ATV Shopping

[dfkrug]

Also Honda used the name "Hondamatic" on some of there older motorcycles. I've never met anyone who owned one who liked it.

Brings back memories. I had a 79 Honda CM400A Hondamatic m/c in my
m/c stable back in 81. I was trying to get rid of it for an old lady friend of
mine. It had only 2 speeds and I do think it used some kind of torque
converter, like in a car AT. It was an interesting ride....grossly underpowered
for a 400cc bike. Honda also made a 750 Hondamatic and I heard that was
much better.

Anyway, KEN, have you tried out any of the cheap Chinese ATVs? I see
a lot of 250cc machines advertised for under $2K. How do they compare?

What kills me is how much some of the side-by-side UTVs are going for.
Some are over $15K! I have a long term project of converting a Suzuki
Samurai into a street legal ATV. I will post when it is nearly done. Mules,
Gators, and RTVs are nice, but I don't think you need to pay so much.

 

[Kenfyoozed]

The chinese are very smart people. Most larger companies outsource there, including many of the Japanese bike companies. I had a Honda ct70 min trail bike "clone". It was a chinese version with a 124cc engine on it, and most "Honda" parts fit. With chinese atvs its mostly the same. Actually many of the chinese 200cc atvs came out before Yamaha introduced its 200/250 cc sport atv. Some look identical. And I bet some are! With the atvs, I look for price first. Anything over 1200 and I shy away from. Why? because I would rather spend 2000 for a used Brand name thats older with plenty of spare parts to choose from. I have thought long about buying one of these. Some can be had on ebay , with shipping for less than 1000. Perfect for the wife or child or for a spare bike. Be preparred for no dealer help with parts and be ready to repair all the items yourself. You get what you pay for. With that said I would buy one, but at the same time I can buy a 5-6 year old Kawasaki Mojave for 2000-2500. Which would i rather buy? The one that comes in Kawasaki Racing green. You gotta keep the fleet matching! If its a toy and you aren't looking for resale then its ok. Just be prepared. Some of these companies have made a name for themselves. So look for the atvs that are clones of, hondas and yamahas. And try to see on in person before you buy. There was a guy who bought a "Hi-bird" atv and has a blog about it. If I can find it I'll post it. It really shows what he had to go through.

 

[3RRL]

There is a guy selling one of those 4x4 minis on Hwy 19 east of Huntsville. Asking $5000, it's been there for about 8 weeks. I'm not sure if people know what to do with it. I think it's street legal though. Not sure.

Rob

Rob,
Yeah, I'm pretty sure most of those are street legal.
I have a buddy in Montana who referred me to that site and he is going to buy a used one.

 

[SLOBuds]

Well, thanks again everyone. I AM following the thread, but there is quite a bit of divergence as to opinions.

It sounds a lot like the tractor arguements - that all of the big name tractors are good solutions, and some of the small-brand names might also work. But anyway it's good to know that I can basically take any of my favorite bignames and be OKay.

About this mini-truck, it just doesn't look as stable as an ATV to me for some reason. And it also kind of looks like overkill for a 10 acre parcel.

Appreciate the feedback.

 

[SamWalton]

I believe the Outlander MAX 800 H.O. EFI Ltd. is the worlds best ATV. It is pricy.

 

[SLOBuds]

I believe the Outlander MAX 800 H.O. EFI Ltd. is the worlds best ATV. It is pricy.

Sam! - It's $8k-$12k per pop!!!

 

[RobJ]

Sam! - It's $8k-$12k per pop!!!

So what!! He's Sam Walton.

 

[SamWalton]

So what!! He's Sam Walton.

That's right and I am the one that is alive!

 

[Skerby]

my brother's looking for an rv and a garage on it to haul an atv to campsites with.. i guess i may as well dispense with i dispensed on him.. this is unusual and i'm always looking for something different so here goes. i bought a cushman off ebay for use around my 20 acres... the reasons were as follows:
[1] it's different.
[2] it's cheaper due to stigma driving less demand
[3] it's 3 wheeled so i can register and road it as a motorcycle to realize road fuel economy
[4] it has a cab, heat, wipers, fan.
[5] has 660 cc injected suzuki engine
[6] goes 42 mph

so it fit my needs for what i was going to trade off, the trade offs i'll list here as negatives:
[1] it's different (some say goofy )
[2] it's 3 wheeled (stability suffers on turns, just think of a tricycle tractor and you'll understand where you can't/shouldn't traverse)
[3] only seat's 1 person
[4] the biggest one is LOW GROUND CLEARANCE (however, seems well skidded with aluminum panning underneath)

that's about all i can think of, it is a worthy consideration for someone who would benefit from ON-ROAD fuel economy, abilty to comfortably travel in inclimate weather, and will use for traversing relatively flat land for PRACTICAL purposes (i.e., not 4-wheelin' fun)...

hope this helps influence someone's utilty vehicle considerations! -cheers