Dirt Rider Magazine

fmonthefly

My son is six years old and wants to ride. Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ says he is old enough to ride in the [bold]50cc[/bold] class. I need a recommendation for what brand of bike he should ride. I don't want to spend $1500 on a honda or any of the other top brands until I see how serious he is. I feel it should be [bold]fully automatic[/bold] for now since he is only six and shifting may be a bit much for him. I want it to be fun, not frustrating. If he sticks with it I'll get a semi-auto and then when he is ready he'll graduate to a manual transmission. I also see that there are some people riding four stroke bikes. In my day, all we had were two stroke engines and other than mixing gas and oil together the two stroke was awesome. So, I said all of that to also see if someone can recommend [bold]whether I should get a two or four stroke bike [/bold]for him. If anyone can help i would really appreciate it.Thanx, Frank

TheFishGuy

Wel I would definetely go used, since you're not sure he will take to it. I don't know anything about 50s, other than a cheapy one I rode when I was about that age, you didnt have to shift on it, but it's just a vague memory passed that. I'm sure some of the dads will chime in here SOON, right?

MJP68

fmontheflyMy son is six years old and wants to ride. Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ says he is old enough to ride in the [bold]50cc[/bold] class. I need a recommendation for what brand of bike he should ride. I don't want to spend $1500 on a honda or any of the other top brands until I see how serious he is. I feel it should be [bold]fully automatic[/bold] for now since he is only six and shifting may be a bit much for him. I want it to be fun, not frustrating. If he sticks with it I'll get a semi-auto and then when he is ready he'll graduate to a manual transmission. I also see that there are some people riding four stroke bikes. In my day, all we had were two stroke engines and other than mixing gas and oil together the two stroke was awesome. So, I said all of that to also see if someone can recommend [bold]whether I should get a two or four stroke bike [/bold]for him. If anyone can help i would really appreciate it.Thanx, Frank

Id look around for a used late model yamaha PW50 (they have been the same since 1982ish but a newer model year should be in better shape) auto trans, oil injected 2 stroke, virtually bulletproof, but he will outgrow it quickly.

the crf50/xr50 have auto clutch 3 spd trans (manual shifting) as well as the TTR50 (which also has electric start) both are 4 strokes.

welcome to the forum.. hope that helps a little

TheFishGuy

Agree with MJP, Yamaha you can't go wrong. And he will definetely grow out of it quick, kinda like shoes for kids that age, a bigger pair at least every year, except much more expensive, lol.

Mark47mx

I got my son a Suzuki JR 50 it is very comparable to the PW 50. Either of which is a great starter bike. We have never had any problems with his bike.
As far as outgrowing that really of depends on the child and how quickly they learn to ride as well as how fast they grow. The "average" size 7-8 yr old will just be starting to physically out grow the bike however if he is a fast learner or larger size then he may be out of it in 6 months.

pojp58

No matter what you get and if you want it to be fun for him then dont let him race till he can handle the bike real good and feels comfortable. If you do he will get frustrated trying to please you. That what 6 year olds do.

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