Please dont encourage him!!

 

Let me figure out what all that is and I'll look today..

 

I have 2 LT80's and they are great machines. Any issues they may have are all well known and not that hard to fix. My 11 year old rides one, although this will probably be the last year for him and I will get him something bigger. Could he still ride the LT80, YES! I ride them (we have 2) all the time. I did a few easy mods to my sons machine and I can ride wheelies the full length of the yard on it. I recall someone on here that said he was 250+ pounds who bought one to ride with his buddies. Sounded like a bunch of older guys, all on the large side, with a weekly fatassed kids quad race league of some sorts. So, that being said, just know the LT80s are hardy little machines and can take quite a bit of abuse. If it were me, I would buy the LT80. It will fit your son for a few years at the very least and when you sell it you will get your money back out of it. I agree the breeze will probably be a little big for him.

 

Welcome burgeez, I'll throw my 2 cents in here.

If, like you say, you're not very mechanically inclined I would suggest you buy name brand and buy new or as new as possible.

When it comes to used quads you never know what people have put them through, or how they took care of them, or how they stored them over the winter months. I just went through a loooonnnnnnng search for a quad for our son. Finally found a basically brand new 2005 LT50 but prior to that I looked at piece of junk after piece of junk after piece of junk. And, of course everyone's add says their quad is in great shape and thinks there stuff is worth at least $1000. I actually told the wife that if we didn't find a good used one soon I was just going to buy a new one due to all the money I was spending in gas to go look at these things.

Another thing to watchout for on these used little quads is who actually rode the quad you're trying to buy. What I mean is I ran across 3 of these used little quads that it was obvious an adult (or a HUGE kid) had just beat the heck out of them, jumped them, etc. Bent wheels, bent push bar, scraped up or bent rear grab bar, underside all scared up, etc.

Whatever you get I would think you would want it to be as reliable as possible, especially if it's a gift for your son. Nothing worse than seeing all the excitement dashed when the quad starts having problems shortly after getting it home.

New quad and you don't have to worry about nuttin. Brand name used quad and at least if you have to take it to a dealer you know they will be able to work on it, get the parts, etc.

Also keep in mind, with the hourly rate at a dealer you will quickly rack up a $300+ dollar bill in no time, every time you have to take the quad in. A few of those trips and you'll look back and say "I should have just bought a new one". Don't ask me how I know.

Just my opinion though. Good luck with the search.

 

i would go with the lt80, parts are extremely available for them, the knowledge of repairing is here, especially with jack.

my ex wife wants to buy my kids gas 50cc dirt bikes, and she asked about the cheap ones you see at like pep boys, i told her to hold off for a good used honda or something because i dont feel like being at her house fixing the cheap ones every day lol

 

Most importantly, regardless of which brand you buy, make sure he has the proper gear and make sure he wears it.

 

I have more information:

LT80 ($750.00)
'95 model that the guy accepted on a trade-in. It looks pretty good and I didn't notice any frame issues but I think the motor case is cracked... If I am looking at the right spot. It's missing the front break lever but he did fire it up and let it idle.. It didn't sound great but it sounded okay.

Here is a picture of the crack:



Coolster J015 ($900)
The guy told me that they don't get the machines pre-assembled and that they do put Locktight on everything. He also said that they work on them and any parts I need would be available through him. He also told me that parts for the Suzuki are higher and he gave me an example of the LT80 starter.


Here are the ATV's side by side:

 

A helmet is a definite even when riding his bike. Anything else he should be wearing?

 

Thanks for the advice... this guy also had a '04 50cc Honda dirtbike for $750. It looked nice.

 

I get the feeling he acts out a lot eh?