Cheap, made in China, and pretty much disposable—we’ve seen tons of powersports vehicles from ATVs, UTVs, and motorcycles flood online shopping platforms like Amazon and eBay. And while buying any of these with the intent of using them for a long period of time isn’t exactly the smartest idea, there is one thing they’re good for: custom builds.
We’ve seen tons upon tons of these cheap powersports vehicles torn apart and customized into crazy builds which, to be honest, don’t really take themselves too seriously. And out of all the folks who do this, YouTube channel Grind Hard Plumbing Co simply does it best.
In one of their latest videos, they created an absolute monstrosity of a quad that can do sick drifts and pop dank wheelies. The pink abomination started life as a cheap ATV from Amazon, which the folks at Grind Hard slapped a turbocharger on.
Not satisfied with the power output of the tiny turbocharged single-cylinder engine, they decided to take anything and everything that had to do with the stock engine out and toss it in the dumpster.
In its place would sit a tiny, compact, yet insanely powerful electric motor. With 26 horsepower on tap, it’s as powerful as some 250cc to 300cc ATVs out there. It’s got a whole lot more torque, too, and not to mention, instantaneous throttle response. How sick is that?
Naturally, the first order of business was to take it all apart. And so the team at Grind Hard wasted no time in ripping the ATV apart and stripping it to its bare frame—no engine, no gas tank, and no bodywork and wheels, either.
Attention was then shifted to getting the new electric motor and battery setup mounted onto the frame. After some wood blocks were used to prop it up and some really precise measurements were taken, it was off to the computer to mockup a design for a bunch of brackets and hardware to make sure that it could handle all the power and torque the electric motor was dishing out. After all, this is essentially a kid's ATV that’s getting hopped up to more than 10 times its intended power output.
As it would turn out, coming up with brackets that are sturdy enough takes some time. And after a bunch of back and forth, as well as a few handy welding tips, they manage to weld all the brackets onto the ATV’s frame, and we get to see, more or less, how the motor will sit in the frame of the quad. Right there and then it’s pretty cool to imagine how such a small motor can produce so much power and torque.
With the motor mounted up, it was time to work on the quad’s running gear. And instead of installing the stock steel wheels with knobby off-road tires, the folks at Grind Hard decided to fit a set of lightweight alloy go-kart wheels, ‘coz you know, weight reduction. And not only that, they decided to widen the quad’s track by fabricating custom spacers to give the thing a wider stance. Probably a good move considering how much power it now has.
With everything put together and a custom cafe-racer-style seat installed, the crazy electric drift quad actually looks pretty badass. Plus, its pink frame surely deceives you into thinking that it isn’t as powerful as it actually is.
As the electric drift quad whirs to life it’s clear that this thing is by no means kids stuff. Right off the bat, it does a crazy burnout and gets sideways without even trying. Donuts, wheelies, and all sorts of other hooligan shenanigans are all a walk in the park for this drift quad.
But of course, the fact remains that this thing is pretty much the furthest thing from a safe powersports vehicle out there. Given just how fast and unhinged this thing is, I’d imagine it’s very easy to get into a lot of trouble aboard this thing.
Would you take this thing for a spin if you were given the chance? I know I sure would, and I’d literally try to make it spin, too.
