Wife said Yes! Now need help

[Aguaski]

This is my first post but I have been lurking around this forum for about a year. Most of my lurking has been in the Dual Sport area where I have settled that I will eventually purchase one of the 250 cc Dual Sports cloned from the Honda CG engine. As I lurked these forums I never told my wife about my desire to get a Dual Sport for fear she would shoot the idea down. Last weekend I told my wife I wanted a Dual Sport and asked if she wanted to join me on the trails. Surprisingly she said yes but with a catch. The catch is she doesn’t want a Dual Sport for herself and would prefer a traditional ATV that is ultra simple to drive, ideally an automatic transmission. While I feel I have educated myself about Chinese Dual Sports, I am at the beginning of my research on ATV’s and need some help finding the right machine. Some additional information:

- My wife is turning 50 years old, she is 5’6” and about 135 pounds
- My wife can drive a manual transmission car, but she is concerned about learning how to drive a manual ATV
- My wife is the farthest thing from a Dare Devil. She wants to explorer fire roads and other trails of equivalent difficulty. She doesn’t have a desire to become an advanced rider
- I am not a master mechanic but I don’t have an issue swinging wrenches. I’m a typical shade tree guy that learns by making mistakes. These Chinese bikes don’t scare me and actually sound like a fun way to tinker.

There are about 5 local powersports businesses selling Chinese stuff in my area. I am most likely to order an ATV for delivery and assemble it myself but it is nice to visit these stores with my wife and let her sit on them. Yesterday we looked at a midsize Coolster Mountopz 125 cc and the full size 150 cc version. She won’t be ripping through trails, but are these bikes powerful enough? She liked the feel of the midsize 125 cc better. My thought is the extra 25 cc in the full-size version will make a nominal difference because of the extra weight it has to push. The midsize 125 cc may even feel more powerful.

I have only considered Coolster because they are available locally but I’m not married to the brand. Some questions about these Coolsters:

- What is the original motor that Coolster is cloning on their ATV’s?
- Are these Coolster ATV’s any good
- Any known issues?
- Any must do mods that should be immediately implemented?
- Are there other ATV makes I should consider?
- How well do the automatic transmissions work? Should I insist she get comfortable with a manual or semi-automatic transmission? The simpler I keep it the more likely she is to embrace trail riding with me. I like what I have read about the Tao Rhino 250 but it appears that bike is only available in a manual transmission.

Sorry for some many questions. I’m sure I’ll have more.

[PANDEMIC]

look at the TaoTao Bull 200 not much for color options but great size motor and extra upgrades for very little extra it even had a speedo and is automatic http://www.taotao.us/index.cfm/atvs/bull200/

[goldstryker88]

I agree with PANDEMIC...Sounds like Tao Tao Bull would fit the bill perfectly. My boy had a Coolster 125cc. He outgrew it in no time.I still have my Roketa 150 which has an automatic trans. My wife drives it and she is only going on the type of trails you mentioned. For what it's worth...150cc minimum for an adult.

[Weldangrind]

Welcome, Aguaski.
You have violated two prime rules in your first post; you shared your wife's age and weight. For your personal security, I encourage you to never repeat that mistake.


IIRC, the 125 you looked at is cloned from the Honda 50 and 70cc horizontal motors. Our Chinese friends have poked them out to 125 and beyond, but they retain the original motor mounts of the 50/70 architecture.


The 150 is based on a scooter motor. The rear wheel on a scooter mounts to the rear of the engine/trans assembly, right on the output shaft. On an ATV, that is where the sprocket is mounted. The model you looked at probably even has a planetary reverse device mounted to the shaft, which is a bonus.


My wife has a similar machine and she loves riding it. The CVT belt drive means no gears or clutch and reverse makes the whole thing a pleasure. Ours even has a backup kick start on it, which can be easily retrofitted if you buy one that is not similarly equipped.


About 10 years ago, I used ours for towing jr. dragsters at the track. My son and I rode two-up on the ATV while towing dragsters about 1/2 mile back to the pits. It never complained.

[Aguaski]

Thanks for the comments. I did feel like I was breaking a rule when I provided that information. Hopefully my wife never visits this forum. Great information here.

[uphill]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

Welcome, Aguaski.
You have violated two prime rules in your first post; you shared your wife's age and weight. For your personal security, I encourage you to never repeat that mistake.


IIRC, the 125 you looked at is cloned from the Honda 50 and 70cc horizontal motors. Our Chinese friends have poked them out to 125 and beyond, but they retain the original motor mounts of the 50/70 architecture.


The 150 is based on a scooter motor. The rear wheel on a scooter mounts to the rear of the engine/trans assembly, right on the output shaft. On an ATV, that is where the sprocket is mounted. The model you looked at probably even has a planetary reverse device mounted to the shaft, which is a bonus.


My wife has a similar machine and she loves riding it. The CVT belt drive means no gears or clutch and reverse makes the whole thing a pleasure. Ours even has a backup kick start on it, which can be easily retrofitted if you buy one that is not similarly equipped.


About 10 years ago, I used ours for towing jr. dragsters at the track. My son and I rode two-up on the ATV while towing dragsters about 1/2 mile back to the pits. It never complained.

Man, impressive review on a 150 machine! I've been wondering if I bought more than I needed with my Rhino. Got it mainly for pulling firewood, chips and whatever else goes in the dump cart around here. But endless starts / stops, short bursts etc. make me think auto trans would REALLY be nice! Just not diggin' the idea of infinite clutching in my future especially with a spinal injury that gives me impaired left hand movement. I can handle it, been riding for years, but not the best for sure. Besides that, one more maintenance component for my little to no wrenching skills.

What do you think? Should I seek a trade? If so, what exactly would you recommend?

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by uphill

Man, impressive review on a 150 machine! I've been wondering if I bought more than I needed with my Rhino. Got it mainly for pulling firewood, chips and whatever else goes in the dump cart around here. But endless starts / stops, short bursts etc. make me think auto trans would REALLY be nice! Just not diggin' the idea of infinite clutching in my future especially with a spinal injury that gives me impaired left hand movement. I can handle it, been riding for years, but not the best for sure. Besides that, one more maintenance component for my little to no wrenching skills.

What do you think? Should I seek a trade? If so, what exactly would you recommend?

I have a 2014 Coolster 150 ATV. We use it to tow a small trailer around and have tow a couple of big name brand ATV's that broke down while riding in the spillway. It's like the little engine that could. lol. Only things I have had to do were replace the battery after 2 years, replace rear brake pad, lube the chain and change the oil. Not bad for being 3 1/2 years old.

[uphill]

NICE! Coolster is pretty much the same frame size as the Rhino?

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by uphill

NICE! Coolster is pretty much the same frame size as the Rhino?

Pretty close. The TaoTao Bull 200 comes with the 169cc GY6 engine which is the same as on our Cazador 180 UTV and has even more pulling power.

[uphill]

Yeah that new Bull looks good. Thanks for the replies!