what sort of use and what weight will it be towing... 

If beach sand driving you will probably need a 4wd model..

no not the beach, for the wife's horses poo that is moved by wheel barrow at the moment, I can get more fishing days if she can pick up the horse poo without me...lol
No need for 4wheel drive. Probably pulling about 150kg in the trailer max.

Ah in that case a cheapie will do just fine...

down the road from me has some sweet looking polaris atv's with trailers in the shop - I remember seeing a polaris dealer in midvale when I did a delivery to pacific freight? No idea if polaris is good or not, but it is stuck in mind for one reason or another.....

one with a towball then most farm quads will have them and unless you get a chinese quad, it aint gonna be cheap unless you go secondhand and the jap models(yami, honda) are semi auto not full auto but for towing a semi  will be much much better

I just look, haven't priced one and polaris is basically all I have looked at because it is at the mow shop near work when I put my mower in for a service.

best of luck with your quest!

i wouldnt bother with the cheap chinese ones as they fall apart real quick. if your budget is $2500 have a look in the quakka.you can get some great deals in there

thanks for good advise guys, I'll watch the quokka and local papers for a second hand Jap one then.

Hi Tony,

I used to manage a business importing Chinese bikes (2 and 4 wheel) and selling through a licensed dealership.  There is a big range in the quality of Chinese bikes, and price is usually a good indicator - ie. really cheap = really crappy (although you can get dealers selling crap at inflated prices).  The better Chinese stuff is still not as good as Japanese, but then buying secong hand Japanese bikes can be a lottery unless you know the seller or some sort of (reliable) warranty is offered.  There is no requirement for a dealer to provide a warranty on off-road bikes - even brand new.

If buying Chinese quads to pull a trailer, stay away from the "sports" types because the gearing is all wrong for that use.  You would be better off with a "farm style" quad.  And definitely stay away from any farm quad that has a reverse that is operated by cable to the rear diff.  They give heaps of grief.  Get one with reverse operated by a lever on the gear box itself.

The Loncin motors you refer to are one of the better Chinese motors.  Jianshe is another.  However, there are still many crap quads with Loncin/Jianshe motors.  You need to look at the whole unit.

There are a couple of Perth based dealers of Chinese bikes that are definitely worth staying away from.  They love to sell a bike, then don't want to know you when you have a problem.  PM me if you need more info on this.  And definitely do not buy a quad in a box from a private seller (ie. not a licensed dealer).  It is illegal for backyarders to sell new bikes, and they will almost certainly never have parts and know nothing about the bikes.  Similarly, I would only buy from a licensed dealer who can satisfy you that they carry spare parts, has in house mechanics and is capable of rectifying any warranty/service issues.  I have seen cases where importers bring in bikes only (no parts), and when an engine needed a new piston, the owner had to buy a whole new engine (from another supplier) because no suitable piston (Chinese or otherwise) was available in Australia. And definitely stay away from eBay.  I have loads of horror stories to relate about eBay purchases that were brought to our business to fix because the owner could not get any warranty support or parts from the eBay seller.

So, bottom line is if I was going to buy a bike that was going to get a lot of use, I would go Japanese, preferably new or a second hand one that has been checked over by a mechanic.  But if it is going to get light or irregular use, the better Chinese ones will do the job at a significantly lower price.

What started as a simple reply has turned in to a bit of a screed, but hope it helps.  Peter 

a honda foreman 400 thats about 10 years old and is 4x4 and is a excellent farm bike and the 4x4 is so much better the thing goes almost anywhere and it handles the gascoyne river banks and plough holes(which are very boggy) very good and has a fitting for the towball.

since the farm style bikes have a lot less power than the race styles at the same displacement a 400cc would not be bad, the forman is not a dangerous quad and not very fast but its semi auto and will make light work of any job

look at some older farm bikes like the honda forman or trx 350s, the old honda engines are bulletproff

Well got a great deal from Steve at Midland, he has a full workshop, spares and knows his stuff. The motor is a Loncilin 150cc 4 stroke and easy stroke enough in the Farm quad set-up, with small tipper trailer to go with it.

thanks for all the advice, but at the end of the day the Jap ones where $5K and up and this was half the price, came with a 12 months warranty and is pretty well made, has an internal reverse gear etc.

Now to find me a motor for my Tender.

oh and while the wife was happy, I bought me a new boat too...
one Bertram 25 coming in the next few days, 415hp mercruiser MPI in it, needs some TLC and new electrics, but the FADS are now in reach. Just need to get the hull and motor inspection through.

cheers

He work in a shop that sells them

 try this number 0420973392 i will tell him when he gets home