Hi all. Two years ago i bought my son one of those Chinese 110cc atvs. The engine is great, and everything else sucks. I think they made the frame out of tent pole stock. My son has broken the frame no less than 6 times. Each time, I bring it into my shop, fire up the TIG welder, patch it up, and weld in a gusset to help strengthen it. Well, it has reached the point where all the pivot points (steering and suspension) are completely worn out. It's time for a new one. He wants a Sportsman 90 (cause daddy has a sportsman). My nephew just got a kawasaki KFX 90. It is far and above better quality than the chinese ones. I have heard on this forum that the Sportsman 90s aren't really polaris made...that they are tiawan made? Is this true, and can anyone comment from experience wheather or not the Sportsman 90s are any good? I'd be looking for a new one, not one of the 2-strokes. I wonder how the Sportsman 90 compares to the KFX 90 in terms of durability?

 

Sportsman 90 A LOT better than most of the chinese knockoffs even though they are ROC(Taiwan) made Tried a couple times to help people that bought these from Pep boys,independents,BUT I now turn em away because of frame,suspension,sprocket,general problems!Cant find parts,plus Dont want to stand behind my work on these machines. There are dozens of Chinese companies "dumping" as it is called inferior products in the US. Only one that I've found that has a decent support base is KYMCO (I believe thats how its spelled).

 

well i can tell you one thing, it can take a beating, but it's a beating in ur pocket also, well for me ne ways. mine is a two stroke sportsman 90. since it's a two stroke, it's known to have alot more maintenance. yes they are made in taiwan. BUT i can tell you one thing, the new 90's are far better than the old ones, they just look like they've patched the problems they had in the early 90's.

 

We bought our boys a brand new 2008 Sportsman 90 in April of this year. It is our first ATV. They love it and want to ride it all the time. We recently took it out to Wyoming to visit my father-in-law and they rode the 90 pretty much day and night. All kinds of land and no one around! We haven't had any problems with it all so far, so I have to say I'm really pleased and would really recommend it.

 

I bought my son a 2008 90 about 2 months ago and all was fine untill today........It sat for 3 weeks due to the fact he tried to well lets just say I had to put a new plastic front on it(61.00 total no big thing)anyways went to start it and it wouldnt start,I ended up pulling the plug out about 6-7 times so I could dump fuel in it,finly got it running and all is well,I dont know if it was the 100 mile ride on the trailer with the wind or if the carb just dried out from sitting and yes the gas was left on and the plug was dry every time I pulled it out,hopefully it was just a fluke,I also had to put the charger on it due to all the cranking over before finally getting it started..........
Other then that its a blast.......One more thing.......it turns sharper to the right then left,need to look into the lock to lock on the steering tabs I think.

 

My son has a KFX90 and it is the best money I have ever spent its held up to all of his and his sisters abuse and has not had ONE SINGLE problem. It has no choke yet even in the cold of winter starts right up. NO revers tho, no gear shifting at all, its allways in drive. Which helps teach them not to get in spots they cant get out of.

The same can be said for a buddy of mine, he bought his son a sportsman 90 and it has been trouble free. It actually has working headlights as my sons kfx90 does not. We had to buy aftermarket lights for the KFX

I say get the popo 90 so your son can be just like dad he will love it and I doubt you have many if any issues with it.

The kfx 90 comes limited to about 15mph with a clutch shim, an easy 20 min removal will open it up, my sons now runs about 32mph max, I dont have any idea if the sportsman has a limiter or anything similar.

 

We chose the Sportsman 90 over other models for what 650Mobrute mentioned. The Sportsman has reverse, and has daytime running lights which also seem to work pretty good as headlights at night. It also came with a whip flag and youth helmet. Not sure if other manufacturers do that also. It does have a speed limiter. It is just a screw that you screw out for more speed. Another thing, the Sportsman can carry about 15 pounds on the front rack and about 30 pounds on the back rack I believe. Not much but it does come in handy when toting around a small cooler etc. You can order rack extensions to secure it better (something I'm looking into). For us it was no comparison, and that is why we chose the Sportsman 90 over everything else.