Motorcycle, ATV or Go Kart for a 9 year old. Your thoughts?

[EddieWalker]

Alan,

Very tempting offer and I thank you for it, but it's just too far a drive to make it there and back in time for the kids to make it to school on Monday morning.

Eddie

[horsinaround]

It looks like a lot of folks would recommend a bike and ATV video game. That way the kids can sit on the couch, eat potato chips and only risk carpal tunnel syndrome.

It isn't the bike or atv that causes the injuries. It is the lack of training on the consequences of speed, stopping distance, power, momentum, etc. They can either learn it in the woods, or on the road when they get a drivers liscence. When I started riding, my dad spent many many hours with me making sure I was capable of handling the bike. I had to go up the most scary hills without stopping to demonstrate that I knew what I was doing. I rode a lot. I got hurt some, but it was always my fault for pushing it too hard or not having the right protective gear.

It isn't the Bike, ATV, go cart, mini bike question, it is how much time will you spend with your child, teaching them over and over again the impact of choices.

I vote for either. Spend time with them teaching them. That way, when they go drive a car, they don't have to learn it in traffic. They can learn it all in the woods, well protected and under your supervision. You are the one that know's your kids best and what would suit them.

[JohninCT]

Have you thought about doing a family project and building a dirt riding track that the kids could start to use right away with their bicycles? BMX is a pretty popular sport and it would be really cool to have a track in their own back yard. Have the kids help do some of the research on how to design it, where to put in the jumps, banks, washboard, etc. You will have to move and place the dirt, but the kids will have a sense of accomplishment in helping to design and build it. They can use the same track and will have some experience with it already whenever you decide to get a motorized bike or buggy.

[EddieWalker]

The land is really not mine, but a company that I own that is in a very slow process of becoming an RV Park. Curly Dave mentioned it earlier, but there will be a problem when I get to the point of opening, the kids will no longer be allowed to do what they want here. Building a dirt track isn't an option. Riding on my roads all over the land is. I think the roads that I've built would be allot of fun for the kids. They go all over our 68 acres and there is everyhting from long straightaways, to winding walking trails.

I just saw a 2005 KTM 65 on Craigslist for $1,000 2006 KTM 65cc

It's very tempting. I'm sitting here trying to decide if I should send them an email to see it or not.....

Eddie

[charlz]

KTM 65sx is what my son races on... and they can flat out haul @$$. For a first bike I would pick something more tame and 4 stroke.Two stroke race bikes are likely not a good choice for first bikes

This looks clean in the pic:

http://easttexas.craigslist.org/mcy/1369622053.html

Dunno about the price though, no year listed. I would get the year and check the retail value on Kelly Blue Book

[Dmace]

Originally Posted by EddieWalker

I just saw a 2005 KTM 65 on Craigslist for $1,000 2006 KTM 65cc

That bike has a 6-speed transmission with an hydraulically-operated clutch. Certainly not something I would want a beginner to learn on, they should start on something with a centrifugal or automatic clutch so they can start, stop and shift without having to use a clutch. Once they are experienced at riding, a clutch operated bike/atv will be the next step.

That CRF70 posted above looks real nice and has a three-speed semi-automatic transmission (no clutch to worry about). I had a 93 Honda XR80R when I was 12 and rode that bike every single day until it ran out of gas. 4 years later I sold it for more then I got it for and bought my first car.

[EddieWalker]

Thanks for the tips. I got carried away and was put in my place by Steph after posting the link about the KTM. She says no way to a motor bike or ATV, which I already knew.

It's going to be a go kart/dune buggy of some kind for both of them for Christmas, or we just wait a few more years until she's comfortable with it.

Eddie

[gav64]

When I was a kid my brother started on a rupp roadster mini bike, it was way cool, we are talking about 1969, he was 12 and I was 8. We and other friends made trails in the neighborhood woods with picks and shovels, hand saws ect, alot of the kids in the neighborhood were riding something. We soon graduated to suzuki 90's, I can't tell you how many times we rode without helmets back then , stupid! Most of us graduated to bultaccos or huskys (not chain saws), no one ever got hurt other than bumps and bruises or egos. I the 80's I bought a honda atc big red, probably the most dangerous vehicle ever invented. I never got hurt but had a friend wipe on a series of whoopdedoos and trash a shoulder and wrist, honest alcohol was not invloved. I still have it, it still runs and i use it to pull a trail mower on occasion. I bought my first quad in 2002, an extremely useful vehicle, pulling a trailer, chipper or log splitter into the woods with little impact it cannot be beat and fun also, honda foretrax foreman. Wanting my daughter to experience the same kind of childhood I had,when she was 8 due to the over safe society we now live in I bought her a yerfdog gocart (now out of business), my wife did not like the dirt bike or atv option. The yerfdog had electric start , 9hp engine, full suspension, it was pretty nice but living in New England two things took it out , trees and rocks, I was constantly fixing the front end because it had no turning radius and you could not "lean into turns", that machine lasted a couple of months. The two seat setup was good when friends were over but when the thing broke it made for a miserable time for all. Got rid of it and went to a 90cc polaris, it was the only thing at the time that had electric start and reverse. Sarah was under age at the time (9)and the goverment says she should only be on a 50cc machine but she is very tall (that would have been unsafe) so I had to give up the warranty when i bought a new one, what a scam. That machine lasted a few years but she out grew it also. Since she was eleven she has been in a 250 honda recon 2wd. She is now 13 and is 5' 10" and ready for my 450 foreman, goverment says she cannot ride it till she is 16. Now that I have bored you with all this stuff I will give you my opinion, I think a dirt bike is safest, properly ridden it is the most controllable but also the quickest. The gocart is a waste of money, they are not durable and most are made in china and parts are unavailable, I had to fabricate my own. No one I know has ever flipped a quad but I read stories all the time about the accidents. I believe they are safe, and very usefull, my neighbor uses and 1992 200cc suzuki quad to fertilize his lawn and pull trailer. The fact is everythng is safe in the right hands, saws, cars, guns, the list goes on and on but at the same time they are all also dangerous. I am sure you will properly train your kids, buy a name brand for parts and resale I like honda, I can still get parts for my atc. The Quad fun and practible, the dirt bike is probably the most fun, the go cart waste of money! sorry for the bad english and run on sentences. glenn