Taotao Rhino, what problems have you had?
 

Nearly 200 hours on the Rhino and this is what has gone wrong so far:

Choke lever on left handlebar control broke. Modified and fixed.

Front shock stopped dampening. Replaced with a $68 pair from eBay.

Tail light broke off. Replaced with $7 ATV light from eBay.

One of the 4 rear rack supports broke, the part that holds the welded nut at the bottom. Will weld when I get home in the spring. Held tight with a bungi cord for the time being so it doesn't rattle.

Pilot jet in carb clogged twice. 10 minute clean out once the stupid "tamper proof" float bowl screws were slotted. Wonder what the repair shops do when a customer brings in a rig with a clogged pilot jet in a sealed carb? Replace the whole carb?

repairs
 

I would guess a lot of the problems are self induced.... broke choke lever... they do not break by themselves... using the regular gas will plug the carb... premium does not you can use a extra fuel filter incase it is just dirt from the bottom of your gas can... as the weld breaking... can be from the poor weld .. or tress,, and a loose bolt or tension from mounting.... small price to pay for the joys of riding,,,,, enjoy .. the tamperproof screws are not needed to remove when premium and clean fuel used.... spend the extra money for the right fuel and save your self some trouble and work... I do not mean to sound like I am giving you heck... but this is the stuff you have to do due to EPA and the low fuel...

shocks replacement
 

I forgot .. yes the shocks are shitty... your new ones are probadly better...

Only problem I have had so far is with the Rhino is the footbrake/start/safety switch. Mine is getting rusted inside from all the stream crossings. Have to diddle with it to get it to start.

Had an issue with the battery not holding a charge but the winch I installed is the culprit. It is remote operated only so it takes a little power for the standby. Disconnected one lead for now and the battery held a charge for one month to the next start/riding. Have a power cutoff switch to install on the lead to resolve this.

The foot brake light switch is a standard motorcycle part. I've broken a few on various bikes so I bought 5 off eBay for under $1 each.

The minor problems I've had with the Rhino are indeed minor for me, being a mechanic.

Rack support is a quick fix once I get home to my garage and welder.

The choke lever unit is held together by a machine screw threaded into about 3mm of plastic. If you try to snug it up enough so the lever stays where you put it the plastic threads just pull out. It's a common design on Chinese bikes but not a good design. Better to just have the ball detent and use the lever on the carb.

The shocks are a wear item and aren't expected to last forever. The new ones work better and were cheaper than OEM shocks.

I know sealed carbs are a way to get EPA approval but it's still stupid. A spec of dust will clog the tiny pilot jet orifice. I suppose a sledge hammer blow to the float bowl stands some chance of dislodging it.

BTW all the gas used in the Rhino is premium stored in clean plastic 5 gallon cans.

Did you replace the fuel lines? The fuel lines that come on these china bikes are garbage and pieces of rubber will flake off and get in the carb.

So,,, my rhino, 1 year old btw,
New taillight due to rocks, reinstalled chain twice as never tightened the frame bolts after each ride from hell, only about 25hrs on it but guarantee the trails in Upstate NH would convert those 25hrs to about 300 easily..
I switched the oil to the diesel rotella, changed the plug to NGK, and yes the carb upon arrival immediately got messed up so TXPOWER sports sent me a new one and running perfectly.
BTW in MA there's only gas with ethanol in it,,Its MA land of the liberals please don't forget,, so I go to NH to buy only "ethanol free" gas at a local airfield for 5.50 a gallon, and the ATV's as I have 3, run PERFECTLY!!!
DO NOT run gas w ethanol in them, their carbs will foul asap as mine did, and the fuel container was brand new from the store to the gas station and it still messed up in no time.

OOps one last,, I changed all the batteries over to YUSA batteries that fit,,,much better longevity now.

When I bought it, I swapped the carb, filter and muffler out right away. No problems other than the original batteries are garbage but that's to be expected. It's seen some serious abuse on our hill dragging trees up to the burn pile and hauling full carts and no complaints. Been worth every penny so far.

A little off topic, and perhaps Flashlightboy can answer this since he deals in Taotao, but is the newest Rhino a 200cc? According to their website, it is, but Taotao tends to fudge things on their website, although going from a 229cc to a 200cc wouldn't be in their best interest to 'brag' about. If I recall, the chain used to be a 520, but is now a 428?

My 10 year old Taotao ATA250D was supposed to be a 250. The engine was stamped 171FMM, but it measures out as a 200 with the bore being 63.5mm. Haven't pulled the head on the Rhino to measure but there is no reason to believe the 167FMM stamp on the engine is correct. Probably wouldn't make a noticeable difference anyway.

