Chinese Quad bikes

[LandyAndy]

Had a mate bring one around today to weld the chassis up.(Albi on here,lives in town drives a TD5 130)
Its a 110cc kids quad,honda copy motor.
Only get one if your kids are small and you intend throwing it away later.NOT SUITABLE FOR TEENAGERS OR BIG KIDZ(read DADZ)
The chassis is unblievably thin,and obviously very poor quality steel.Not alot of our good Pilbara iron ore,melted down exported HOLDEN carbodies I suspect.
Fixed it up and gusseted so it shouldnt snap again.Also had to weld the muffler back onto the exhaust off another,it was marginally thicker than a beer can!!!.There is a real mix of bolt sizes,like metric/imperial and combination on the same nut.I kid you not depending which pair of flats you pick the spanner is too big ,too small or just right
Albi bought 3 for the kids to ride around their hobby block.Reckons the kids have got the moneys worth out of them,the quality is just real poor.He got the 3 for much less than the cost of 1 good quality bike,and no arguments as to whos turn it is
He did mention the wiring on one machine faild costing him $200 for a re-wire.
Great entertainment for the kids,just a throw away item unlike the old Honda minibikes that are still going today,passed on from generation to generation.
Andrew

[BMKal]

It's not just the Chinese that have these quality issues.

At the new office that I've just moved into in Fremantle, all of the office furniture was imported in from Malaysia. They even had a team of Malays from the factory fly in to assemble it all. It looks very trendy and modern, but you wouldn't want to lean on any of it. We're already seeing cracked armrests on some of the office chairs, and it's only 3 weeks old.

I'm just glad that they new company cars that we're getting are not Protons. I'm getting a Holden Astra hatch (don't know if that's much better, but they wouldn't let me have a Landrover).

[Andrewpv01]

I have a few of the bikes and seem to spend more time fixing them than the kids are riding them.

They don't seem to use spring washers so EVERYTHING comes loose.

The batteries in them don't last long so expect to use a jump starter on them.

The upside is as above - no fights over whose turn it is. When they go properly the kids love em.

Andrew

[Captain_Rightfoot]

A friend has two of them and they have been good so far. There have been some BIG people riding them too. I guess it depends on which little factory they come from...

[LandyAndy]

Hi Andrew
That was another 2 things pointed out.The 3 batteries were all duds,needed replacing from new.
And everything coming loose constantly.I couldnt belive the play in both the play in the threads on the rear axle nuts and the axle splines.
These bikes were xmas presents 5 months ago,the kids arent exactly what you would call BIG or brave enough yet to punish the bikes like kids can.
Andrew

[HangOver]

Hi Andy
I bought one of those cheapies a few years ago and kept if for about a year. Bang for buck it was fantastic and I really did give it hell, poor little quad, but as you say build quality was suspect.

IMO if you buy one chage ALL the bolts for good HT's with spring washers or nylock's and buy a good quality chain and change it before you even use the quad. Do the above and it should be right.

I sold it after a year,( excluding the chain n bolts etc) I lost about $200.

After saying that I would would not go any further on the quad than I would be prepared to walk back if it died.

[CraigE]

They are not bad for the money, but dont expect them to last as long as a dearer name brand. We have a 250cc buggy that is great and you could not build for the price. Great fun, parts are cheap. You do need to know hoe to carry out repairs on these things and expect higher maintenance, but we are LR owners so are used to that anyway.
My nephews 110cc cracked the frame but some minor welding and gusseting fixed that.
We have an Eton 90cc quad and that has been great over the last 6 or so years and not missed a beat with kids and adults. Their service backup leaves a bit to be desired since we lost the Kalg and Esperance dealers. Trying to arrange to buy parts from the distributor is nothing short of a joke. Ended up getting aftermarket bits.
Next time will stay a bit more mainstream (even though Eton are one of the biggest atv manufacturers in the world, thre is little support here) will go Yamaha, Polaris etc. Dearer to buy and dearer to get parts but dealers everywhere.

[Fusion]

I'm wanting to get a quad for the kids . The one i am looking at is a 110 for $850. says it can handle up to 90kg's . Just hoping it is better quality than the cheaper ones .

[Bushwanderer]

I'm probably teaching my grandmother to suck eggs, but anyway:

Quad bikes are inherently dangerous, they have no protection.

A farmer on the South Coast of NSW, rolled one while he had his son riding with him. The son died (how would you like to have to live with that).

Further, my (bulletproof) nephew was riding one when it rolled. Broken leg, pins & ongoing problems.

They are NOT a toy.

[Fusion]

I'm probably teaching my grandmother to suck eggs, but anyway:

Quad bikes are inherently dangerous, they have no protection.

A farmer on the South Coast of NSW, rolled one while he had his son riding with him. The son died (how would you like to have to live with that).

Further, my (bulletproof) nephew was riding one when it rolled. Broken leg, pins & ongoing problems.

They are NOT a toy.

I have been riding motorbikes 2 and 4 wheelers from the age of 5 and still yet to break something ( come close a few times ). With all the right safety gear on and someone teaching you how to ride properly it should eliminate a lot of the silly accidents that happen ...... But in saying that you will crash it will hurt and you will get back on and do it all again . Most offroad bike stacks are caused by the person not knowing the bike or showing off in front of others . What people forget is you have to ride to your limit not the bikes limit

And lets face it everything we do these days has a risk to it ...football, cricket , swimming and running can be just as dangerous as motorbike riding .

And i have always treated my bikes as toy's cos geez they are a lot of fun .