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anyone for an (allegedy) road legal 250cc racing quad bike?
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01-07-2010 12:30pm#1they're Chinese made (like practically everything else these days) and available from an Irish supplier in Dublin for around €2200 + on the road costs and are apparently road legal in the EU and only require a (car) drivers license (not a bike one thanks to having 4 wheels) to take on the road once registered.
from www.microbike.ie (my comments added in blue)SPEEDBIRD ROAD LEGAL RACING QUAD 250 cm³_16,6 PS
Road Legal quad for 2 persons!!! (apparently)
Displacement: 250 cc,4 Stroke
Power: 16,6 PS - 12,5 KW
Transmission: 4 gears with reverse gear,manual clutch
Cooling: Water cooled
Start system: electric
Max speed: 80-100 km/h (rumours of up to 77mph with throttle adjustment, but take that with a pinch of salt)
when I showed it to a mate, he questioned the legality of not having mudguards totally covering the wheels but i'm not 100% sure about that.
it seems like it's classified like a bike in some respects and a car in others though which is a might confusing.
you'd have to wonder how it could be road legal with the exhaust regulations on it if it's a 'car' and not a bike and also those non-existent mudguards etc.
also, as it's classified as a car and not a bike, technically speaking you aren't even required to even wear a crash helmet riding one, although you'd have to be off your nut to ride it wearing anything other than what you'd normally use when riding a 2 wheeled bike.
the guy on www.microbike.ie seems very confident that you can ride them on the roads in Ireland and the UK once they're registered, so I was wondering what everyone thought about them?
they certainly look like they could be fun and might even work out as a handy, cheap and economical form of commuter transport for people given these recessionary times.
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i saw a couple of threads about the more traditional off-road quads, but these are the first ones I've seen that are designed for on-road use.
I'm thinking it might be worth waiting to see if they start to do any bigger ones, like 30% bigger quad overall (i.e. a longer wheelbase and a bit wider) with maybe a 500cc engine in it.
not sure what the regulations would be though, i know off-road quads can have bigger engines than 250cc, but i don't know about their on-road equivalent.
i've been looking at some of the chinese suppliers and although you can pick a single 'sample' unit up for around €1500 plus shipping etc. i don't know about the costs for shipping it over and VRT etc. so it might not actually save you anything AND you'd have a bit of self assembly when it arrived to boot.
they do also seem to do one or two 300-350cc models of similar spec but they don't actually seem to be any faster which is a bit f a let down.
if you were taking it on the road, you wouldn't want to be holding up the traffic on the N roads, although if it's true about the throttle tweaks giving you up to 70+ mph that wouldn't be too much of a problem.
they do also do a trike that's almost identical except for the no. of wheels.
not sure if trikes get the same licensing requirements though, although i don't suppose it's any different to a reliant robin aside from being back to front and lidless. 0 -
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they're Chinese made (like practically everything else these days) and available from an Irish supplier in Dublin for around €2200 + on the road costs and are apparently road legal in the EU and only require a (car) drivers license (not a bike one thanks to having 4 wheels) to take on the road once registered.
Unless they have a limited slip diff you'll be like this all the time.PaintDoctor wrote: »You can insure them through the Motorbike insurance companies, and tax them as a bike, but the legal definition makes them a car which means no mandatory helmet.
While that's true it's very hard to actually get a quote and even if you force them with the ombudsman they don't have to give a reasonable quote. Most people have them insured on farm policies, but I doubt these would qualify0 -
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Just as a word of warning and not trying to sound like a "I told you so" .. but the majority of chinese made bikes / scooters / Quads do not last at all .. and are quite difficult to get parts for.
I'm in the Philippines at the mo, where everyone is VERY cost conscious and its relatively easy to import from china ... not to mention little money for Bikes and Cars .. but also none for spares !
You can pick up chinese bikes trikes quads and mopeds for around 500 - 1000 USD brand spankin' new... even the locals don't bother buying the cheapies and rather go for the usual honda / Suzuki / Kawasaki due to reliability, durability and renowned compression issues with the chinese engines (don't get started on the suspension problems!).
If you have the money to splash out they are nice toys.. by all means, but be prepared to get a year or two max out of it with casual use before a rebuild or engine replacement.
The engines are Loncin mostly .. cheap even in china hehe.
Oh and there are much cooler models out there
i've seen 400cc varieties.
BTW lots mention Kawasaki .. generally its only the bodykit :P ...
Factor in the fact you'll probably end-up paying full whack for parking too and I doubt it'd probably last to its first NCT
And you'd wanna be nuts to consider driving one of these around without a helmet regardless what the law states.
How about one of these ?
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Hmm classified as a car. Manual clutch etc. So does that mean I can do my car test on one of these.
Must make reversing around a corner much easier in terms of visability etc. But I guess the same is true of a convertable. Would love to turn up in a car test with one of these. Would the tester have to climb on the back.
Wouldn't fancy the NCT much.0 -
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PaintDoctor wrote: »You can insure them through the Motorbike insurance companies, and tax them as a bike, but the legal definition makes them a car which means no mandatory helmet.
...legal def is 'quadricycle'........not a car If car, would have to have bumpers, lights upwards and outwards, and crash test...... Ode To The Motorist
“And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, generates funds to the exchequer. You don't want to acknowledge that as truth because, deep down in places you don't talk about at the Green Party, you want me on that road, you need me on that road. We use words like freedom, enjoyment, sport and community. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent instilling those values in our families and loved ones. You use them as a punch line. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the tax revenue and the very freedom to spend it that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise I suggest you pick up a bus pass and get the ********* ********* off the road”
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nG8LWFjENw
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