Used ATV available for sale – cheap.

 I  have retired from farming and not using  ATV  any more.  Another reason is health problems.  So my  blue   ATV  is lying unused since many months  and I am prepared to sell   it on as is where  is  basis.

My  expectation  -  INR  15000    for that.   In  Dollar terms, I  paid about 850  USD  then, meaning about 55000 rupees  now.    

It needs few minor components  and  a tuneup  to  come  back alive, as per my  knowledge.  

It  maybe used for pleasure rides  but also   as   a  platform   for  engineering college  students  project work.   

Please mail me    if you are interested -  bhat59  at gmail.com.   Being  hearing impaired,   I am unable to share phone numbers.

My   place  about 40 km  south east of Mangalore [ click for exact location]

Please don’t write to me about purchase

I  have practically  retired from  farming and do not use  ATVs  anymore.    I  got them  in  2007   and  naturally     my  experience  on them  is  pretty  old. 

I  still  appreciate the  use  of  ATVs  especially  by   handicapped  people  like me. Even today  we do not have  any reliable  intra farm  mobility vehicle.  So it  was  very useful   to me    for  irrigation  and  managing the farm.   

I  do not know the  today’s  manufacturing [China]   or  sales  [India]    picture.  The lady  who handled my  purchase do not  work in that   ATV  company  anymore. 

I  am  not  deleting these    pages as  many  facts  mentioned    are  true  both   in  2007  and  2017.  Please don’t  write to me  about  ATV  purchase.  

ALL SOLD

Deepak Chaudhary  came all the way from Chandigarh  today   and took  delivery  of all  THREE   extra   ATVs  that   I had.


Blue, Green  and Yellow  ATVs  are  on the way to Chandigarh  now.    

I have no more ATVs  to sell and  so please  don’t  mail  me  asking  for  them.  

Sumanta riding ATV in Tripura

Just got news that Sumanta happily riding his RED ATV in Tripura. It was nice that he sent me the photographs taken in his camera while he was here to collect his dream machine. In the above photo, I am explaining the riding and maintenance techniques to Sumanta.

One ATV delivered

Yesterday evening Mr Sumanta Debbarma took a ATV and hopped into a train to Tripura. Yes Mr Sumanta living on other side of Bangla Desh came all the way to collect one ATV and I think this is farthest distance my ATV will go. I wish many happy days of ATV riding to him.

So there are two [BLUE and GREEN] complete ATVs with me and one Yellow machine that has some minor components missing. Interested people need not mail me regarding their availability as I will be posting update immediately after deliveries.

My blog gets plenty of hits from around the country. Many people send mail to enquire about availability and import guidance. I have no way to determine their seriousness, so cannot separate grain from chaff with email communication There are people who have approach me & create impression that they are hopping on plane on next day to parachute on my farm just to collect a ATV. One Mr Amaan from Mumbai just did that last week.

Having myself flown powered hang glider solo, aka microlight aircraft - and having a bad crash later on, I am not dazzled by their flying in plans. But I have to be courteous. My poor health makes this difficult. I keep my routine work pending to accommodate them. Suddenly communication gets cold and they don’t even inform me of changed circumstances.

Riding ATV mean you have to unlearn a crucial movement that we get used to during riding two wheelers. We should never lift our leg out of footrests. Even if we are going to be toppled, our legs should continue to be on footrest to avoid more injury. I was busy teaching all these fine points of riding and maintenance and so neglected taking photographs while he was with us.

Why I prefer cash & carry sale ?

I am a person of strong conviction and I want the people who buy ATV from me to be 100 % satisfied getting value for their money and not 95 %. That can happen only with pre delivery inspection and one to one talk. My hearing problem prevents long telephonic discussion. That is one of the main reason I want people to take delivery from my farm.

I am not a businessman. For two full years and till my faithful Blue ATV clocked more than 250 hours – I was not willing to sell the spare ATV to anybody as I wanted to be certain about the quality. Only after that I was ready to sell but by then initial euphoria had died down. I am not making too much effort to sell.

I keep getting mail from interested people in distant places. Negotiating the packing and forwarding ATVs is too much of burden for me right now. So I am giving this explanation here instead of individual replies.

