Chinese 4 Wheelers

[Deerfarmer]

Anybody had any experience with the chinese imported 4 wheelers. I am looking for a cheap 4 wheeler for my grandson. He is 2 and will outgrow it quickly. Once he gets older he will have a Honda or Yamaha. I don't want to hear which is better Honda vs Yamaha. I have owned both and never had any problems with either. I just want to now if the Chinese imported ones will last a kid riding on a farm (no rough mud or hills) will last for a couple of years under a 2 - 4 year old. THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!

[Ray]

What's the difference in price between them and the Jap. bikes?
My sister bought a big wheeled dirt bike from Tractor Supply for
her youngest son. It is 2 years old. He out grew it in just 2 years.
You will get more money for the Jap. bike when you sell it. But if
you don't pay much for it, I wouldn't worry about it.

[Bluechip]

Originally Posted by Deerfarmer

Anybody had any experience with the chinese imported 4 wheelers. I am looking for a cheap 4 wheeler for my grandson. He is 2 and will outgrow it quickly. Once he gets older he will have a Honda or Yamaha. I don't want to hear which is better Honda vs Yamaha. I have owned both and never had any problems with either. I just want to now if the Chinese imported ones will last a kid riding on a farm (no rough mud or hills) will last for a couple of years under a 2 - 4 year old. THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!

Check the Chinese bike out before you purchase. I know a few years ago they were having issues with kids getting their feet caught in the chain/sproket due to no type of chain guard.

[Deerfarmer]

I can get a new chinese for $300.00. That's pretty cheap. Just heard horror stories about them not running after purchase and nobody to fix them. Guy in Gonzales says he has full parts and service and that I will see that when I go to his store.

[Finfeatherfur]

Deerfarmer, please run, don't walk, from the generic 4 wheelers.

We spent $900 on two of them several years ago (SUNL) model from a local shop in Rayne, LA and it was a complete joke. Christmas morning, 2 little boys all excited, running out to ride the toys Santa delivered. Within 10 minutes both were broke. One lost the exhaust manifold, the other lost the battery when the plastic housing broke. They are a joke and not worth the money. Buy him a good tricycle, and save the money on a cheap ATV for his first gun!!!!

That is just my $0.02 but no one I know had any luck with them!

[Deerfarmer]

Originally Posted by Finfeatherfur

Deerfarmer, please run, don't walk, from the generic 4 wheelers.

We spent $900 on two of them several years ago (SUNL) model from a local shop in Rayne, LA and it was a complete joke. Christmas morning, 2 little boys all excited, running out to ride the toys Santa delivered. Within 10 minutes both were broke. One lost the exhaust manifold, the other lost the battery when the plastic housing broke. They are a joke and not worth the money. Buy him a good tricycle, and save the money on a cheap ATV for his first gun!!!!

That is just my $0.02 but no one I know had any luck with them!

Thanks, that's the kind of stuff I have heard. I just wanted to check with the wise people of Saltycajun first. I usually buy only first class name brand stuff but thought it was worth checking out. Thanks again.

[speck-chaser]

Yeah, I bought my son a kazuma( I believe it was from a guy in gonzales too.) When he was 5. It ran pretty good for a couple of weeks,then the problems came. It wouldnt hardly run,pieces started breaking, fouled plugs like crazy. I was buying them by the dozen. The chain broke,none of the local bike shops had a chain or link to fix it. They said it was actually a bicycle chain. Soon after that the carb. crapped out,and it was gonna cost more to repair the carb than what I paid for the 4 wheeler. It was 6 months of problems before it hit the trash. I ended up going thru a couple of those razor electric bikes too. Brought those back under warranty, didnt last 2 weeks. Ended up saving money for a couple of years and got him a lil second hand honda. With this kinda stuff, you pretty much get what you pay for.

[carrolhebert]

I bought one for my kids and it's junk I had to take off all the wireing for the lights just to keep the battery charged. I can say the only thing that helpe me was putting seafoam in every tank of gas because I know people that after a few weeks of sitting up the carb where shot.

[MossLake]

Went through the same decision about 5 or 6 yrs ago. Ended up buying a Kawasaki 50 for about 3 to 4 times what I could have got the Chinese version for. Wasn't sure about dependability and parts on those. The Kawasaki has been through both of my sons without ANY problems. It's worth not having to work on it every time they want to ride.

[goldenrod]

Originally Posted by Finfeatherfur

Deerfarmer, please run, don't walk, from the generic 4 wheelers.