The ATA250D used a 428 chain and the Rhino uses a 530 chain. I've switched mine to a 428 in order to get the desired gear ratio.

motor
 

will try to find out... I quess the serial number would tell you as they will only pass on the info as they get it...... I was told that the 250 cc( real one ) has no EPA certification for North America,,,,,,,,, CF MOTO would not pay to get it done... this was from my source at KANDI in California,.,,,, CF said you pay for the EPA CERT IF you want t o import it in North AMerica.... so they use the 200 cc .. in th e dune buggies and atvs... for KANDI & TAOTAO .. and GIO stuff.... they have 300 cc atvs

Clutch cable broke at the lever today, at least several strands are broken. I give it 10 more pulls until it breaks completely.

The reason the clutch cable broke is because the barrel end is too small for the hole in the lever. When the lever is pulled, instead of twisting it hangs up and bends the cable strands. The original cable that came new on the quad was not correct, it doesn't match the clutch lever.

cable???
 

what would you do to change this???

Most likely the original cable end was the type that has a Teflon sleeve around it to let it pivot easier in the lever. That sleeve was either not installed at the factory or it came apart and fell out. The new cable should have the correct standard end to fit the lever. Will find out if I can figure out how to get one down here in Arizona.

In the mean time I removed the clutch cable from the Trail 90 I have with me and improvised a way to make it work using a spare spoke from the 90.

Another thing to add. The lower ball joint rubber covers have cracked open which will allow dirt to enter and wear to occur. Really thought they would last a year at least. I've covered the cracks with liquid electrical tape for now but need to find a source for rubber covers that will last a bit longer.

grease
 

if you want to do something about the ball joints... drill a hole and add a grease nipple... to keep dirt out.. you might be able to find boots for them on line or ebay.. mxmottoparts?? but usually not.. the whole a arm.. replacement.. lots of dealers for the cable.. ship it to you.. eagleparts.com is the TAOTAO PARTS dealer in the USA..

Grease nipples won't work in the type of ball joints or tie rod ends used on the Rhino, at least I couldn't get them to work. I tried. They use a plastic insert to keep tension on the ball and there isn't enough room to screw in a zerk. I did have to replace the lower A arms/ball joints on my ATA250D last year because they were worn out.

Lots of sellers on Ebay for the clutch cable and one is on the way, I hope. Its difficult to get packages delivered down here in Arizona while camping out for the winter. Post offices in the area won't do general delivery.

I should be clear that the problems I've had with the Rhino are very minor and do not take away from the great bang for the buck you get when you buy one. I'd buy another one in a heartbeat. It might be useful for someone thinking about buying one to know what little things they may have to deal with.

grease nipplie
 

is the bottom of the ball joint not steel??? .. it is hard steel ,.,, need a good bit to drill.. and then tap.. I have done it before.... or one of those grease needles... to insert grease... to wash out the dirt and water that gets in there..

The ball joint bottoms are sheet steel crimped in place. Easy to drill but there isn't enough space between the sheet steel and the ball itself for threads to bite and hold the zerk. Needles through the rubber would work if the rubber would stay in tact, but it's falling apart. I'll figure something out when I get home in March. In the meantime I've slathered some liquid electrical tape over the cracks.

Got the new clutch cable and will install it today.

Swing arm cracked at about 250 hrs, much of it bouncing over large rocks. Cracked in the same place as the ATA250D. Had it welded by the same shop in Arizona so it probably won't happen again. Good thing to check before every ride.

Do you have a picture of the crack on either ATV so we know where to look for it?

I'm a little concerned about mine with all the towing I do with the Rhino.

I didn't get a pic of the latest crack before welding but here's the ATA250D crack starting in the same place, just in front of the sprocket.

http://chinariders.net/picture.php?a...&pictureid=635

Thanks for the pic.. much appreciated.

Right front outer wheel bearing disintegrated yesterday. About 280 hours on the quad. Bearing is a 6003-2RS. Sourced one locally and ordered several to keep on the shelf.

When calling around for parts I found the pricing very interesting. Carquest $39, NAPA $35, the Yamaha shop $117 (not kidding), eBay $10 for 10 bearings with free shipping.