Sending to a faraway person involves numerous tasks. First I have to get packing material and fabricate a box. Then have to pay VAT, maybe Rupees 5000 @ 12.5 % of 40 K at commercial tax office and get the receipt to facilitate smooth transport. Then I have to take it to lorry office for booking. All this will cost some money. With my rock-bottom price, I don't want to add expenses. Being partially handicapped, I cannot move around easily. All these work as well as expenses will be absent while giving on cash and carry basis.

Right now I have three surplus pieces and some visitors are expected soon to have a look. If there is a sale, it will certainly be mentioned here. The first machine to go out will be cheapest and I expect little more for latter pieces.

My farm location can be seen from following links : http://osm.org/go/yyYtmAM-- openstreet link & http://ow.ly/4LKBs leads to wikimapia

More info on surplus ATVs offered

I am getting numerous mail from faraway states regarding ATV. Some people are keen to have more than one piece. So here are more details on different ATVs.

BLUE – ONE - I have extensively used this both in farm and in seashore- Not for sale.

BLUE - TWO - only unpacked. Never poured fuel into fuel tank.

RED- Started once but have not used.  SOLD

GREEN - only unpacked. Never poured fuel into fuel tank

YELLOW - have removed carburetor and connecting hose. Can be made ready by getting components from market. Fuel never poured into the tank.

They will need 12 V 9 Ah battery worth 1200 INR. Otherwise should be ok. Any herohonda mechanic should be able to get it ready. Electric components like plug, CD units are same as herohonda.

I have so far not agreed to the offers that require packing and dispatch as I prefer cash and carry deal. They are CHEAP and good value for money.

Surplus ATV for SALE

I have three unused ATVs in my godown. I had to get five as my Chinese manufacturer, supplier at last moment said, minimum order quantity was five and I wanted one very urgently. The available colours are red, blue and green.

Right now I am not using ATV much due to further downturn in farm activities. My anti global warming beliefs also plays a role in this.

I am now moving around in a electric assist tricycle. My trike is unique that can accept energy inputs both from pedals and battery. You can see more on this in my blog. http://e-triking-india.blogspot.com/

So the ATVs are available for sale at my COST PRICE, on as is where is basis. Sorry  All SOLD   My place is 45 km from Mangalore which is in West Coast of India. http://ow.ly/4LKBs

ATVs are designed for offroad use with no differential. So they are not suitable for tarmac and are not registered by RTO.

This is very unique opportunity. Rush before they are sold out.

Importing goods into India.

Every week   I get letters   either  asking how much  I paid for ATV in China or  how much import duty was charged by Indian customs.

Many of these enquiries happens to be just for creating nuisance and nothing is going to be achieved by those people. Still I politely used to reply every one of them.

The total amount I paid as cost to ATV manufacturer in China and to Indian customs do not give whole picture. About sixty five percent have been spent under above two headings whereas one third money have been spent to facilitate the transfer. In earlier posting have made a list where you have to spend money.

Here is an example. As I mentioned earlier procedure involved for customs clearance of very small consignment and very big are basically same, the charges may appear to be expensive for small consignment. The agency charges for me was INR 6500 which will be same even for a small consignment.

So importing small consignment hoping to get it bit cheaper is very foolish thinking. We have to import the things if and only if the goods are not available locally or monopoly dealers quote exorbitant prices for that.

Second part of our Seashore trip

Our first seashore expedition was cut short by heavy rainfall and impending darkness. The incomplete part as I saw in wikimaps was very spectacular and on the same day I made up my mind to come back to complete the remaining distance.

Since the remaining portion was very small that can be covered in one hour or a little more, we started from Padubidri coast. We planned to start at three in the evening and visited relatives in the afternoon.

Rohit arrived at rendezvous point in time, accompanied by a TV team from Namma TV. It was bit unexpected by me and immediately we started unloading and got the ATV ready. Anil accompanied by Abhinav was the first team this time also. They were able to make it to Kaup quite fast as they were in familiar terrain.

There is a small stream amidst rocks near Kaup light house and we had to come bit inland to cross that stream. TV team captured some footage near Kaup lighthouse while I was impatient to continue so as to reach Malpe while there was still some light.

Sunil started riding after a while and he applied brakes while taking a turn and result was loose chain jumped the sprocket. I had not tightened the chain very much as sand getting settled on the interior of chain may make result in chain breakage. He was able to correct the problem and resume the journey. We were in mobile phone contact and was taking it easy.

