Well everything has been going good on the Vbike 250 cc utility since I got it in Feburary until this morning. I went up on a mountain here and was going to check out an old homestead for a possible site to do some metal detecting . Got everything loaded on the 4 wheeler and got on and hit the starter button and and ching,clang, chunck and it locked up only the solenoid would click. Took the cap off the end of the starter and couldnt find anything wrong no pieces no chunks nothing put it all back together and it started to rain and sprinkle or two. Hit the starter again and then it went whizzzzzzzzzzzzzzz clunk ching. Already wet I tied it back down on the trailer and headed home. I took the starter off and the teeth on the end of the armature was stripped out all around . I called Tim at Vbike and he said box it up and send it over I will put another in the mail.
Those that have had problems with the Vbike on repairs said he was good to his word. Guess time will tell . Seems the teeth on the small gear on the armature is of really soft metal . The other teeth on the big gears show no sign of wear or chipping. Just that one little gear on the end of the starter . Too bad when the engineers designed it they didnt make the gear by its self so only it would have to be replaced instead of the whole starter assembly.
Well its grounded now until I see how well the warrenty and parts supply at Tim's work

Sorry to here that leesumm, maybe someday there will be a quaility replacement gear available. Makes me want to take my starter off and see if any rebuilder shops have a starter gear that matches.

How often do you normally use your ATV? Might use that info to gauge how long my starter gear will last.

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Vbike 250 V4S (Red, black trim)
TaoTao ATA-150B Utility (Red)

"How often do you normally use your ATV? Might use that info to gauge how long my starter gear will last.
Coloradotrailrider"

Thats the biggest ?? I dont know how much I have used it , since this one dont have an hour meter or any type of an odometer. I can only rough guess that its had maybe a total of a weeks use' in the last few months.
As far as the starter gear its a tooled gear on the end of the starter armature. The whole starter has to be replaced not just the gear. For future use and reference I think when I get one back I will go to a cycle junk yard here and see if they can recognize the starter and hopefully it will match something that has a replaceable gear . Then if it ever happens again I can mill off the gear put a key lock and just replace the gear alone . Or this might just be one of those quirky little things that happens one in a thousand and wont ever happen again . I know for the amount of use I had on it , it didnt last long enough.

leesumm,
Take a look at Ebay and search Honda 200 or 250 starters. There are some 200cc Honda starters that are very close if not the same bolt pattern. A used Honda starter might be a better replacement than the cheap chinese model. I believe our 250cc ATV engines were modeled after Honda 200cc motorcycle engines from the early 80's, and re-geared for 4-speed and reverse. I have noticed also that many of the steel bolts are made of a softer steel, and I would bet if the starter is made in China then they probably use lower grade steel parts in it also. Best of luck.....

Slydog

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Taotao 250 D ATV

The China starter and the Honda starter sure do look alike. The first pic is the China starter and the second is the Honda.



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Vbike 250 V4S (Red, black trim)
TaoTao ATA-150B Utility (Red)

Edited: 05/09/2008 at 10:07 PM by Coloradotrailrider