Chinese ATVs Are Being Scrutizined By U.S. Government

Posted July 12 2007 04:20 AM by staff
Filed under: Atv News

First there was the pet food. Then the toothpaste. Then tires.

Now Chinese manufacturers are facing another credibility issue: their ATVs. This time, though, they may not be at fault.

According to Bloomberg, Honda Motor *** Yamaha Motors, and other ATV OEMs are asking the U.S. government to implement standard safety regulations.

Interestingly, safety is not necessarily the companies' primary concern. The motivation may be profit, pure and simple. Artic Cat, Suzuki, as well as Honda and Yamaha dominated the ATV segment until 2004. That's when Chinese manufacturers flooded the market with less expensive vehicles. The companies actually spent years fighting any form of federal legislation including lawsuits by regulators over ATV accidents and safety. With such a history, most analysts view Honda's request with less than enthusiasm. Worse for the ATV manufacturers, there's little evidence to support their claims. States Rachel Weintraub, director of product safety and senior counsel for the Consumer Federation of America, "The data does not show that there has been a surge of (Chinese) recalls or adverse incidents. An ATV-import bill alone does not deal with these broader safety problems.''

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1. As an update to this post, I would like to inform anyone in the Chinese motorsport community that new Chinese Government taxes have increased on all exports in certain fields. One of them being dirt bikes, mopeds, scooters, and ATVs. This increase has caused an across-the-board increase in pricing by 10%. I know this may come as a shock, but if we ever want products from China to match products from Japan, especially at the same time, then we are simply going to have to pay for it at some point. You can read more about Chinese motor sport products at http://www.jnbmotorsport.com

jnbmotorsport - Posted September 13 2007 07:20 AM

2. We have a different approach to selling Chinese ATV products. We are not focused on price as much as we are on quality and value-added services. Price is only one aspect of the overall decision to purchase a vehicle. We are growing extremely fast simply due to our attention to detail and providing "turn-key" solutions for our dealers. You can see more information at http://www.chinaoffroad.com

chinaoffroad - Posted September 25 2007 08:11 AM

3. Anyone who thought that Chinese powersports is not a threat to the big 4 companies have now been proven wrong. This is no more than the big 4 flexing some muscle and getting things inspected. Of course they do not want to lose out on sales to inferior Chinese products- LOL!
I think that the inspection process by the Chinese government is a good thing though because it will prevent the bad importers from bringing in their products and allow the good manufacturers who care about quality and PARTS to continue to provide these fine services.
Come see our product line at www.extrememotorsales.com some of which we have just added with up to a 3 year warranty!

extrememotorsales - Posted September 26 2007 06:02 AM

4. You can buy a knockoff Rhino now guaranteed to fit any Yamaha part produced....and the Rhino was introduced in the fall of '03. If this is acceptable by American patent law (if applicable), fine. Yet the Big 4 spent their money fighting this introduction years ago at the expense of convincing at least 'me' that they were better Americans than the Chinamen caring less about the true health of our sport. Again, no public position on anything controversial (pay-to-play; safety; enforcement; the list goes on...) and certainly nothing thrown towards actually uniting the entire varied community itself...as this would have cut the money flowing to individual non-profits making darn sure we remained dvivided and off the same trails (nothing spurs a membership drive like "we hate those *** ....ers").

Maybe the Chinese could effectively embarrass these big companies by pushing for a united off-road community and true handed down legacy that both they and their aftermarket partners... chose to simply ignore?

SxS - Posted November 3 2007 03:18 AM

5. I bought a couple of the fusion 110cc fourwheelers to start my sons out on a few years ago.
they were cheap, the frames broke and had to be welded back, the motor mounts broke.
one of them the valves wore out after 5 weeks of easy riding.
the tie rods rattled loose no matter how much you tightened the lock nut leaving you without steering suddenly, the tie rods stripped easily, the steering stem bent and warped easily.
they really aren't worth the money you think you save on them.

I had to work on the two I had every time the boys wanted to ride.
it got to be a real pain.
I finally stepped them up to real Honda's to finish their training and i bought them yamaha blasters to ride now. no more foreign aftermarket junk for me or my sons..

wolf1 - Posted November 30 2007 06:33 AM

6. I have three of these 110cc chinese quads . I bought for my grand children one broke on the first day and ihad it welded. A week later another one quit starting and is still in the shop, they haven't figured it out yet. I would not buy them again if i knew what i know now.QUESTION does any one out their know how to get more climbing power out of these??? they woint climb any thing' scottie ---POSTED DECEMBER 3 2007 9:02 AM

SCOTTIE - Posted December 3 2007 06:03 AM

7. the only way to get more climbing power is to change the rear sprocket.
go with a larger rear sprocket you'll get more torque at lower speeds but you'll lose some of the top end.