The narrow strip of land between pangala river and sea makes the area very scenic. There is road and few coconut trees plus a house between the river and sea in this area. The famous mattu brinjal grows in place called Mattu around here. The sandy soil gives unique flavour to this brinjal and the rain in late November that cut short our trip did spoil the brinjal crop also.

We reached the endpoint around Six and had ample time to enjoy ATV rides in wide beach. Meanwhile Video team spoke with all of us and little Abhinav and Sunil did speak nicely in front of TV camera.

ATVs in Dakar Rally 2010

I was working on vacation ATV trips for this summer when I came across Dakar Rally story which was in concluding stage. The Dakar requires not only top-notch riding skills, but also endurance, determination, and a lot of preparation. This could be only Rally with so many different varieties of vehicles. Participants on Cars and Bikes get most exposure and media treats the competitors in ATVs, Buggies and Trucks as stepchildren.

The second edition of the Dakar in Latin America ended on 16th January 2010. Only 14 of 25 ATV riders finished the competition. It shows how difficult and demanding the race was. The ATV category was won by Argentine’s Marcos Patronelli. Surprisingly, the second place was taken by his older brother, Alejandro. This year the route in the ATV category was 8,937 kilometers long and divided into 14 stages. Of this 4717 km came under special timed stage and 4220 km under transport / connection stages. Marcos Patronelli was the leader almost all the rally and won 4 of the 14 stages. It took him 64h 17m 44s to go through dunes, camel grass, mud and rocks averaging more than 73 km per hour.

This years winner Marcos Patronelli has this to say - :

One thing is sure: I would never have imagined this, not even in my wildest dreams. It’s incredible that two brothers finish first and second of the same raid! This Dakar was very hard. I cannot say more than that, except that I must thank my team. We are a family pushing hard, doing what it takes. I am also happy for my brother: it’s his first Dakar and he finishes second! Who wouldn’t be proud? The toughest part in this edition is really the stages in Northern Chile: Antofagasta – Copiapo, Iquique – Antofagasta. They were endless and very complicated. Navigation was hard there. We had to be really focused with all the way points. I am thrilled and I think that the fact that two brothers finish first and second is just making history. We will celebrate that!

This video on Marco was made while the Rally was progressing.

Life in the Dakar is tough enough on a bike or in a car, but you have to be an absolute lunatic to endure the pain of doing it on quad. Watch this video and get a behind the scenes look at what they have to endure on a daily basis

This is another good video that gives some ideas about preparing a Yamaha ATV for Dakar Rally. They can carry 47 litres of fuel and the top speed of this ATV is 140 km – these figures gives some more insights about the preparation.

This Rally passed through the very remote areas that can be called middle of nowhere. Here you simply make the tracks as you go. There are no signposts. Apart from the road book that gives instructions on the route, GPS was also extensively used.

A T V Prices need not be so expensive

A month back, on 7th  December 2009 -  kannada daily Vijay karnataka carried a news story on ATVs.  Like most stories in this newspaper, this has attractive sensational packaging but hollow inside when it comes to hard facts. There is considerable misinformation in the story.

ATV is unfortunately having  a bad start in India. This is a versatile machine that can be put to use in numerous ways but this continues to be plaything   limited to rich and famous here. The very small market coupled with fat margins are hindering the market growth.  

I made a honest effort to popularize this. Unfortunately reaching people from remote location is difficult thing. The above story mentions the cost as INR 120 K but it should be never more than 90 to 100K for this machine. Having imported & using past two years, I know what I am talking about. I am sure this can be made available @ 60 percent of the mentioned cost as I mentioned in a earlier blog post and  I have two surplus pieces in stock now. 

There are  committed  dealers in different parts of India who do import and sell the similar machines below or at INR 100 K but rich continue to patronize the dealers who wants to keep the prices HIGH.

ATV carrying fodder grass

After familiarizing myself with the ATV I set out on task of doing what this is capable of. I got a carrier and a trailer built in local mechanic shop. The carrier was able to carry about 40 kg very easily. We couldn’t load more as there is risk of toppling over. Here is a old clip of bringing grass fodder from our garden. Since I needed workers to load and unload - it did not prove as useful as anticipated.

