Hello to everyone. I have been reading this forum for a few months and as you can see this is my first post. I have been looking at purchasing a Chinese atv for my son for the past 6 months or so. Besides getting something for son that he really wanted I was also hopping to teach him a little about mechanical maintenance and repair if or should I say when it broke. Through a friend of friend I was told about a guy selling a Giovanni 110cc Hummer for $500. This guy apparently purchased the ATV for himself but thought it was much bigger based on the pictures. He assembled the Hummer and road it twice he says.

I got the ATV home on Friday and the battery was dead. No big deal. I put the battery on a trickle charger for the night. I drained the old gas and put in premium fuel. I got the unit running this morning. I took it for a quick little ride before I turned my kid loose. I noticed what I thought were a few small problems. Boy could I could not have been any more wrong.

The front right tire seemed to have a nasty wobble. When I took the tire and hub off the outer bearing was in little pieces. It looks like the guy over tightened the crown nut and crushed the bearings. The hub was grinding on the axel and had almost eaten completely through the steel. So I have ordered new hubs and axels from Giovanni.

I also notice the there seems to be a lot of play in the rear spacer tubes and a little wobble in the rear tires. The guy that assembled this ATV did not have a clue on what he was doing. When I talked to him he had not even watched the You Tube assembly video. I think I am missing some spacers and washers.

So after that long winded background here are my questions.
Does anyone have a detailed drawing of how the finished wheel assemble should be?
Any recommendation on bearing grease to use? Will standard auto wheel bearing grease work?

Front End Questions
Before putting the hubs over the axels should there a washer? It seems that the bearing is just pressing against a very small ridge in the axle.
I see in one picture on here that there is a spacer on the outside of the hub, then a washer, then the bearing dust cap washer, then crown nut. Do these spacers come with the replacement hubs I just ordered? If not what are there dimensions? Could I use a piece of copper tubing?

Rear End Questions
I think the rear axle is not aligned properly. Does anyone know the measurement form the rear sprocket to the end of the axle on the left and right side?
Do the spacer tubes just slide over the axles? Should there be some washers or something. The You Tube video does not provide much detail here.
Is the rear tire assembly the same as the front? Spacer, washer, dust cap, washer, crown nut

 

chris from what i've read of the reviews on these china made quads you will indeed become an expert machanic/tech keeping these things running and riding safely , the ones from RaceWay / Jet Motos were about the best as far as getting support , spare parts and just about as good of customer support after the purchase ; but they have asked for their site thread removed from the forums just recently !

I read a post the other night where a member asked what happened to Raceways/Jet Moto thread went to , and a moderator replied to the post that Raceway had requested to have it removed but he didn't say why made the request ; could've been from this reccession we're in , the ban on chinese because of the lead content that was found in the paint and metal of these quads ; or all of the above !

There are alot of forums member's here who can give you more info on these quads , mywifesquad just to name one who own the Jet Moto's ; and more that i can't remember now who are very helpfull on the other brands so hang in here and they will jump in as soon as they login and welcome to the forums !........

 

Welcome to the forums.
I doubt the lil spacers will come w/hubs. No, copper won't work (it'll crush). Must use steel.

 

Thanks Williebee and LT80 for your reply. So far I have been email with a guy from Giovanni, John and he seems really helpful. I mentioned to him the parts that I needed that were not listed on their website and gave him the order number of the $115 in parts I ordered. I don't think I am done ordering parts yet. This is just what I need to fix the front end. I am hoping he can help me out with the parts that are listed on the website. I don't mind paying for the parts the main goal is to correct the last idiot's mistakes and make this bike safe for my kid.

As frustrating as this has been there has been some positive as well. Seeing my son cry because he feels like he wasted $100 of his own money to purchase this ATV was a big low point. My little guy wants to work on the ATV and is learning how it works and how to maintain it. It's not all bad - it has been a good father son bounding experience so far.