm which let the spindle rock back and forth while under a load in turns. Tightened and all is well!

 

Thanks for the input, SSS. I already knew about all the wrenching that will needed for the off-brand quads, so that's no big deal, I was just looking for someone who has owned or even seen the Lance Mini-Panther. Kind of scares me that nobody has stepped forward about them. My budget can only be stretched so far, perhaps I'll wait for a bit and keep a close eye on the quad-for-sale ads. Thanks again.

 

If it's of any use, I gave $499 for my sons Coolster version of the Lance Mini-Panther. Bought it from a guy locally selling them out of his garage. I found mine on craigslist.org in the Dallas area. You might be able to find someone local to you that sells them through craigslist. Most all of these quads are built in several factories in China and rebadged with the brand name of the company selling them.

Here is a link to the one that I bought my son:

http://www.coolster.com/ATV305...TV-3050B%20Photo.html


These particular quads are knock-offs of the Polaris Predator 90. Check out the following link:

http://www.polarisindustries.c...dels/Youth/Predator90/

 

I just got the Lance Mini Panter 110 on Friday for my 8 year old daughter. It went together in about 30-45 minutes. So far we have been pretty happy with it for the price we paid. It started right up on the first try. Both my husband and I have ridden it around to help break it in since we are using the throttle back for my daughter while she is learning. This little machine pulls both of us around with out even a hesitation. It has plenty of power for a kid. My daughter is tall and skinny and this machine seems to be the perfect size for her.
We are pretty amazed about how well the machine runs. You have to keep in mind that this machine is made in China and that it's not going to be the quality of a big name machine. Some of the parts needed a bit of brute force and ignorance to get to fit the way they should (like the front brush guard). Our biggest complaint was that the front brush guard we got with ours was a bit beat up and had been rewelded already but not repainted after rewelding. We can get a new one by shipping the old one back and waiting for a replacement, but it's really not that big of a deal. I can get some black paint and paint over it and not have to wait for a new part. The other thing is that the hand brake is a bit tight and a little hard for smaller hands to squeeze. My daughter seems to be adapting to it pretty well though by using all four fingers to pull it back.
All and all we are very happy with the Mini Panther for the price we paid. I think my daughter will get many years of good use out of it.

 

Thanks for the input, Yadaok. Nice to know someone out there has one. Keep us posted on how it performs, ok? After what SSS said I'm almost ready to order one.

 

tfs102080, replied to your PM!

 

My daughter put the Mini Panther through its paces yesterday. Overall, I am very pleased with how well it handles and its performance. As SilveradoSS mentioned in an earlier post, we did have to go over nuts and bolts and retighten things. We only came across a few that needed anything. We also had to keep an eye on the rear axle hub bolt. We had to retighten it once yesterday. She rode the thing for a good part of the day with being made to turn it off and take a few breaks. One thing that did happen while she was off on a longer ride with my husband is that the brakes locked up on her. She was going along and my husband noticed that she kept getting slower and slower. At first he thought it was the throttle limiter screw, so he adjusted it and tried it himself. He said he let the thing out all the way and it still was barely moving. That's when he checked the rear brake and saw that it had locked up. With a turn of the bleeder scew, he let some fluid out and all was fine again. There must have been an air bubble in the brake line and it finally worked its way down the line to create too much pressure. She rode it all around and even did a few little jumps. She rode through our hay field (which hasn't been cut yet) and bumpy terrain all with no problems. We noticed that the battery box tends to knock up against the frame some times when on rougher surfaces. It's nothing major, you just get a rattling noise when it happens. I'm working on a solution to put some kind of padding on the back of the box so it doesn't make the noise. The other thing we noticed is that the throttle limiter doesn't always seem to be consistant. She'll be riding along and all will be fine and she's going at a speed we feel comfortable with her riding at. If she stops and lets the machine cool down, when she goes to start up again, the machine will go faster than it did when she stopped so we had to readjust the limiter screw to slow it back down.
I like the remote kill switch. We used it a couple of times yesterday when she got a little too adventerous. She also got a laugh out of using it on me when I would try to sneak in a little spin on her machine. If you get one of these machines, be sure to unwind the antenna wire that is under the seat so you have a better range with the remote. We used a cable tie to secure it when we extended it out the back and now have a range of 100 yards in an open area.
So, just a few minor things that with a bit of tightening and adjusting she was off and running for a good part of the day. Now she can't wait for the weekend to come so she can ride it again. She still has a week and a half of school left and we told her she couldn't ride it on school nights.

 

SilveradoSS and yodaok: Thanks much for your input. I just ordered the Lance (Coolster look-alike) as a surprise for the kids. Can't wait to put that thing together and get some Loctite on my fingers. You folks were very helpful. Will post progress report in a few weeks to report any problems. Let me know of any more issues your quads might have. Hope your kids are having fun. Thanks again.

 

tfs102080, when you get the Lance for your kids, change the fluids that come in the machine before they ride it. We changed the brake fluid and we haven't had any more problems with the brakes locking up. We also changed the oil yesterday and there was like chunky stuff that looked like bits of RTV or gasket material and there was some small metal shavings in there. My daughter rode the Mini Panter for a few hours this weekend and we didn't have any problems, other than having to tighten the rear hub once over the weekend. My daughter is having a blast and still wants to go faster than we are willing to let her go. My husband got on the thing and took it full speed and got back and said it was going to be a long time before she ever gets to go that fast. He couldn't believe how fast that little machine pulled him along. He's almost 6 feet tall and about 160lbs so he looks a bit funny on it but it gives us a good idea of what this little machine is able to do.
I keep you posted on anything that may come up with it.