Basic ATV Handling

ATV with small footprint is not very stable vehicle and some weight shifting is necessary for safe handling. The enclosed pix to some extent emphasis the message

The long seat is to help in weight shifting and not for carrying passenger. When we climb rapidly it may result in the lifting of front end as it happens in bajaj scooters and so it is safer to shift weight forward when climbing. Lower climbing speed will lesson the hazard and weight shift may not be necessary.

Descending is not so hazardous as the centre of gravity will be within vehicle. Still we shift the weight backward for better stability.

ATV has rigid axle at the back that do not allow the rear wheels to move at different speeds. The wear and tear on tyres are more so in hard surfaces. So while taking a turn at higher speed, we allow controlled slip by lifting one of the rear wheels. This is pretty easy once you know how to ride them. The picture illustrates one wheel lifted from ground.

Getting ATV ready to ride

Recently a friend suggested we bring out another ATV following  day. I replied   That is simply  impossible. I need a week to get  that machine ready. In perfect situation, we can open the packing and get ATV ready in four hours. I need much longer time because of my location and circumstances.

My farm workers are regularly irregular in turning up for job. They need to come to get the box out to the yard.

First the packing has to be opened and put all the four tyres on. The machine has to be lifted sufficiently to install the tires. Here is a small hitch. The tyres tends to loose air during storage and tubeless tyres get disengaged from Rim. It is not possible to pump air with hand pump under such circumstances. Large quantity has to be pumped quickly to seal the gap and we can easily do that with compressor. Nearest Petrol pump is ten km away. Recommended air pressure is just Ten pounds.

Handle bar is to be lifted into strait position and four bolts tightened. There is small chance the brake fluid drained on transit from the container on the handlebar. We have to ensure sufficient brake fluid.

The battery has to connected after making sure it is fully charged.

Next comes the critical tuning part. There is no clutch lever and the clutch is indirectly controlled by engine speed. So perfect tuning is a must with  smooth engine humming at idle speed. My local mechanic has to be free enough to come and do the job.

Standard tools that came with ATV are not sufficient. The front wheels need a box or barrel spanner of Size 12. Plug spanner that came from China is very delicate and do not last long. Naturally to put together the tools I use takes some time.

Talking to Chinese about ATV Tow hook

Chinese comprehension of English is very poor. They are very polite and try to help you but many times will not able to grasp exactly what you mean. Here is a example of what I expected and what I got.

  I knew that my Chinese manufacturer fabricate the frame shown in a earlier blog post   and get most components from outside and assemble ATV. So it was possible for them to reinforce the appropriate parts to make frame stronger. I had made it clear to them that I need a tow hook if possible in the backside and given certain parameters like strong support at lowest possible point so that traction is not compromised. I had sent a marked photograph to emphasis my point. I did not know exactly how much this ATV can pull but needed a strong hitching point.

When I got the ATVs delivered I found there was nothing in the back but a  hook strapped to high position in the frame in the front   It was pretty useless accessory that I got as a compliment. They simply failed to understand my explanation.

I had numerous confusion about faulty import papers too. Many Emails were exchanged. The crucial document - Bill of Lading they sent did not mention Container number. This document  should be perfect in all respects.   So searching right container in vast Mumbai port was like looking for a needle in haystack. Luckily I was able to overcome all of those hurdles and get those ATVs home.

50 km ATV ride along seashore.

Being very familiar with the route ahead of us, Rohit assumed team leadership as soon as he turned up. He briefed our First pilot Anil about Do and Donts during the ride assuring him that he will be constantly in touch with mobile phone. He also gave precise hints what constitute a landmark.

I had decided who will ride on different legs depending on accessibility with us on support vehicle. Road by the side of beach mean Twelve year old Sunil will be rider and lesser access with us mean Sixteen year old Anil will be rider. Anil rode major portion as Sunil had stomach upset that morning. Rohit’s little son Abhinav rode as a kangaroo rider for around 40Kms along with Anil.

Unexpected encounters Anil had on the beach was landmines. Our pilot kept on liberally blasting those bombs and showering his jacket with dirty stuff. The sanitation awareness and availability was extremely poor on the coastline. We had been forewarned by Rohit about this but it was not grasped by Anil. Moreover first 750 meters was very clean and Anil must have assumed the same thing all along and raised the speed.

