Pulled the Trigger

[Swampy]

Here is the quads on my trailer. Grizz goes in the truck bed.

[Swampy]

Originally Posted by 2LZ

Swampy! you dog! You just jumped me! I had a big long explanation about your quad situation for midlife....

Snoozing and losing!

[BlackBike]

Swampdog, looks like great weather from pic, gona go spray some dirt. Have fun you all.

[Swampy]

Finally got the new Kandis out for a little trail time and first impressions. 5 (retired) Scout dads headed up to the Sierra here in Ca for a reunion of sorts so I decided to take the quads up and get them dirty. Got up there (around 6000 feet) late Friday afternoon. After loading them up at home (around 25 feet) I forgot to turn the petcocks off so with the CARB equipment and the expansion in the gas tank both bikes were flooded when we unloaded them after arrival. Popped and left the plugs out overnight and they both fired right up in the AM. Although I purchased the tach/hour meters I hadn’t installed so I would have to guess we put around four hours total and around 15 miles on each bike. Even though we were breaking them in and keeping it under ¾ throttle overall I was impressed with the bikes and we had a blast. Almost all riding was on dirt forest service roads in various states of erosion and decay. While a far cry from the power and smooth ride of the Grizzly 660, these little quads did well.

[Swampy]

The good:

The suspension. Really impressed with the travel and dampening. Played with the adjustable (pre-load?) shocks and they seem to work for my body size (170) well on the second lightest notch front and rear. May loosen up with use and more adjustment could be needed. Repeatedly went over the same 4-5 inch tree that was across one of the main roads at about 25 mph and after the first time (death gripping it) it was just another bump. They do have their limits and rocky washouts were not their strong points.

Handling. Responsive as I could expect and the suspension had a lot to do with that. Never “chattered” away from the direction of travel and felt solid.

Low end torque. Easily spin the rear with about half throttle from a stop. Good for quick U turns or making dust with donuts. Did a couple of very steep inclines from a dead stop and had zero issues getting to the top.

The bad:

The vibration. Just felt dang weird the way the whole bike would hit a harmonic balance at a certain RPM you could feel through your boots and hands. Seemed to get better or I became more accustomed to it as the weekend went on.

Parts that came off. Mostly my bad because I didn’t locktite the reflectors but I am sure I would have broken them off anyway. lol. The flag came off somewhere due to vibration but it was already fraying so no big loss. The blue one stopped idling during the first day. A vacuum line to the carb had come off so it was an easy find and fix.

Front (drum) brakes. Less than stellar in the braking department. I am guessing (hoping) that as they seat it should improve.

Top end power. While I didn’t floor it going up a 6-7% grade there was a definite top speed. Not used to having that but I can live with it.

[2LZ]

Excellent report Swampy! Thanks for the updates. Good to see you finally got them out and they all worked well!
Nothing worse than a "first time China Bike Guy", on his maiden voyage, going out with a bunch of buddies and having one crap out for some stupid reason. Makes us look bad! Glad they were as reliable as you were hoping. These little things really can take a beating.
I need that suspension on my Rhino. It rides like a rigid Panhead.

[Swampy]

It was a great weekend and I do like my quads. The blue one has a little more power than the black one so I will be checking the valves again. I also had a flat on the black one which could be a hole or we broke a bead, will check tonight. One other “bad” I forgot to add to the list is the stock LED lights are marginal at best. Will be looking to either upgrade or add lights. Whats camping without playing a little horseshoes?

[Swampy]

Thanks LZ2. I too am glad they didn’t crap out on the maiden voyage. This was our “First Annual Reunion” and we have already picked the same weekend next year for the second. I wouldn’t surprise me one bit if there were a couple more of these Chinese quads up there next year. I got a lot of questions from them about mine.

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by Swampy

Thanks LZ2. I too am glad they didn’t crap out on the maiden voyage. This was our “First Annual Reunion” and we have already picked the same weekend next year for the second. I wouldn’t surprise me one bit if there were a couple more of these Chinese quads up there next year. I got a lot of questions from them about mine.

Hey....I made it all the way to "First Class" in Scouting before women and substances got in the way....invite me! I'll bring beer! ;-)

I sure like the long, wide stance on those Kandi's, compared to the crab-like stance of the Rhino....and real suspension? Really? That would make them worth the extra $$$ right there.

....and thanks for spreading the word on the China Quads to the Great Unwashed. It's weird, once people see them in action, for the $$$, suddenly they don't need a top-o-duh-line unit anymore. I think many of us still have visions of triple jumps in our heads but our bodies are saying "trail ride" and these do just fine for that.

[BlackBike]

2lz...well put. watch out , next year they might love having a top notch china powersports technician on staff. (will work for sodas)

swampy, looks like great times ! You need to find a place for the grizz, then more of your party can participate. (i guess the grizz had to stay home due to camping gear in the pu bed)

can non carb units come from out of state and use the calif trail lands on a temporary basis?

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by BlackBike

2lz...well put. watch out , next year they might love having a top notch china powersports technician on staff. (will work for sodas)

swampy, looks like great times ! You need to find a place for the grizz, then more of your party can participate. (i guess the grizz had to stay home due to camping gear in the pu bed)

can non carb units come from out of state and use the calif trail lands on a temporary basis?

Believe it or not, CARB Complaint only truly pertains to "on road" vehicles. My X-moto and Rhino have no little air pump or purge canister and are legal for off-road here under "green sticker".

[Swampy]

2LZ = First Class! Will work on getting you an invite next year.

Triple Jumps for sure, not! I did get a “little” air on the forest service’s water berms over the weekend but trail riding is more my style now too. Not sure if I sold more of these quads but there were a lot of grinning faces when they returned from a ride on the trails “Where did you get them from?” “How much do you have to assemble?” “You only paid How Much?” were the types of questions asked.

BlackBike you work for cheap! You were correct that the Grizz stayed home because of lack of hauling room and I didn’t want to unleash that Beast on the relative quad noobies that were there.

Not sure about non carb units running in Ca. There may be a way to do it but I have never ran into a situation like that.

[BlackBike]

http://www.diamondbackcovers.com/atv...FQqsaQodcBwE-g

if i didn't have visions of the rx4 in my future, i think i would go for this in red as is shown for $3649 (new!).............niceeeeee! (regular style atv and lowest cost). my cousin has a old 300 polaris and it has all the power i would want and this unit has 4x4 capability !

http://wholesaleatv.com/product/tao-tao-300-4x4/

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by BlackBike

http://www.diamondbackcovers.com/atv...FQqsaQodcBwE-g

if i didn't have visions of the rx4 in my future, i think i would go for this in red as is shown for $3649 (new!).............niceeeeee! (regular style atv and lowest cost). my cousin has a old 300 polaris and it has all the power i would want and this unit has 4x4 capability !

http://wholesaleatv.com/product/tao-tao-300-4x4/

That's a good price! Far cheaper than here...

http://www.powersportsmax.com/produc...ducts_id/18024

[Swampy]

Had some time to work on the black Quad last night. 2LZ and his TT teardown got me to thinking about the razor thin zip ties holding all the various wiring to the frame plus I had a flat to plug and a Tach to install. Of course as I started removing parts and pieces other little issues began to pop up. Do you think this intake hose between the airbox and carb was “choking” the engine?