Is chinese atv's really that bad?

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Posted by: upnort

About as bad as your grammer. (Are not Is) Anyway now that that is out of the way. (sorry) One of my workmates bought one for the kids. Was missing 3 parts, not sure what but has got 2 of them so is rideable now. Got it off the net somewhere. He is regretting it also.

Posted by: JohnO

Given all the publicity about Chinese QC, I'd be very wary about getting on one. Think about that when you're halfway up a steep hill - what if the wheel falls off?

You get what you pay for. Five years ago, I shelled out good money for an Arctic Cat 500i to use on my rough, craggy, rocky farm. Five years later, it's still going strong - only problem was a fouled spark plug, and this thing crawls over anything.

Posted by: reconranger

It is obvious that the "off brands" don't hold themselves to the same high quality control standards as the big 4 (Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawi).

Several of my friends have bought them, and all have lived to regret it!!!

Posted by: reconranger

Got to say that being old enough to remember the dirt bike days when there were no other manufacturers besides the big 4 (and a few minor Europeans), I consider Polaris, A-Cat, and CanAm to be newcomer wanabee "off brands" as well! Why are these companies stuck on producing overly heavy belt drive utilities????

Posted by: reconranger

What's so ecomomical about a broken down quad sitting in the garage useless????? My kids have one friend, and he can never go riding because his cheapie machine never runs!

The "hand-me-down" potential with a high quality name brand quad is so much greater than the off brand machines! If you have several kids, it makes more sense economically to get a high quality machine that can be passed down, than an off brand that will tank after a few months and never make it through the oldest kid much less the younger ones.

My beaten old Honda 90 was the starter quad for my four kids, and the first ride ever for an inumerable number of our friends kids. It has done thousands of miles of hard a$$ cross country riding! I wouldn't trade that one quad for a boat load of ChiCom carp machines!

Posted by: Scootergptx

Originally posted by: BradW

I couldn't agree more with Travis. Everything that comes from China is garbage. Haven't you heard about all the children's toys covered in lead paint?

And I guess you've heard it was an AMERICAN company that said it was their own design flaws that were to blame for most of the recalls.

The old Chinese imports were piles of crap. But, there is no arguing that they are improving the product.

When you buy that Honda Accord, ask them why they don't offer the same warranty as Hyundai or Kia. If it's so good, they shouldn't have a problem with it.

Now if the importers of the Chinese quads would start to offer (and stand by) a decent warranty, they could potentially put a big dent in the smaller atv market.

Also, a good bit of problem resolution will lie with where you bought the atv. Too many of these importers will offer a franchise to someone who has no clue how these things even work. They just have a storage facility, a website and a growing bank account.

Whatever you buy, it's up to you to do the research on the brand, and the dealer.

And I don't think it matters whose brand you buy, plan on getting your hands dirty. An atv that has been ignored maintenance wise, will not care who made it.

Posted by: Scootergptx

Originally posted by: ss97

HP and Dell sell more PCs than anyone on the planet because of support, not because they make the best equipment for the money....

Agreed about the service for the Chinese quads.

But, HP and support are an oxymoron.

Posted by: Scootergptx

Well, I haven't bought a Chinese quad yet. But I have got an HP.

At least I would be better at fixing the quad without any manufacturer support.

Not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Posted by: ss97

I'm really shocked that this debate still rages on, but I guess people can't pass up what they perceive as a good deal.

Chinese ATVs are toys, simple as that ...... for a little kid, the smaller ones are a viable option to calculate true interest. My neighbor bought some no name 50cc thing for his kid last summer to see if he really would ride and take care of the machine. After he realized the kid really loved it he went out and bought him a little Raptor and all is well....

What gets me, is that people are willing to spend $2500 on something with no name when the same $2500 will get them a used Honda that will run great for a long long time. People buy used cars all the time, so what is wrong with a used ATV? Not every one for sale has been beaten to death or ridden in races. I paid $1800 for a 2000 Rancher last summer and I would buy it again for the same price right now. Fact is with a few upgrades (new tires etc..) I could probably sell it for $2200 and no one would balk at the price.

What Chinese machine is going to hold any value like that? Of course the answer is NONE .....

Good ATVs are investments, they hold value, they are no different than a car, a boat. I want my car to get me home every day, and I don't want my boat to sink.... in the same sense I want to trust my ATV will not only get me home, but will get he home safe. It is not something I'd want to take a chance on while I'm hammering the rough trails at 30mph.