Rohits friend Yathish Baikampady stopped Anil at Chitrapur. Anil first asked them for water to wash himself. He liberally applied Mysore sandal soap to get rid of the foul smell. Luckily Abhi who was sitting in the front was not bombarded with this. Beach cleaning kara seva was going on and we too were  given Tiffin and tea.

Seashore near Surathkal was full of rocks. ATV had to come out of the beach to cross that gap. By that time I picked up Anilkumar who arrived by bus and we rushed to beach near Sasihithlu. Anilkumar who took over driving Omni and handling camera did unburden my task considerably.

Anil and Abhi on ATV mostly had direct passage ahead of them whereas we on support vehicles had to take make more circuitous road and many times they reached the ,meeting point ahead of us. Rohit was engaged in multitasking - briefing Anil about the passage ahead, taking photographs till they are almost out of sight and rushing back to drive his car to next meeting point. He found time to click some birds too which is his favorite hobby.

Nibeesh on motorcycle was with us till afternoon and proved to be great help. It is difficult to make out once we reach next meeting point if kids on ATV had passed by or are behind us. Nibeesh helped us with locating the ATV team.
 .

After Sasihithlu next Six km the beach and road were parallel and within 100 m to each other. Sunil rode this part both ways. Finally we reached the beach edge at twelve thirty where the confluence of Nandini and Shambavi rivers join the sea.

I had confusion about crossing the rivers all along. Rohit said follow me and drove his car in NH 17. Anil was riding ATV and Anilkumar and myself was following them in our Omni. With so much potholes in national highway we can surmise that it is more suitable for ATV and not vehicles. The puzzled look of the onlookers on the road when they suddenly see ATV presented good entertainment to me and Anilkumar. Finally our procession stopped in front of a hotel in Mulki for lunch.

All children applied sunscreen lotion and escaped being roasted by Sun. The sunburn did not happen to us as we were not continuously under sun. The beach sand appears very similar all over but their structure varies considerably from place to place. When we compare dry or wet sand of various places we noticed the grip it gives to the ATV tyres do vary. This did upset my timetable as the sinking factor was more in some places.


I had made a list of spares and consumables and carried most of them along. As the sand thrown up by tires plays havoc on chain, I had carried spare chain and links. No component failed us on the except CD unit, that may be influenced by moist contacts caused by previous day wash. Now I have tested that CD unit which is also performing well. Good news is that Hero Honda CD unit works well with this ATV. The sockets perfectly fits each other.

High tides caused made us to take diversion in two places. Near Padubidre we had to come back to highway. Anil was able to climb to fisheries road near Uchila and cross that point. So homework we make with wikimapia.org is dependable only  to some extent. There is permanent cloud cover and shadow near Bhatkal is another example.

Finally Anil – Abhi reached Kaup lighthouse at four thirty. The google picture showed the bridge but I was not sure of approach road till we reached there. The dense vegetation had hid the road and our support vehicles went without problems.

I decided to do some riding after Five and hopped on ATV. A huge wave hit me within fifty meters that immobilized the engine. ATV rider had mobile phone all the way till then but I had neglected on this minor detail. So couldn’t communicate immediately with our team and lost some time.

Our team came back after waiting ahead for a while. Then it was getting dark and the rains started. So we decided to load the ATV into Omni. There was heavy rain by the time we hit highway & we came back via more roundabout Mudipu route.

 Next day I could make out the corrossion effect by sea water and ATV was given good wash by Sampath so that the salty layer was peeled off.

Toppling over ATV in beach mean no broken bones

We had wonderful moments beach near Mulki. Anil was practicing taking high speed turn when the centrifugal force was too much and he toppled over. Rohit who is a good wildlife photographer anticipated this and captured the scene.

While talking to Shankaranna sometime back I had justified taking the ATV to beach saying that it is possible to do maneuvers that will mean broken bones elsewhere. Here is the proof and Anil did not even have any scratches.

Preparing for ATV expedition along seashore .

After coming back from a seaside ATV ride last month, I was looking at wikimapia for next adventure opportunity. After Panambur harbor till Malpe which is about 50 km north, only place where there was hurdle was at Mulki - the confluence of Nandini and Shambavi rivers joining sea. All rivers big and small we come across in National Highway join the sea at Malpe and Mulki was a new pleasant surprise for me. So started dreaming about a trip taking children along on a long ATV trip along the coast. From the beginning of planning, I felt if my good friend and neighbor Anil kumar comes along it will be much easier to manage.

