New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

I'm looking at picking up a quad bike so i can get into a few spots for prospecting.

I'm pretty keen on either a Honda or Yamaha. My uncle used to work in a Yamaha shop and my Grandad always had Yamahas that were trade in at Yamaha. I know to look for signs of rollovers. And to stay clear of bikes off dairy farms and ones that have been on beaches.

What i'm wondering is how big a CC engine i need. I used to rides ones that were 250-350 cc which were ok round flats and rolling hills towing a trailer. I will need to hit some pretty rough steep stuff, not necessary with a trailer.

The second thing i'm concerned about is how many kms is ok. there's heaps at about 25k. i realise it depends on how it's been ridden but i presume it's like cars where certain things need replaced or serviced at certain points. I'm willing to spend a bit more for something reliable that can hit the hills. Walking back to town might be a long walk.

Any tips much appreciated.

Don't know enough about standard quads but in the years I had bikes it would be Yamaha, Honda Suzuki,Kawasaki (at a push) in my opinion.
Sounds like you know what to look for and as said K's are unreliable as farmers tend to leave them idling for ages.
Have to say made me cringe when I read Steep and Quad in the same post.

Suzuki king quad or a Honda trx 350-500 the auto kingquads are bloody good on the steep and nasty stuff chuck it in low and go for it no stuffing up gear changes. I don't see the point in avoiding dairy farm bikes you can tell by looking at a bike if its been looked after or not.

Id say have a look into the can-am bikes,my brother has one and it is a bloody tough bike,very strong build,a lot tougher than standard Japanese,plus they have a few extras,but if your looking at Japanese id advise you go for a Honda,proven track record as far as the quads go,trx 400 or something like that,my brother had a trx for a few years for rabbit shoots on a sheep station and then upgraded to can-am and he swears by the can-am now,Im a 2 wheeler man myself,hell of a lot safer when you climbing hills and they don't roll far if you come a gutser

i looked at can am, but couldnt get past how the back swing arm is attached to the chasis, it seemed to me as if i rolled it ( which happens ) it would shunt the diff side ways. the other thing was that it only had a brake lever on one side of the handle bars, and on steep hills i some times have to get off and ''walk" the bike, it did have alot of hp for the size of the engines (rotax motor) and good auto diffs. i voted for kingquad as my last one had done 25000ks and over 2000hours, before i rolled it several times down a steep hill, i still rode it home, however insurance wrote it off as the chasis was cracked and twisted. i bought another one as in that 25000kms i had one $200 auto belt changed and no other maintenance was needed, i work it pretty hard spraying, night shooting and towing 560kg oat bin daily in the winter. we still have an old klf300 that is slow and uncomfortable compared to the kingquad 750, but is still very sure footed and agile on the steep stuff, and these bikes can be picked up for 1500 ish. my neighbores night shooter loves the klf300 and has used that model for about 10 years. as you mentioned yamaha, i have spent alot of time on bigbear (350's) back in the rabbit poison days before r.c.d , and of the four we had we never killed one, we use to tow a poison ploughs loaded to the hilt with bags of oats all day, they use to get so hot you would have your feet up by the front carrier so you didnt burn! they took alot of punishment. most bikes will do a good job for you as long as they have good brakes and descent tyres ( something like kenda bearclaws are good on hills), anyway take this with a grain of salt, as most quads are pretty reliable.

We use quads a lot at work, id say a Suzuki 300 not to expensive, unfortunately not the most powerful but they are reliable, stable on the hill and easy to maneuver, we have Honda 350 and 420 both great Quads 420 has plenty of power and stable as.