hauschild
05-31-2008, 12:10 PM
Guys,
I'm nearing the ripe old age of 40, so if you do the math, I was lucky to be in my teen's in the early-to-mid 1980's - when 3-wheelers were thriving and 4-wheelers were just coming onto the scene. Man, what a great time to have been a youth! Well, enough with the chivalry ...
Anyhow, I grew up on a farm so I was into the scene big-time. Since I graduated high school, I went from the service into college and for the past 10 years working non-stop in Chicago. I rarely go back up North anymore, although I do own a Honda 4x4 that I keep at Mom-n-Dad's up yonder.
A portion of my question is that I'm now pretty much clueless about the current crop of 4-wheelers in terms of all the proprietary brands I am seeing that I've never heard of, as well as the usual suspects and the reliability factors of all makes. I got a new TRX200 in 1983 that I literally rode day in an day out until 1987, when my younger brother took over. I believe the machine was sold to a neighbor and still runs! Are the mechanicals still very much the same in these mini-atv's, or has planned obsolecense taken root?
Now, I've got a nephew hitting 4 years old that I'd like to soon consider getting him a little mini-machine. He lives close to my parents, so he's always on the farm and my Dad has hundreds of acres to roam. I have a personal position that I feel getting kids involved early with mechanicals really entices their problem-solving skills later in life - just a theory. Is 4 years old too young? Should I let him be 4 and let him go thru the normal interation of getting a bicycle and learning how to ride that, and then slowly making the transition? Anybody understand where I'm coming from? I'm a stickler when it comes to protocol and I want to be the most efficient uncle I can be - lol.
So, any information on this and maybe some ideas about which models offer the most bang for the buck in terms of performance versus reliability - the standard fare.
Thanks guys!
I'm nearing the ripe old age of 40, so if you do the math, I was lucky to be in my teen's in the early-to-mid 1980's - when 3-wheelers were thriving and 4-wheelers were just coming onto the scene. Man, what a great time to have been a youth! Well, enough with the chivalry ...
Anyhow, I grew up on a farm so I was into the scene big-time. Since I graduated high school, I went from the service into college and for the past 10 years working non-stop in Chicago. I rarely go back up North anymore, although I do own a Honda 4x4 that I keep at Mom-n-Dad's up yonder.
A portion of my question is that I'm now pretty much clueless about the current crop of 4-wheelers in terms of all the proprietary brands I am seeing that I've never heard of, as well as the usual suspects and the reliability factors of all makes. I got a new TRX200 in 1983 that I literally rode day in an day out until 1987, when my younger brother took over. I believe the machine was sold to a neighbor and still runs! Are the mechanicals still very much the same in these mini-atv's, or has planned obsolecense taken root?
Now, I've got a nephew hitting 4 years old that I'd like to soon consider getting him a little mini-machine. He lives close to my parents, so he's always on the farm and my Dad has hundreds of acres to roam. I have a personal position that I feel getting kids involved early with mechanicals really entices their problem-solving skills later in life - just a theory. Is 4 years old too young? Should I let him be 4 and let him go thru the normal interation of getting a bicycle and learning how to ride that, and then slowly making the transition? Anybody understand where I'm coming from? I'm a stickler when it comes to protocol and I want to be the most efficient uncle I can be - lol.
So, any information on this and maybe some ideas about which models offer the most bang for the buck in terms of performance versus reliability - the standard fare.
Thanks guys!