Has anyone owned a Quad before, and if so whats best Auto or Manual?

I've driven a few different vehicles, bikes etc off road years ago, but never had a manual one before, thinking of getting one, any input would be great thanks

 

Manual if your confident with the gearing,

 

Never driven a manual quad or bike so would be first time

 

what are you using it for ?

if its to take to a track or hammering about a big field or something manual is great , any of the bikes you will be looking at for this will be manual anyway probly ,

If its a big farm bike for touring about , or more leisurly stuff , semi auto or auto will be easier to live with

 

Thinking for road use mainly just abit of fun for summer really

 

Imo, they have a very limited appeal, fun for about 15mins - they have quite dangerous road manners

I used to drive a proper 250cc 4 wheel drive Kawasaki - and it was a handful

They would be OK used as designed - I.e a mini all terrain tractor, used as a workhorse for transporting stuff around the estate/garden

I have a 50cc one for the kids, again fun for about 15 mins (and quite dangerous)

Bit like land based "wet bikes" looks fun, but endless donughts and inane circling makes you look and feel like a bit of a t1t

All IMO - your mileage may vary!!!

 

How you mean handful? You mean on edge driving?


Only ever driven off road 50cc, just fancied one to use mainly on road for short trips weekend fun.Did you use your 250cc on road?

 

they don't really like turning

 

Ah ok, did you use yours off road or on road?

 

Had an auto 150cc one when I was quite a bit younger for field use, was good fun.. not sure i'd buy another one though at an older age unless it was purely for working use on the land.

 

Ah sorry missed this, no off road mainly - the Kawasaki was fully road legal, but was 4x4, so on the Tarmac it was really hard to turn,

I am sure the rear wheel drives are less of a handful

I agree with sunny, if you need them for work or doing a job, then quite nice way of covering ground,

But simply going for a "burn" - I think the the excitement would wear off, a 250cc trails bike would be much more fun

 

Depends what you need one for... I've got a manual 4wd Honda 420 Fourtrax. A farmer in the next village who I know has the same but his is electric shift and he has told me that he wishes he stuck with the manual. I can't comment on an auto but for farming I'd much rather have a manual. With the electric shift your hands are always tied up but with the manual you've got a free hand which is useful for spot spraying with a lance and various other jobs etc. I wouldn't like an auto in soft fields going up a wet grass hill. All irrelevant anyway as you're looking at road use .

 

Cheers for info, kind of going off idea. But part of me still wants to try one for abit. Just for local driving was planning just keep to height of summer

 

The best thing would be to go on one of the dirt tracks that you see - and rent one

Or rent one on holiday

Or maybe pick a dirt cheap one of ebay and run it for the summer

 

as mentioned, certainly not a relaxed drive on the roads, you have to hang off them on every corner to just get round, they are ok off road but 2 wheels are better for both imo.

 

Ok thanks for advise, would love a bike but not driven one for years and only driven 50cc, thought bout a 125 but just too dangerous i''m sure i'd come off

As regards how less dangerous a quads on the road i can't say

 

4wd quads are great off road if you're already an experienced motorbike rider, good for covering ground and looking at the scenery when on holiday, I have done two such trips in NZ and Sinai desert, under any other conditions you'll need to be quite a good rider otherwise they can be quite dangerous, Ask Ozzy Osbourne and someone else famous who's name escapes me.

On tarmac they are a bit of a nightmare in anything other than a straight line and you'll chew through the tyres like all buggery, They are essentially designed to be driven on the throttle over lose / wet ground.

Quick way to kill or seriously injure yourself especially if you're a novice tooling about on the road without a helmet looking cool alternatively if you really want to kill yourself get a Honda 185 ATC like mine that'll do the job.

Oh and if you're riding a bike off road and you don't come off it at some stage, you're obviously not trying hard enough.

 

Rik Mayall

 

The idea of riding a quad bike along the highway without a helmet (or even with) as a form on 'transport' just screams chav and gypsy out to me.

 

Who cares, thats a poor reason not to have fun, to some people driving driving a Impreza is chavy, so your never going to please everyone.

 

from the comments

Brendan is comfortable in Dunedin hospital with a broken ball on his right hip which he has had surgery to reattach, has a broken right wrist, broken left leg between the knee & ankle that will require some screws, a broken left heel, a broken vertebrae L2 and damaged ribs……he is in good spirit and known even through it was a nasty accident the out come could have been even worse. Your footage is certainly a stark reminder to all of us who race quads how quickly things can go wrong