I read and hear SO MANY people cry about the fact they bought a China made ATV... most of them seem to wish they never did it. Are some happy? Yes of course, not EVERY Chinese ATV is going to be a huge pile of junk. But if even only 50% of them are is that a chance you want to take? And they will eventually break, everything does. And when they do where do you get parts? I read people say "well I'm a mechanic I can fix it or rig it up" but is that really saving money in the long run? If you are a good mechanic and can fix things, would it not make more sense to buy a used Honda or Suzuki and fix that? At least you can find a dealer within 30-40 miles to get parts without having to force something together.

Those Chinese companies are not in the game to make better ATVs. The money people give them does not go back into research on how to make better ATVs. A used Japanese machine is a much better choice than a new Chinese machine.

Posted by: ss97

Originally posted by: Scootergptx

Originally posted by: BradW

I couldn't agree more with Travis. Everything that comes from China is garbage. Haven't you heard about all the children's toys covered in lead paint?

Only problem with your argument is that neither the Kia nor the Hyundai vehicles are made in China ....

Hyundai have come a long way with their cars, but they have been making industrial trucks for decades and they know what they are doing....

Kia was started by Nissan and others, they did not just pop up from nothing either....

But you make a perfect argument on why NOT to buy a Chinese made machine, and that is there is simply no place to get them fixed when they break..... no warranty, no dealership to complain to.....nothing but headaches...........

I'm a network engineer and a CCNA ..... no one would buy Cisco equipment if we did not support it...... HP and Dell sell more PCs than anyone on the planet because of support, not because they make the best equipment for the money....

Posted by: ss97

Originally posted by: Scootergptx

Originally posted by: ss97

HP and Dell sell more PCs than anyone on the planet because of support, not because they make the best equipment for the money....

Agreed about the service for the Chinese quads.

But, HP and support are an oxymoron. /end quote>

Well that is probably true.... but at least they provide the illusion of support ....lol

Posted by: squeege

Chinese atvs have their place ( the landfills )

Have you not heard about all the unsafe products they are sending in the US with no regard. Lead paint baby toys, poison pet food, poison toothpaste, many atv's are not capable of starting out of the crate.....I sold a 05' modified 300ex for $1700 cash, what Chinese atv in that price range is better than that.....? And what about resale?

Posted by: xFreebirdx

Originally posted by: reconranger

Got to say that being old enough to remember the dirt bike days when there were no other manufacturers besides the big 4 (and a few minor Europeans), I consider Polaris, A-Cat, and CanAm to be newcomer wanabee "off brands" as well! Why are these companies stuck on producing overly heavy belt drive utilities????

Funny....I had a 75 CanAM in 76. You might want to rethink that.

Posted by: Honeyduck96

The Chinese quads DO have their uses... If you have a 6-8 year old, and you're not sure if he wants to ride or not (maybe dance ballet), then pick up a cheap Chinese ATV to find out. If he's always whining about the ATV not running, go out and find a used TRX 90 for him.
If he doesn't seem to care that he can't use his quad, sell it and use the cash for a dance lesson, tights and them slippers.

We bought an HER CHEE/ADLEY 90 (exact same as the older BRP 90 2-strokes under the plastic, only about 1/3 the price) and it has served well with proper maintenance. The kid loves it, but his next one will be Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, etc.

Posted by: TLC

Originally posted by: reconranger

Got to say that being old enough to remember the day when there were no other manufacturers besides the big 4 (and a few minor Europeans), I consider Polaris, A-Cat, and CanAm to be newcomer wanabee "off brands"! Why are these companies stick on producing overly heavy belt drive utilities????

Honda is the last hold out for not using belts on there Utilities and you never hear of a Honda Utility at the top of its class in any comparison.

Honda last

Honda last agian

Not sure what you mean about heavy? A belt drive 700 Grizzly weights the same a 500 Rubicon. Weight on a utility? the more the better just add more HP I say.

As for the Topic ,I would buy a second hand name brand before a new Chinese ATV.

Can Am, Polaris and Arctic Cat Have been making high powered sleds for decades so building a low powered ATV is no big stretch for them in the least.