It is not really easy to plan such a off the beaten track trip in India. The government considers 200 km from the sea or national border as restricted area and we had limited access to good maps. Ashokavrdhana of Arohana adventure team in Mangalore sometime back had lot of trouble to procure a seventy year old survey of India topographical map. There is no clue of Panambur harbour in that map but even map with so much accuracy took lot of effort. Now we have access to satelite maps like http://wikimapia.org which is simply unimaginable few years back.

I have spent numerous hours in front of computers looking at and copying hundreds of maps in wikimapia. I made sure that there is some overlap between one map and the next. The numbering was bit difficult. The computer started recognising  my maps as 1,11,12,13,....2,20,21,22.... So had to repeat two three times to reach best option. Finally gave the map number derived from the latitude like 13.3456 North became 133456. Thereafter I could work faster with maps.

In most places there are roads parallel to the seashore. I had to plot the places where the roads exist and where they dont. Road adjacent to road mean Twelve years old Sunil will be rider. Lesser road access mean Sixteen year old Anil will be the rider. I was fortunate to have the support of Anilkumar who agreed to drive our support vehicle Omni most of the way.

GPS is a very useful accessory for this kind of off the beaten track trips. I had written about utility of this instrument in my kannada blog last year.   I Emailed Balu Hegde hailing from Sirsi who uses GPS about present availability scenario. Balu gave me proper inputs but being busy with routine activities and preparing for this trip, did not have enough time to procure one from Bangalore or Mumbai. Poor health mean few off road trips. So why buy a expensive umbrella for a single rain - goes my thinking. Moreover two people had been jailed in Gujarat last year for GPS maping leaning on our stupid laws.  

When I scouting for information Ashokavradhan gave me mobile number of Rohith Rao. Rohith had shepherded a big battalion of more than one hundred and sixty scouts who walked along beach from Mangalore to Malpe. When I spoke to him, Rohith immediately agreed to join us with Camera and GPS.

When riding along the beach, it is better to ride on wet sand. Boys who cycled along the beach will be familiar with this. It needs less effort and naturally fuel consumption will be lower. But we have to keep an eye on approaching waves. I try to consider all possibilities and make comprehensive preparation. I asked Rohith if boys need to wear life jackets on and Rohith had said No. It was me who failed in this respect in the last leg of the trip.

After the last outing to the beach, I had taken taken the chain to Shankaranna’s Car wheels at Puttur and got it washed with diesel and dried with compressor. So asked about the pre trip chain treatment with Shankaranna and he said not to apply oil. There was some slack in chain but Mohan said let it be as it is. The sand on the chain will make it tight. When I came back and checked the chain tension it was pretty tight. There was chance of getting break if had tightened before going to beach. Thank you Mohan.

Rohith had emphasized the need to make early start. The sunshine is very harsh in the beach and so we have to cover some distance before it gets too hot. We left my home at Quarter to Five and took roundabout route via Mudipu as direct highway to Mangalore was pockmarked with potholes. After covering about sixty five km called Rohith to inform that we are at a hotel in Kulur and will be in beach in twenty minutes.

I wanted to make routine inspection and prepare ATV for the long ride before Rohith reaches the spot. With poor health, my concentration affects considerably with little diversion. So unloaded the ATV in Panambur beach parking lot and got into job.

Little bit of washing  just before loading previous day   created some problem. The engine was misfiring and running erratically. Nibeesh who came with Rohith rang up a technician asking him to come. Technician pinpointed the problem within two minutes after his arrival and asked me to change CD unit. Problem was solved and technician hopped into his bullet and went away accepting just thanks and no money.

Chain link for my ATV

Coming back from beach other day the transmission chain was fully covered with sea sand. So I decided to give a thorough cleaning. Shankaranna got it washed with diesel and cleaned with compressed air.

I never miss a opportunity to locate the suitable indigenous spare part. I found that chain is 47 inches long consisting of 47 links. So took the chain link to the small spare part shop nearby.

We found the ROLON R 428H chain link coming as spare for Pulsar bike is suitable. Though I do not anticipate the need, I have one chain link as spare now.