Well, I experienced my very first, completely unacceptable failure with my Rhino.
I found the taillight hanging by the wires.
I may have to have a couple tonight to deal with the depression and utter frustration.

bearing failures can be reduced greatly by cleaning and greasing after each ride but we all know most people won’t do that lol. I let my kids ride about 3 hrs on there brand new quads before checking the bearings. I found that almost every bearing had little to no grease in it. I since bought spares and checked a few right out of the package to find the same thing barely any grease in them. I highly recommend staying on top of greasing every moving part

One of the rear axle bearings froze up and the axle spun inside it which damaged the axle. 311 hours on the Rhino. Ordered a new axle and bearings for about $95 total.

TXPower sent you a new carb? The first one I just assembled is leaking from the overflow. Do you think they will do the same for me? TIA

The new to me Rhino has a much smaller led taillight.

ohhhhh You hit a soft spot,,
I would definitely call them! I spoke to manny was his name.


The issue with mine was it would start and idle, but the second it was put in gear and given throttle, bang,, it would choke out. So I called and followed their instructions of what to adjust, in what sequence, and with no luck, and then it was a "must be bad gas" excuse line, but they sooner realized it was an internal carb component and nothing external was going to correct it, and might I add I paid extra to have them prep and check everything? and it happened right out of the box.
Now if it was a normal fix adjustment I would have caught it, and I get its not worth the time, but I got pissed with every other "adjustment" then a gallon of locktite on everything that moves, then modifications, and the list goes on.....
Now there are a few schools of thought and keep in mind I'm 30+ year turbine machinist so tools and the such are like breathing,,
With my issue why didn't I just pick up my sockets and drivers and remove the carb, then drill out the set screws that were installed (so they could beat the EPA and get the units in the USA instead of spec-ing out a carb compliant model for another $12), then use my carb needle cleaner kit on the float system to see If there's potentially some debris stuck in a needle valve or torqued float valve in the bowl housing, then rebuild then reinstall and tune with another 2hrs out of my day,,ya,,NO!!!
CALL THEM! you paid for a new functioning unit, and yes I get that compared to the cost of a fully R&D/engineered/time tested unit ours are pretty much free but that doesn't mean they're off the hook for a bit of responsibility, and yes I again understand we love to tinker and fix and modify and so on...but fact remains, you paid for a functioning new unit and when they told you the price, you paid the whole amount and they got all of it, now they need to give you at the least a fully functioning unit.
I'll step off my soapbox now,,, and I hope I put some fire under your keister to hold them to their end of the bargain!
PS- I have 3 with no regrets and torture mine to no end!

These things sit for a long time in containers and warehouses before being sold so many times, right out of the box, the pilot jets are clogged. Hence, start, idle, no go.

The stock carbs are garbage and I'm not sure about anywhere else other than CA but not only are the bowl screws the little snap-off bastards but they red lock-tited the slide nut so I had to use a prop torch and channel locks to get the damn thing off so I could get the cable out to replace the whole mess.

Switching to a Mikuni VM26 for about 30.00 cures all ills and are easily jettable. Worth the upgrade. It will also eliminate that thumb choke that always comes loose so the little bolt hits the ground.

Manny has a long history and reputation of being a mega-sheister here. After what he did to Azhule, buyer beware.

I second what 2LZ stated. Great upgrade for the money.... My Rhino pepped right up with it installed.

I will give TXPower a call tomorrow. Also going to search up that VM26 and some jets. In case it gets sked I did put pure gas (non ethanol) fresh with a shot of Stabil and a shot of MMO so the valves get a bit of lube for break in. I hope to have unit number two assembled this weekend.

Adding insult to injury on the Rhino carburetors. The second unit has a stuck slide. There is some kind of glue substance in the bore. I had a hell of a time getting the slide out. Going to see if acetone will get it out and then WD-40 the slide and see if it frees up. Glad I did not try to start this one prior to checking operation!!

Got the new axle from Partskit but looks like the bearings fell out of the damaged box. They evidently just tossed the axle and bearings in a box with no packing to keep it from bouncing around and poking holes in the box.

Also I noticed that the right side hub splines are slowly being damaged by being pushed too far onto the axle. I'll make a support tube to slip over the axle like I did on the ATA250D.

any pics of the fix for future use?

Acetone cleaned the carb bore and slide perfectly and this second unit runs great. It flies, starts right up. I agree with everyone on the Rhino gearing. Guess I am going to have to shell out the bucks to WGS for the chain and sprockets. I wish Tao Motor would put those 11-37 on from the factory.

No pics handy. I just cut a piece of 1" galvanized or black iron pipe to fit over the right hand side of the axle. It butts up against the axle nuts on the inside.