I have been told if you change the rear sprocket with one from one of the 110cc dirt bikes it works well.
but then you have to worry about the extra torque ripping the motor welds loose, or the axle and swingarm wearing out.

the clutch is of course automatic, and because of the design you can't adjust it stronger.

MY sons learned to ride well enough to hit the hills at a good rate of speed and make it over the hills.

I finally got my sons HOnda's to ride to teach them to shift gears, then bought them yamaha blasters once they learned to shift gears and taught them to use a clutch.
honestly the suzuki's yamaha's and honda small atv's are tons better.
I bought a suzuki 90cc that absolutely blew the 110cc chinese atv's away.

the major brands are built better and have more pulling power and top end.

wolf1 - Posted December 11 2007 08:22 AM

8. WELL thanks to all of thoses that wrote in . I all so found out that if you change the front gear by adding one with a couple of teeth you can get more climing power, NOW ? WHERE do i get the gear? IT has splines and not a slot.YOU ALSO MATCH THE CHAIN TO THE TEETH.YOU may haft to add an extra link or half link to the chain.

SCOTTIE - Posted December 19 2007 10:52 PM

9. Yes me two, I bouth one of these cheap atv and the starter fell of and I cant find it any where, and this is mi 6 year old douther, my son has a suzuki LT 8o and it been runing for seven years no probles at all, I will never buy chineese again!!!!

chuck3344 - Posted December 20 2007 11:12 PM

10. 20 year old honda/yamaha
is better buy at same Pice or ever more and safety,
Willie,
Nevada,

nevadawillie - Posted January 28 2008 09:02 PM

11. I started my 6 yr old daughter out on one these "cheap" atv's. It lasted 3 yrs w/NO probs what so ever. I did do the required maintenance though, like tightening the nuts and bolts, keeping the chain lubed and tightened. About 6 months ago I upgraded her to a 110cc pink utility and it runs fine and have had no probs at all. I know u can get a lemon w/anything and some of these that Ive seen are not the best of quality but Ive paid <$1000.00 for her 2 four wheelers and she's learned alot. Now when she's ready to start riding w/us when we go out on the trails as a family Ill step up there and get her a name brand that I know will last her a long time.

Bfree - Posted February 7 2008 06:49 AM

12. It's obvious that the name brands are the better way to go given there history,reliability,and customer service. However some of these motors really last..after all they are older Honda motors (clones), enginereed by japan built by chinese.I have had acquired a few smaller 90cc and 110cc quads. one of the frames broke and one Quads rear axle broke...they were used quite a bit.200 lbs adults played around with these things but with a little work they lasted a while.On a performance upgrade attempt the 90cc was a replica to the Honda trx90 so I BOLTED A HONDA TRX90 HEAD TO A CHINESE MOTOR! who ever doubts it can come and see for yourself.By the way the motor SCREAMS with the honda head...proves to show name brands rule!

choadler - Posted February 11 2008 07:36 PM

13. It's obvious that the name brands are the better way to go given there history,reliability,and customer service. However some of these motors really last..after all they are older Honda motors (clones), enginereed by japan built by chinese.I have had acquired a few smaller 90cc and 110cc quads. one of the frames broke and one Quads rear axle broke...they were used quite a bit.200 lbs adults played around with these things but with a little work they lasted a while.On a performance upgrade attempt the 90cc was a replica to the Honda trx90 so I BOLTED A HONDA TRX90 HEAD TO A CHINESE MOTOR! who ever doubts it can come and see for yourself.By the way the motor SCREAMS with the honda head...proves to show name brands rule!

choadler - Posted February 11 2008 07:37 PM

14. I purchased a 2007 taotao 250E ATV.
I have yet to get it to start up.
I get a weak spark. everything seems
to work. This is a new atv from the crate, purchased via on line.
I need to purchase new parts for this
model. I live in Tucson AZ.
Where can I purchase electrical part for this ATV?
Please e- mail me at: easyridertony@yahoo.com
THANKS!

majkat - Posted March 16 2008 08:08 AM

15. we bought panther 110 at an auction without thinking or knowing anything about atvs. for our granddaughter, the thing will not hold a charge, and now we are looking for a owners manual we never recieved with it. can anyone help? thank you

fairks - Posted March 31 2008 04:14 PM

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