[Screamin Ian]

I was just thinking, these things are popping up everywhere, and alot of them are extremely unsafe. I was wondering if it would be a decent idea to maybe do some research on them and try and educate the general public about them and why they are unsafe vs. a quality brand like Yamaha, Polaris, etc.

I would just hate to see, newbie joe duner get hurt because he wanted to save a few bucks.

[kerplunk]

I'm on the fence on this one. The market will determine the outcome. If the Chinese knock-offs begin to break, you can bet your arse that the manufacturer will step up on future models even if that does leave the first customers hanging out to dry. This also creates a market for parts. I mean, you could buy two of those fake rhinos and just use one for parts. Sell them on ebay. If that kind of market starts, the numbers of these won't drop, and there wil be no reason to change. Maybe the competition and the market will make everything across the board cheaper??

AND

I know good welds make you feel really good, but good welds break too, and people get hurt or worse in stuff made by reputable manufacturers. I think there is plenty of room to continue preaching safe use of what's out there without having to start bashing. Now if you want to start a campaign to not buy Chinese products because they put unfair pressure on the market here in the US, then you might have something. But even that is a little hypocritical. Who made your motorcycle? your quad? not a lot of American manufacturers...

Why don't we contact a dealer to donate a used Rhino and purchase one of these knock-offs and then as a third party we do a test run. I know of a 400 mile roundtrip we can take with rocks, sand, high speed roads, etc. We do the write up of the performance, keep track of breaks, and then we dismantle major parts for a comparison, taking pics of the welds. I have only seen one example of poor welds posted anywhere on a "Chinese" product...And I don't read too much about them breaking....

[Screamin Ian]

I was just kinda thinking out loud. I didnt want to start bashing on anything, rather do a comparison type of deal. Anything will break if you punish it enough, I just didnt want someone to "think" they are getting the same quality for a cheaper price and getting hurt.

I have a Polaris I would be willing to put to the test against anything.

[kerplunk]

people do tests all the time:

we need one polaris, one rhino, one knock-off, one chase truck and trailer that'll fit all three, and one weekend.

Who is going to call Motoworld or alba? Robin?

I'm curious, have you ever personally seen something unsafe with one of the knock-offs?

[Screamin Ian]

I have just seen them places and quality looked very poor. But have I experienced on break? no

It could be just a matter of you get what you pay for, I wouldnt expect a $20 drill from Harbor Freight hold up the same as a $300 DeWalt drill.

[kerplunk]

Screamin Ian, on Jan 27 2008, 09:24 AM, said:

I have just seen them places and quality looked very poor. But have I experienced on break? no

It could be just a matter of you get what you pay for, I wouldnt expect a $20 drill from Harbor Freight hold up the same as a $300 DeWalt drill.

my craftsman 19v has been far better drill than my old makita...and I can get two batteries and a charger for the price of a single batter for a new makita...Never had a dewalt drill, but it too is far more expensive than craftsman....

???

I'm gonna hold out until I see one in person or start to see the carnage???

[rivermobster]

kerplunk, on Jan 27 2008, 08:58 AM, said:

people do tests all the time:

we need one polaris, one rhino, one knock-off, one chase truck and trailer that'll fit all three, and one weekend.

Who is going to call Motoworld or alba? Robin?

I'm curious, have you ever personally seen something unsafe with one of the knock-offs?

yep.

TCS has a knock off that the importer wanted a shock built for, i was down at the shop that day. todd and i took a good look at it, and discoverd that if you bottmed out the rear of the thing, it clamped right down on the chain! so how would you like to hit a nice dip and have the rear wheels lock up on you!!!!

a guy at work bought one, and his daughter was on it, when the rear axle locked up on her (carrier froze) lucklly we were in camp and she wasnt going fast, not an hour from camp like we were the day before.

those things are nuthin but accidents look'n for a place to happen!

[Screamin Ian]

I was just thinking along the lines of an ounce of prevention....

[shelvis]

kerplunk, on Jan 27 2008, 08:58 AM, said:

people do tests all the time:

we need one polaris, one rhino, one knock-off, one chase truck and trailer that'll fit all three, and one weekend.

Who is going to call Motoworld or alba? Robin?

I'm curious, have you ever personally seen something unsafe with one of the knock-offs?

I did this weekend in Superstition......guy riding without a helmet.....I pointed him out to Dan and then the guy rode up to ask to ask if we had air. Dan aired him up and I snapped his pic so we had a photo of what NOT to do when riding. Dan said he was riding a cheap Chinese quad.

