So, my circumstances, to set the scene.

Wife gets a new car every 2 years.

Children about to flee the nest.

For the past few years I have had a two seater (cheap) MX5. And I have enjoyed it. But now, maybe, is tim for a change.

I walk/bike to work most days, 3k, but once or twice a week, I have to travel 30k. So I’m considering a quad bike. Anyone have experience?

BB

They have a nasty tendency to turn over and land on top of you. You’d be safer on a motorbike.

You might consider a ride on mower too. Or a donkey?

Chavmungously naff.

WHy? eh? Why?

You’ll look like a proper bellend riding it, I wouldnt bother.

I’ve been involved in selling quads for a couple of years and unless you can afford either a Honda, Yamaha or Can Am be very careful. Almost all the others are unreliable nightmares if used regularly. Parts availability for Chinese made quads is almost non existent. Taiwanese quads are better but the main UK distributor for Access quads has gone bump so again parts and warranty will be tricky. They are great fun, easy to ride and cheap to run if you get a good one. My advice is be very careful unless you are mechanically minded and enjoy getting your hands dirty.

Tron, back in the day, maybe.

5th E, not sure what you mean?

CFH, judgemental as normal.

Strato, I explained in my post why, well I thought i had.

David T, anything meaningful to contribute?

Thanks Mattmbk.

BB

5th E, not sure what you mean?

A quad is a piece of agricultural equipment. Smaller than a tractor.

It is not normally considered a mode of transport.

Unless your commute is on unpaved roads it’s hard to imagine why you’d consider a quad.

OK, let me ask…. what is the attraction of a quad bike? I just don’t get it.

From where I sit/stand, they make a lot of noise compared to their speed and are ridden by fat gits who haven’t got the skill to ride a bike.

I’m sure there must be some great quad riders out there, but I ain’t seen one for real yet.

Only asking.

Surely they’re different beasts from bikes. I had a problem with my car last year in the middle of nowhere, race organisers came past on a quad and pulled the car up a small hill and gave it a tow start. I think they’d carry more off road, more safely, than a bike.
If the commute is off-road I imagine a good quad could be good fun. Not too sure about taking one on-road for commuting though, all of the disadvantages of being open to the elements and non of the advantages of cutting through the traffic.

Chavmungously naff, You’ll look like a proper bellend riding it + 1

I’ve seen some being ridden fairly swiftly on the roads and they look like fun to have a go on, but as ^ they seem to have all the disadvantages of a motorbike with few/none of the advantages.

Might be a little safer in the snow 😉

Strato. The reasons I am considering one;

Back in the day (I’m 50 now) I didn’t pass my bike test. i’m a biker at heart, and owned lots of big powerful bikes but none ridden legally. I’m embarrassed to say.

So, given the options are to stay as I am, in a convertible, do a direct access course and buy a bike, or buy a quad. Bearing in mind I am not in to riding quickly, and I like the idea of cheap running costs I thought about a road biased quad ………..

5thE …………. Have you looked at he latest quads? I agree they were once the preferred transport for lonely sheep herders but things have moved on ………. have you?

BB

I want one of these.

Rider’s quite tidy too. 😈

Right, OK, then I’d say it’s the direct access for you. I reckon if you are a biker at heart, and you have experience of bikes, you’d hate a quad.

So, my circumstances, to set the scene.

Wife gets a new car every 2 years.

Children about to flee the nest.

For the past few years I have had a two seater (cheap) MX5. And I have enjoyed it. But now, maybe, is tim for a change.

I walk/bike to work most days, 3k, but once or twice a week, I have to travel 30k. So I’m considering a quad bike. Anyone have experience?

BB

ARE YOU ON GLUE ?…..

5thE …………. Have you looked at he latest quads? I agree they were once the preferred transport for lonely sheep herders but things have moved on ………. have you?

Yeah, used to race against them on occasion. Ridden a few.

Check out quadheaven if you want to get some quad fan opinions.

I’d as soon ride a MX bike on the road as a quad. Or a ride on lawn mower.