Posted by: Noxzema

I have waited months upon months for backordered chinese parts. Don't get one unless you want to wait forever, a kid nagging you endlessly stinks while it's out of order! Transmission i waited 4 months for, control arms with ball joints a few months, i'm in my 3rd month and still waiting for an axle, (yes the axle broke) and it is not run hard. Drives me Crazy......

Posted by: crazy1291

doesnt the rincon weigh 600lbs?, imagine adding a second cylinder to that engine, i bet it would be much heavier than a 639lb 2006outlander 800

Posted by: XavierOnasis

I suggest that you go to the "Kids Quads and other ATVs " section here and read first-hand what actual users/buyers of these are saying. Some of the folks there are glad they bought, others are not - but at least they actually bought them ... real first-hand experience ... what a concept!

Is my ChinQuad as good as a Honda? Hell, no - but a Honda would have cost four times as much, more likely five.

How much little 'gottafixit' is worth five times your money? Nobody can asnswer that question for you except you. Look inside you - do you want things easy, or do you prefer to consider yourself frugal and independent? (reality check - you don't get BOTH of those in life anywhere)

Imagine you have to fix your own car. You're on your back in the driveway with grease on your hands and a couple of skinned knuckles. What is your attitude? Do you gripe about doing it and swear "never again", or do take comfort in not having to pay someone big bucks and wait on their schedule?

If you take comfort in saving $ and doing for yourself, then a ChinQuad will prolly be OK for you.
If you're a griper in this situation, then just empty your wallet and go Jap - or you'll be miserable.

My point is not to say that the Chinese machne will continuously break - I'm only trying to determine which choice better fits your personality.

I personally am glad I bought. Several months and 40hrs running time later reliability is solid after a couple of initial "negotiations". I stopped worrying about it after the first time I took a 30-mile each way trip that was all joy, no tears.

True, the final data won't be in until my ChinQuad has lived and died. I know that this thing is not gonna live as long as a Honda and will not be as hands-off trouble-free along the way. But with the $ I could spend, it was this or no quad at all - for this price you can't even buy a USED big-name machine that runs at all around here. So, my wife would be off riding alone and I'd be at home telling myself how smart I am for insisting on a Honda. Gee, that sounds nice.

Posted by: XavierOnasis

Of course, we all want to race.

Posted by: nicko31

don't do it ,Chinese =junk

Posted by: rzr

im with you guys these chinese ting are built a cheap and easy as possible if t hey last a week in the woods they will be lucky I SAY BUY 2 AND THROW THEM BOTH AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Woody1

well first you can tell there bad becuase most chinese quads are made to look like other quads (raptors, hondas, grizzly's, and so on) and there extremly hard to get parts for
if i was you dont bother and waste your money on some peice of garbage that you will hate and get a real quad (honda, yamaha, suzuki, kawisaki, and if you want polaris)

Posted by: Woody1

also remember that you will probably never be faster then any of the top 4 brands and not have a chance when racing on a track

Posted by: Woody1

i mean on a track with jumps and everything

Posted by: Travis999

i wouldnt buy one. there is a reason they are so cheap. i just bought my son a semi beat up 02 trx 90 for 1000 when i could have bought a china for 500. why? because it is superior in every detail. i will always be able to get parts for it. it will run forever and i know for a fact i can pass it down to my younger 3 yo son when he gets bigger and have few if any problems with it. it doesnt have reverse or electric start but it is worth dealing with.
my wife wants one too. i plan on buying her a 250 recon. a bullet proof bike built here and even though she may not ride it too much it will always be ready to go no matter where we decide to ride. those china bikes are made with inferior materials. including metals, bearings and seals. shotty machine work and poor craftsmanship.
by buying that crap all you do is encourage them to make more. not to mention helping to modernize to chinese army and make that country more of a global industrial power all by just trying to be cheap. go get a honda or whatever. at least most of them are made here.

Posted by: HONDA CRUSHER 93

I have an 88 Honda Fourtrax 4X4, and my cousin has a 2006 eagle. On his first ride the front shockmounts, and rearend broke off, and all the exhaust bolts vibrated out, the brakes quit working. He wasn't even riding hard because he had his daughter with him. I ran the hell out of my honda, and i did mess up the front end, but it had been making a cracking noise for a long time.