[kerplunk]

dwnhmgirl, on Jan 27 2008, 03:04 PM, said:

kerplunk, on Jan 27 2008, 08:58 AM, said:

people do tests all the time:

we need one polaris, one rhino, one knock-off, one chase truck and trailer that'll fit all three, and one weekend.

Who is going to call Motoworld or alba? Robin?

I'm curious, have you ever personally seen something unsafe with one of the knock-offs?

I did this weekend in Superstition......guy riding without a helmet.....I pointed him out to Dan and then the guy rode up to ask to ask if we had air. Dan aired him up and I snapped his pic so we had a photo of what NOT to do when riding. Dan said he was riding a cheap Chinese quad.

You're not suggesting they import those things over here with tires that don't hold air and riders without helmets

[rivermobster]

kerplunk, on Jan 27 2008, 04:10 PM, said:

dwnhmgirl, on Jan 27 2008, 03:04 PM, said:

kerplunk, on Jan 27 2008, 08:58 AM, said:

people do tests all the time:

we need one polaris, one rhino, one knock-off, one chase truck and trailer that'll fit all three, and one weekend.

Who is going to call Motoworld or alba? Robin?

I'm curious, have you ever personally seen something unsafe with one of the knock-offs?

I did this weekend in Superstition......guy riding without a helmet.....I pointed him out to Dan and then the guy rode up to ask to ask if we had air. Dan aired him up and I snapped his pic so we had a photo of what NOT to do when riding. Dan said he was riding a cheap Chinese quad.

You're not suggesting they import those things over here with tires that don't hold air and riders without helmets

thats our shelly...gotta love her!!!

[shelvis]

rivermobster, on Jan 27 2008, 05:36 PM, said:

kerplunk, on Jan 27 2008, 04:10 PM, said:

dwnhmgirl, on Jan 27 2008, 03:04 PM, said:

kerplunk, on Jan 27 2008, 08:58 AM, said:

people do tests all the time:

we need one polaris, one rhino, one knock-off, one chase truck and trailer that'll fit all three, and one weekend.

Who is going to call Motoworld or alba? Robin?

I'm curious, have you ever personally seen something unsafe with one of the knock-offs?

I did this weekend in Superstition......guy riding without a helmet.....I pointed him out to Dan and then the guy rode up to ask to ask if we had air. Dan aired him up and I snapped his pic so we had a photo of what NOT to do when riding. Dan said he was riding a cheap Chinese quad.

You're not suggesting they import those things over here with tires that don't hold air and riders without helmets

thats our shelly...gotta love her!!!

The guy couldn't even make it up a little hill either!! Maybe the flat tire had something to do with it but I don't think so......

Funny thing is the guy had on goggles, knee pads and elbow pads but no helmet....I'll post my pics later.

[Danzkawi]

I aired the guys tire up and told him he should be wearing a helmet, he said I just got this last month and haven't got a helmet yet.

I told him that besides being illegal is was not cool to not wear a helmet. he said he would ride back to his camp and park it.

he had knee pads on I looked at the quad and I'm telling you I would noy put even my worst enemy on it.

POS for sure.

[rivermobster]

this is the new generation of off-roader...

[erwood]

Quote

You're not suggesting they import those things over here with tires that don't hold air and riders without helmets

Thats great.

This post has been edited by rivermobster: 28 January 2008 - 03:45 PM

[Danzkawi]

erwood, on Jan 28 2008, 01:58 PM, said:

Quote

You're not suggesting they import those things over here with tires that don't hold air and riders without helmets

Thats great.

[kerplunk]

Lets do it then..

We'll take Ian's Ranger and one chase truck

Then we'll hit up a local BIG dealer to supply one stock(used or new) Rhino and one new knock off Rhino, and then we'll go on a really long cross country trip.

We can do the write up and then a tear down, and the truth will be told.

[Screamin Ian]

have ranger...will travel. I am thinkin I may want to get the winch kit for the front of the ranger first, that way I can tow the broken rides out.

[erwood]

We could call it "The tear it up, then down. The truth be told". Kind of has a ring to it. I'm game. Now who is going to give us free stuff to break? We don't have to put it back together when we're done, right?



Kind of sounds like I'm falling in to "group two".

This post has been edited by erwood: 07 February 2008 - 04:02 PM

[Danzkawi]

erwood, on Feb 7 2008, 04:00 PM, said:

We could call it "The tear it up, then down. The truth be told". Kind of has a ring to it. I'm game. Now who is going to give us free stuff to break? We don't have to put it back together when we're done, right?



Kind of sounds like I'm falling in to "group two".

he said group 2