The new Typhoon 125 mini quad was scheduled to be ready for us to do a complete ride review and evaluation on, but delays getting them in the country had our dealer bringing us a Typhoon 90 to ride. The 125's are being fitted with stronger transmission gearing according to our source and will offer the buyer a 1 year warranty on the bottom end. While I could not confirm this, this is the information being released by an Xtreme dealer, and would benefit anyone purchasing the 125 model.
Never one to back away from a free day thrashing a quad, I tried to go into this with a completely open mind and see what we could find on the 90 model as it shares everything it's big brother will have to offer us except the larger displacement engine and the upgraded transmission. The dealer had broken in the engine and had set the Typhoon 90 up for sale, so this made a perfect test mule for our young rider to wring out.
Looking over the Typhoon had most people pointing out the obvious benefits the quad offers. Dual fully adjustable control arms, piggy back reservoir shocks that boast 7 inches of wheel travel and a unique rear suspension that utilizes what Xtreme calls its "Pit Pro Geometry". A closer inspection revealed a rear end set up that places a linkage type system that mates the pitbike shock to a quad style swing arm. This is obviously a pitbike that wanted to grow up to be a quad, and while it may be different then other models on the market, it actually did not preform all that bad when you consider the amount of work that went into making all the different components work together. This could lead to some having trouble working on the quad themselves, however it is all pretty basic. The rear master cylinder which operates the Single Hydraulic Disc rear brake looks complicated but I am happy to report that it worked and did not bind.
Our test rider was eager to get on the dirt for some riding, but we had to make a small change that you may notice in the pictures. Removal of the left brake lever was needed due to our test rider wanting to grab a handful of clutch which is not offered on this model. The first ride would be on a small pitbike track that offered very tame jumps so that he could get accustomed to the handling of the machine.
The restrictors were fully removed and the quad was jetted to run at our altitude. It's exhaust note is much louder then most new stock mini's quad's, and when compared to the Xtreme line of pitbike we found it to be of the same design. The center core of the silencer started rattling after 15 minutes of riding and will need to be re-welded in place.
The dealer had installled the 4th gear modifaction but informed us that after his testing he had to remove it due to an issue so we would be running the 3 speed as it came from the factory. There has been reported issues with this tranny having notchy shifting and while our rider found it difficult to shift under load, we found no failures during our testing.
The basic shake down ride did have our rider coming back into view carrying one of the heel gaurds that broke free from it's mounting, with the other being removed to prevent it from coming off during the harder riding sessions we were about to demand of this atv.
Before hitting the larger track, our rider complained of front end slop. Upon inspection we found the stem bushing to be the culprit. It appears the front neck found on the pitbike chassis is utilized on the quad chassis but uses a plastic bushing in place of a bearing set. This allowed the stem to be moved in a circular motion that made the handle bars go easily a 1/4 inch in a 360 degree arc. The dealer stated that he believed a shim would take up the slack but we opted to test the atv as it was sent to the public and would not wait for it to be repaired.
The larger track we tested on is designed for youth quad's under 200cc and would provide us with enough challenge to see what the 90 engine and the chassis had to offer us.
Our riders initial comments:
After my first few laps I thought the quad had really bad understeer. The first berm I hit at speed I thought the quad was going to flip as the front end dived on me. After I got used to the way it steered, it started doing better as I made the riding style changes needed to make it perform"
We checked over the front end to see if anything was obviously wrong and we found that the dealer had not set the front end up as well as it could have been. A properly set up front suspension can make all the difference in the world, but again, we opted to run the quad as it was delivered to us and base our evaluation on the complete package as any consumer would find in the marketplace.
The rear suspension claims 6.5 inches of travel and we used every inch of it. The design works to a point, but we found it to get very hard towards the bottom of its travel.
The Typhoon line comes stock with race ready tires and rims that are commonplace on most MX mini's.
The Xtreme dealer noticed smoke, and showed concern. The quad had not been run hard enough yet to pulled from the track so we decided to keep our testing schedule going and watch for anything more that could arise from the issue. After the first 15 minute track session, we checked all fluid levels and air filter and found nothing that indicated a problem.
The smoking issue never caused a power loss and it got no worse so we were instructed to keep riding it.
During one of our first inspections, the dealer started pointing out what he felt were areas that needed attention from the manufacture. Not excluding the stem play, welds were found to be sub par on several areas of the chassis.
An area on the swing arm started flaking chrome, and the dealer suspected a crack developing. It did not show any signs of a crack at the end of the day, but chrome flaking could be caused by stress.
The swing arm uses a round style carrier and is a huge improvement over the current models on the market. Our dealer pointed out that Xtreme does not send a spanner wrench for chain adjustments, and none of the one's he has would fit it. This is something I feel Xtreme should include with the tool kit.
I did not pay any attention to the nerf nets, but several parents that looked the quad over asked about replacement nets. These are sewn on and everyone said they would have prefered a more conventional set up. The pegs on the factory nerfs are wide, long and plenty sharp.
The front shocks had prospective buyers interests as the colors really made them stand out. A browse through the manual revealed no adjustment set up advice and from what we could tell were only ride height adjustable.
Our riders comments on the suspension:
The shocks were to soft all the way around for me. They bottomed out on every jump, the rear was not as bad. Bouncy on the straights and where braking bumps were but rideable.
Reply With Quote