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anyone for an (allegedy) road legal 250cc racing quad bike?

  • 01-07-2010 1:30pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,016 ✭✭✭✭


    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.

    microbike382.jpgmicrobike381.jpgmicrobike384.jpg

    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. :)


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,523 ✭✭✭✭Cookie_Monster


    IF it's a car surely you'd have to have a seatbelt then?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,131 ✭✭✭subway


    its seems to be connected with (or owned by) mitchells on capel street.
    theyre a motor factor that have been around for a long time IIRC

    ask them what insurance and tax is like on them...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,683 ✭✭✭✭Owen


    This crops up every few months on here. Quads can be road legal, and just like a trike, you don't need a helmet. Lots of disabled bikers in the UK ride quads/trikes.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,016 ✭✭✭✭vibe666


    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. :)

    microbike397.jpg

    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. :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,237 ✭✭✭✭djimi


    Id love to know what Irish insurance companies would make of a thing like that!!!


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,683 ✭✭✭✭Owen


    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.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,429 ✭✭✭testicle


    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.

    And you drive them on a B license...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,061 ✭✭✭✭Del2005


    vibe666 wrote: »
    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.

    microbike382.jpgmicrobike381.jpgmicrobike384.jpg

    Unless they have a limited slip diff you'll be like this all the time.


    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 qualify


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,034 ✭✭✭Wossack


    state of it

    'racing' quad me bollicks


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,437 ✭✭✭kasper


    and presumably because of the light weight no nct would be required


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,016 ✭✭✭✭vibe666


    Wossack wrote: »
    state of it

    'racing' quad me bollicks
    i think it's just to differentiate between one of these and an off-road quad.

    still pretty good value if you compare it to a 250cc bike tho imho, i'm just not sure how practical it would be as an alternative for someone who was thinking of getting a bike, but can't be arsed getting a bike license.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,213 ✭✭✭was.deevey


    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 ?

    UTV_K16_700cc_Utility_Vehicle.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,063 ✭✭✭Greenmachine


    Hmm classified as a car. Manual clutch etc. So does that mean I can do my car test on one of these. :D
    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.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,213 ✭✭✭was.deevey


    Clutch is on the handlebars far as I know... might make the ol' ten 2 two difficult :P

    You'd be doing well to get the 4 years outta her IMO :D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,809 ✭✭✭✭galwaytt


    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” 



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,673 ✭✭✭bladebrew


    i think i have said it before, but i drove one on holidays lasy year and it had everything to make it road legal, lights, indicators, number plates, it was only a small engine, i drove it up a main road and a dumper truck started beeping at me, so i assume i wasnt meant to be there:)

    it would be a great/dangerous way to commute to work!

    i have never seen one on public roads in ireland and it seems like a bit of a grey area tbh,

    if anyone sees one stick a picture in hwist, then watch everyone fall over themselves complaining its not a ferrari:rolleyes:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,849 ✭✭✭Redisle


    There's actually one of these for sale on adverts, spotted it recently!

    It even manages to look a bit skangerish with those wheels!

    http://www.adverts.ie/236458/quads/nice-and-fast-250-cc-quad/


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,115 ✭✭✭Pdfile


    www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBDrCN8A93E&feature=related


    madness or wha ??

    tempting all the same.


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