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