Posted by: KINGQUAD450

Originally posted by: Woody1

also remember that you will probably never be faster then any of the top 4 brands and not have a chance when racing on a track

You better clarify that a little better
I got two 50cc machines sitting in my garage
an XTREME and a Suzuki stock to stock the Chinese one will blow the doors off the Suzuki.
Yes the Xtreme has its problems the front suspession stinks and the lack of front brakes.
The Suzuki cost little over $1000 more and have spent over $200 on it JUST to make it go the places the cheap Chinese bike will go.

Spent more time working on the Suzuki than the Xtreme had it over a year had the Suzuki just over a month

Posted by: KINGQUAD450

yeah so do I that little Suzuki would have never had made it to the top of a ramp.
I have never ran, or know of anyone who has ran one of the bigger chinese quads,so I couldn't tell you on them but you really can't knock all the smaller ones

Posted by: justin521

I don't know much about atv's and I was recently given a panther 110 '06 model. It's great to just ride around on. I wish it went a little faster. What is the general concensus on chinese atv's and should I buy one like the tornado 200. I don't know much about working on them. What's usually the biggest problem with them when compared to honda or polaris?

Posted by: justin521

my grammer? (Was missing 3 parts, not sure what but has got 2 of them so is rideable now). Yours isn't the Yale worthy either. Just had to point that out. Thanks for the info. I just didn't want to pay three or four times more for a name brand. But if it will save me headaches and money later, that's cool. Thanks

Posted by: BradW

I couldn't agree more with Travis. Everything that comes from China is garbage. Haven't you heard about all the children's toys covered in lead paint? The problem is that there are little to no quality-control practices in China, and the bottom line is that they don't care if you or one of your kids is riding one of their machines and the wheel falls off and you hit a tree. You're talking about a country in which they murder their infant daughters because they are not considered economically viable. It is sad, but very true that more and more of what is offered to us in the U.S. if just junk from that sh!t-hole country. If we refuse to buy from them until they up the standards of their production, it will force them to do so, and we can buy quality products and they can grow and prosper. However, they will most likely just find alternative markets for their crap (i.e. S. America/E. Europe). But, we really need to start buying American, and by this I mean products built in America (keep in mind that Toyota is the most American-built vehicle that you can buy. So don't just look at the company's name.) It really is sad when you go to buy an American flag and the tag on it reads: "Made In China".

Posted by: Outof$

If you do buy one make sure you tighten all nuts and bolts before riding and inspect all electrical connections. If you do this first you will save alot of aggrevation later.

I have bought two off brands in the past, one I am suprised it is still going, son has beaten it to death and rode it everyday for first two years and I have done nothing but oil changes and replaced rear tires. This was a 110 model which was designed after old honda motor.

Number two is a whole different story, christmas day wheel fell off, intake manifold cracked and ignition switch crapped out. I guess the quality person was on vacation when they made this one.

I am sure that there are equal amounts of good verse bad for these. I chose to buy cheap to make sure my kids were going to be into it. Now that they have been riding for 4 years I would never buy one again.

Posted by: Tree Fiddy

When you buy something like the "Chinese" ATV's, your usually buying a sub-par quality machine. If you think of it like, "O, well I'm saving money on a name brand ATV". Well your probably not.

Your really just buying a money pit. Some are good, some are lemons. Getting parts it's sometimes terribly hard as well.

I know people who buy these Chinese ones, thinking they're getting an awesome deal. Soon they realize they could've bought a name brand and never had to do all the maintenance they're doing on the Chinese ones.

I've always bought name brands, and never had a single problem with them. One of my buddies has a larger utility off-brand quad, and a lot of times he can't even go riding with us.

Just my experience atleast.

Originally posted by: Honeyduck96

The Chinese quads DO have their uses... If you have a 6-8 year old, and you're not sure if he wants to ride or not (maybe dance ballet), then pick up a cheap Chinese ATV to find out. If he's always whining about the ATV not running, go out and find a used TRX 90 for him.

That is a good idea though ....

Posted by: outlawrider

Like I wrote in the "Kids Quads and other ATVs "topic I have personally put together plenty of those chinese quads for my buddy who was in that business for a couple of years till he got sick of fixing, repairing etc. s#@t that wasn't his fault or problem in the first place. They are all built like crap trust me. You might get the odd one that runs perfect, has all it's right parts and will last you forever, but thats a long shot. I had a pocket bike for about a year myself and always needed care and adjusting of the carb, bolts and other components. Sure the bike was fun as hell but only when it actually was running good. 80% of them are lemons.