Hi there - I discovered your forum while looking for reviews on the Yamoto ATV's - there are quite a few on here, all good input and appreciated.
I'm contemplating buying my 10 year old son (70 pounds) a 110cc quad - from what I can determine the Yamoto seems to be the best value for the dollar.

Do you folks agree it's the best deal out there for the money? How does the Yamoto compare to the Kazuma (110's) - for you experienced 'ATV'ers' out there?

For those of you that own one, would you buy it again?

Have any of you had any problems finding a shop that would work on your quad? A buddy of mine had a Kazuma he bought off of e-aby and none of the local shops would work on it for him - seems they don't want to service what they don't sell - good way of keeping people from buying them. After all, would you buy a car nobody would work on?...

Seems that folks have no problems getting parts from their dealer, so I'm not too concerned about that,,,

I would appreciate any thoughts and recommendations you folks might offer!

 

There must be "too many" shops in your area (re: they don't need your money) or perhaps they have an unwritten policy amoungst themselves???? Not fixing what they don't sell sure isn't a good way to win business. Especially the customers who are always looking for a better dealer. In my little village (consisting of 2 stop signals), we have a Honda dealer. He'll fix anything from chain saws, weed eaters, lawnmowers, quads / motocross, PVCs, units he sells and stuff he doesn't sell. I've only been in his shop 5 times, and he's calls me by my first name. For him, a bad deal or a bad attitude towards a customer damatically impacts his bread / butter. News travels fast in small places and he knows it. If you can, call a few small engine or other motocross / quad dealers in your area. Call the ones that have the little ads in your Phone Directory. If it's a new or smaller place, I bet they will work on your Yamoto, or Kuzuma, or what ever else you bring them. The reason is, these are the shops who are trying to pull customers away from the bigger shops or the one's who have developed a "bad attidute" over time.

If wondering, I take my lawnmower & snowblower to a guy who has a small shed behind his house. Only a phone number at the end of his driveway. He can "tune" these machines better then I. Lesson learned.... The smaller places tend to have less overhead and many times, charge much less compared to the much bigger shops.

Hope this "call the smaller shops" suggestion helps...

.

 

BHix,
Welcome to this forum, yes there is a lot of good info here and lot's of people willing to help. I own a Yamoto 150 and I would have to say that the only thing I am disappointed with is the suspension or lack of it. I am changing that now. However all thing's considered, I think they are a great deal for the money. They are not "JUNK" like I have read from some here. And part's are easier and quicker to get than for my KTM and almost free in comparison. I would buy one again for my wife for the way she ride's. I will say like I have said before, in my opinion these are great entry level quad's, no more. They are not high performance quad's in any way. The Yamoto 150 has a claimed top speed of 45. I think that a true 35 would be fortunate. I work on all my own toy's so I cant help with that question. Lastly, if you buy a chinese quad the only thing I would recommend highly is to change the motor oil before ever starting the quad. I have a hard time believing that anything close to quality oil comes out of china. It would not suprise me if it was fish oil.

 

dont forget etons 150r viper you might have to pay alittle more but atleast they are the # 1 in u.s sales in the youth market. You get what you pay for.

 

HI again folks - I appreciate your responses. Spike, regarding too many shops in the area - I'm just outside of Fort Leonard Wood Missouri and there is exactly 1 dealer in town here (Honda) - and that's part of the problem. Military community, and very outdoors oriented area - this guy has more business than he can (or cares to) handle - poor attidtude, poor customer service - but he gets away with it becuase he lacks competition. Head 26 miles down the road to 'Rolla' and I believe there are two more shops - my buddy asked them all if the woudl work on the Kazuma and had no luck - different excuses but predominatley they could not work on what they couldn't guarantee. Soured him on the whole Chinese quad thing. He said he never really had any major problems with it until it wouldn't start. Last I heard he sold it, non-working for $250.00 to a gearhead out on the fort.

I look at 90's, etc for my kid and I just can't justify the expense - he'll outgrow the thing sooner than later, so the value looks good on the Komoto - just concerned about keeping it running. Think I'm going to call every shop within 90 or so miles and see how that comes out...

"Mywifesquad" - My son has some experience on quads and a YZ-50 dirbike - he has fun with it, but isn't too aggressive yet - I don't think he'd tax the suspension for at least a year or so - take him that long to get his confidence up. Appreciate the suggestion on the oil, and will file that with the 'things to do if" list.

Bombman, at $2099(90cc) & $2599 for a (150cc) I'd probably just buy a namebrand, like Polaris - easy to get serviced in the area, and a known quantity.

I appreciate everyones input.

The only question that didn't get answered was regarding any qualitative difference between the Yomoto 110 and the Kazuma 110 - if anyone has any insight I'd appreciate their thoughts.

ONe other question - do any of the dealers that you bought from have 'certified' technicians? Is there a course or something that a person can take to get certified on the Yamoto brand?

Thanks again!

 

BHix,

I just sent you a Private Message (PM).


Hope this helps as well....

.

 

What are changing out the suspension with? That's my only gripe on this Yamoto 150 is the stiff suspension. Do any mini quad big 3 suspension parts bolt onto these Yamoto 150's? I really want to switch the suspension like you.

 

ToddRappy660, I have been chasing you around the forum. I have retro fitted a cr80 shock to the rear end of the yamoto 150. Read "YAMOTO 150 REVIEW" I have detailed most of my changes there. After reading that if you have any more questions, ask and I will answer them as best I can.

 

Thanks mywifesquad. Did you have to do any modifications to make the CR80 shock work or did it bolt right on?

 

I am not sure I'd be expecting too much from a stock suspension in this class of machine any way. Not until you get into the 200 class will you see some decent stuff from the factory. You can add a bunch of parts to it, but you end up spending the same amount you would have spent if you had bumped it up to a blaster or something. That being said, I'd like to get the wolves howling for just a moment... When considering purchase prices, you get what you pay for comes to mind... One of the reasons the big companies cost more, is exactly the same reason you mention. they have parts in stock, and trained personnel that need to eat too. If you were a mechanic, which would you rather work on? Something you were trained on, and knew parts were available for it, or something that would be a discovery at best. Akin to exploratory surgery if you ask me. Last weekend, on ATV TV, they said it really good. The number one thing that is going to threaten our sport is the influx of container machines, where you can buy a container and become a dealer... same for parts...

Now my biggest beef is this... the big boys are putting a ton of $ back into our sport. THEY pay for the riding course, and all the support associated with that. THEY pay for sponsorship of many riding events to include not only racing, but jamborees etc. THEY pay for expertise in designing and building of new parks, and they help developers to get funding etc...In short htey are involved in making the sport better.

You have to ask yourself... what did the container company do for the sport? NOTHING.... they do not support the CPSC, do not put anything back into the sport... they take your money, and poof, once the container is empty, they go off to find the next big thing.... heck, they may be selling kid's socks or blue jeans on the corner next month...

You need to really think your decision through before opting for the cheapest product.. and take time to think through your purchase and ask yourself if the grief is worth it. Not all of us are mechanical wizards... and there are a lot of good guys out there who are conciencious, and would not knowingly get in your shorts, but if the company chooses to look elsewhere.. what are you going to do?

We saw the same thing with Cannondale, and they had decent funding available.. and still folded their wings... so think about it.