We spent $900 on two of them several years ago (SUNL) model from a local shop in Rayne, LA and it was a complete joke. Christmas morning, 2 little boys all excited, running out to ride the toys Santa delivered. Within 10 minutes both were broke. One lost the exhaust manifold, the other lost the battery when the plastic housing broke. They are a joke and not worth the money. Buy him a good tricycle, and save the money on a cheap ATV for his first gun!!!!

That is just my $0.02 but no one I know had any luck with them!

ARE YOU SURE THEY DID NOT BREAK FROM GETTING SMASHED INTO THE TREE???

[Andy C]

I got one about 3 years ago dont rember who made it right off. for my nefue and now my niecse is rideing it. the battery going dead is the only touble i have had. (started unhooking it and no more problems) you have to use the high grade gas in them or they will foul plugs and stop up the carb.

[Is it October YET?]

DO NOT BUY ONE!!! They are nothing but headaches and the biggest pieces of crap you can buy. My sons lasted two weeks. They sent me 3 replacement carbs and they would all last about a week. They finally took it back. Once again ibeg you DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY. Unless you want the guy in Gonzales to be your new friend as you will get to see him often.

[I make oil]

I bought one for my kids POS! Run away! All the troubles above plus bent axles dead batteries and trashy carbs. Not to mention it was dangerous as heck. They would go fast on it and the suspension couldn't handle it it. It would start bouncing and scare the hell out of me. Got tired of working on it all the time and watching them get broke down on it. Then I went out and bought a Yamaha 125 Grizzly. More money but man that is the best small 4 wheeler on the market. I don't know if they are still selling them I sold mine last year when my kids out grew it. They moved up to 250's They couldn't tear that one up. It was light and well built. It only had 2WD but if they got is stuck I would just pick it up and move it over. I really cannot say enough good things about it or any of their 4wheelers. They are the only thing I will buy now. And it is an Auto trans with floor boards so it is safe. My Dad used to ride it and he weighed 250#. I know you said your grandson is young but he will not outgrow this 4wheeler or tear it up until he is driving a car.

[longsidelandry]

My nanny and uncle bought either 2 or 3 of the little 4wheelers for my cousin a few years ago and they all lasted a few months then crapped out, things like the ignition went out, battery wouldn't stay charged and a list of other things. Then my grandpa bought one of the side x side ones for my grandma so she could use it around the house instead of using the 4wheeler and that thing is ALWAYS in the shop. They bought it from the place in Abbeville in the old Fruit of the Loom shop, I think it's called Cruzzers. The exhaust fell off, the battery drains overnight, they have problems with the carbs, it's a pain to start, every now and then they find a screw or bolt laying on the ground underneath it and can't find where it came from, the roll cage started coming apart and I'm pretty sure the chain broke on it already. I couldn't help but laugh at my uncle and grandpa because they would always laugh at me when I would break my Grizzly so now I get to laugh at them when my grandma breaks their crappy side x side. So to back up what just about everyone has said so far.... DON'T BUY ONE!!! They are cheap pieces of crap that will drive you crazy!!

[Raymond]

Bought an Eton for the boys 5 yrs ago and it has held up great. Eton is the same make as Kawasaki, identical parts, ect. Saved about $500 by going that route instead of Kawasaki. Will be sell it next year since they have just about out grown it.

[jldsc]

I have a friend that just bought an eton few months back for his kids birthday, besides the kids wreckin it up already he said that its holding up

[BIGJ]

Bought a new Eton 50 kept it for about 5 years and sold it when the kids outgrew it. No problems. Thats some good little bikes.

[flyphisher]

2 years ago we bought a $600 chinese dirt bike for my stepson. Against my wishes, might I add. We could have spent $900 on a used Honda 60, but NOOOOOO, we had to save $300. It was a P.O.S. Suspension sucked, it didn't last 18 months with casual use. Most of the bolts and screws would back out, and the housing over the gear for the chain shattered quickly. It now resides in the garage, where every drop of oil inexplicably ran out of the engine onto the floor.

Don't do it.

[Kenner18]

nothing but junk . my girlfriends kids each got one for christmas ,and i spend more time workin on them than they do riding them. cant find parts anywhere ,battery is always dead. the remote kill switch dont work over 15 feet from the bike ,so if they take off from you ,hope you got your running shoes on.

[Deerfarmer]

Thanks to everyone on here for their comments. It backed up what I was really thinking. Some had good reports but the bad by far out weighed them. Thanks again everybody. I will wait and buy him a brand name 4 wheeler when he gets a little older. I thought this was cheap at $300.00 but I found out that is the going price anytime. Gotta be real cheap made to sell for that and they were shipped all the way from China.