Why not just take your bike test?

DS

That’s either a very big quad or a very small girl!

Is that you cutting a dash in white lycra? 😯

Not me in the white, thankfully. Combination of the two, she is quite small and the quad is rather a big beast.

So the point of a quad is?

They are slower than a bike.

They are more expensive to buy/get parts for/service/resell than a bike.

They are potentially more unstable than a bike hence more dangerous.

They are unable to filter through traffic as they are the width of a car.

You can’t park them for free like a bike. You need a full size space for it.

People look like prats on them. Chics dig bikers. They don’t dig herders.

Spend £500 on DAS, pas the test and then chuck £2k on a CRB600 or an SV650.

Anywhere you can go on a quad, you can go on a ktm.

tried one last year and i found it fustrating being sat on a kind of bike but not being able to filter ended up getting a speedfight 100 and use it 7 days a week roughley 30miles a day its superd,easy to maintain and u get that lovley 2stroke smell in the morning 😀

Only advantage I can see over a bike is that drivers are less likely to hit you as they are big and noisy.

Why not go for something fun like a Lotus 7 alike if you want the wind in your hair feeling. Don’t you still have to wear a helmet on a quad and even if you don’t why wouldn’t you given you can part company very easily.

Most I’ve seen round here are ridden by scrotes who’ve probably nicked them from the other users who are fat bald middle aged men in MX pajamas.

Can see they would be fun but not a regular use thing, more fun having a blast off road really.

we have a honda c90 that i use for what i call summer plumbing jobs, great tool reliable pennies to run hoot to ride 1 million people in the far east and the taliban all swear by them

A second mid life crisis? Just buy an ultra expensive roadbike and some lycra like everyone else. Quads are for farms.

A Piaggio MP3 LT can be ridden on a car licence and would be an infinitely preferable option for road use than a quad. They actually lean, for a start.

Else as others say, just do your DAS and get a proper bike again.

Chavmungously naff

My quote of the year. V good. OP don’t do it, get a proper motorbike.

Isn’t the issue that they don’t have diff’s (unless it’s 4×4), so don’t go round corners, unless you side them?
Which is fine off road…
Though brother m8’s all did motorbike (&quad) enduro racing, the one who had the quad spent the most time broken… (him not the quad!)

Again I agree with the above, get your bike license done & buy something fun.

Or maybe one of these: http://www.arielmotor.co.uk/ if you have deep pockets

I’ve riden various racing quads offroad for the past 20 years (Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki) and they’re great fun, but the whole essence of riding them is you need to slide them to get round corners fast as they don’t have a rear differential and will try and go straight on or tips over if the back wheels aren’t sliding. Hence why I wouldn’t ride one on the road as the wheels won’t be able to slide enough. Can be great fun when there’s some snow around though!

You also need to hang off them like a madman to weight the inside wheels on a corner as otherwise you’ll be in trouble.

Yeah sod the quad get that Ariel Atom..

I’m only wading in because I know someone who has/had one and rides/road it on the road.

He bought it to play on, thought it would be good fun and TBH I’m pretty sure he thought he pull a bird or two as well. So, so far he’s rolled it twice whilst going around corners and pulled one wheelie on it and ended up on the boot of a car, rather like a hippo mating an elephant.. anyhoo’s he’s happily sporting road rash thats been there for 2 years now. He’s a surferboy by nature and I guess when he bought it he though it would enhance the “image”. Well it’s certainly done that, he’s also got a soft top jeep too with a rollbar on it..and big spot lights.. He’s a bit of a laugh though, I mean he’s full of jolly japes and certainly lives life etc. etc. He didn’t wear a helmet whilst he was riding it though, and could be seen sporting mirror shades.

To be fair to other road users he’s no longer the owner of it.

there’s a couple that seem to be used for a commute around here, they look out of place because there’s only a couple… maybe if more people had them they’d lose the ‘chav’ image?

and i’m forcefully posting this all over the place today so excuse its randomness:
want to blag a free tennner to do a good deed? go HERE you sexy lovely person