To buy or not to buy?
 

Son (6.5 years old) wants a little Honda dirt bike BAD... was the only thing he asked Santa for this year. They are $1200 brand new, E-bay a few for maybe $600 used...

Not too concerned with the money as much as Safety, his ability to control it, and how much he will really use it. I own a Quad and hence why he even saw the things back this summer when I was looking at quads with a friend of mine. Scotty climbed right on one of the dirt bikes and was begging to get one.

I would also have to talk to the "x" to make sure he would allow it. :noidea:

Anybody got one of these for their kids and have some advice to offer?

One of my friends bought a little dirt bike for his kids. His daughter (8 at the time) hopped on it for the first time and rode it straight into a tree, broke her arm. It took him quite a while to live that one down with his wife.

Yeah.. my x would have a field day should something bad happen, but Scotty is a pretty capable kid. He handles himself pretty well in soccer games even though he is one of the smallest kids for his age. He was their top scorer. One game scored 4 times. He was on a tear.

He is pretty stocky. In the 10 percentile for height and 20 percentile for weight.

My daughter is 6 1/2 and I would never even consider letting her get on anything gas powered at that age. Way too young.

A friend just bought a new quad for his 5yr old comes with a remote start / kill switch
. http://www.buysell.com/root/detail/C...MER_110cc.aspx
I know this is in Canada but you must be able get it in the US.

I disagree that he is too young necessarily, but I disagree with just buying it for him. Buying your kid a bicycle is one thing but a motorcycle is something that should be earned in some manner. How can he learn to respect it value and the amount of hours it took to buy it if it is handed to him? There are things around the yard or for the neighbors he could do, and if he is too young to handle that then he is to young to handle the responsability of a motorbike. My 2 cents..

I earned the money to buy a minibike the summer I was 7, hauling whatever I could for my dads masonary business at $1 per day. I think my dad did the right thing, I took good care of that minibike and sold it when I was nine to buy my first motorcycle, an Honda 90! He taught me to work for what I wanted which in turn taught me to value the things that I have. Lessons that I carry with me to this day.

The easy decisions are not always the best

Larry

$1200 on the bike should be matched by $1200 on safety equipment. Helmet, neck support, chest pad, boots, gloves, pants elbow and shin pads. Start them right with the safety equipment and don't let up until it is second nature to them. Next you have to live up to the same standards even if you just unloading the quad from the trailer. Monkey see monkey do..

And DITTO on "ME" said

Glen

I had a dirt bike at that age and although I had my fair share of scrapes and bruises nothing serious happened and I ran dirt bikes for thirty plus years (w/ good quality safety equipment). You know him best inthat if he is ready. I say get the bike and you can always suspend privleges if he abuses his opportunity. On a second note,this is a lot of money to spend on a gift/present for a 6 year old. Maybe a nice "dirt" pedal bike would suffice ?

Tim john---

Let me just say if you buy one buy the known brand, honda, kawasaki, yamaha, so on. I have a four wheeler out back that has run for a total of 30 minutes.

As you can see in my avatar,we have a few dirtbikes around here.,and 1 fourwheeler,not in the picture.
I bought a beater 80cc Yamaha enduro for my daughter for her 9th birthday (4 years ago),paid $100 for it.I wanted her and my son to learn on a slow bike like the gearing on this Yamaha.They are VERY responsible kids though,and of coarse older then yours.I think each kid is different too.There are some kids I wouldn't let come near these bikes.My wife and her kids all had bikes when I met her,so we have a shed full now! My youngest step son was 7 when he started riding last year,he rides a clutchless Yamaha with a shifter,he took right to it.They always have to wear helmets,and gloves.Older ones wear chest protection for jumping.No injurys yet(knock on wood).
I have 1 acre so I can use mine anytime I want,and our yard is not so big that they can get up to any high speeds,so this works out well.
As far as the injury,like the one posted above,that is the problem,don't let your kid just "hop on" and go!You have to teach them! Beats having them sit in front of the TV anyday.
I would also buy a ok shape USED one.It might be fun for awhile when new,but alot of times after riding a few times he might get bored with it( not a problem around here BTW),thats alot of $ to spend to just have it sitting in your garage.Also, you won't be so worried about it getting scratched and beat-up when he is just learning to ride.If he takes to it,THEN look at buying new.JMO
Drake

Am thinking Honda 50cc and USED.... but also there is a Honda riding center near Dayton (about 1 hour away) where I took safety classes for riding my quad. They have classes specifically for kids and dirt bikes....

Gonna start looking into it, but I like the idea of him working for part of it, maybe half. Maybe this can be something he gets over the summer when he'd be able to ride it more anyway. And he'll be seven by then.

Thanks for the advice!

I bought my daughter (now 10) a new go cart two years ago. It had rollbars, pads, seat belts and a governor set around 15 mph.

I got my son a Yamaha TTR 125 last year for Christmas ( he was 13). Now both my boys (14, & 16) started this year & are into riding Motocross. We now have 5 dirt bikes ranging from RM 125s, Cr 250, & RMZ 250 I am sorry I did not start them earlier. If you look on the internet or check with local motorcycle dealers you might find some riding clubs close by. I joined a private club that owns 23 acres. The yearly dues for me & my 2 boys is $130.00 Good Luck!

I am in the same boat as my son is 6. He was riding his bicycle with no training wheels 1 month after he turned 4 and working on wheelies when he turned 5. Next year hes going to compete at the local BMX track. I am going to hold off on the 4 wheeler for the simple fact that hes really good on the bicycles and im afraid once hes on a dirt bike or 4 wheeler he will loose interest in the BMX thing and theres mot many good places left to ride ATVs here anways. If you do decide to buy one the CRF 50 is a nice machine and you can find them a few years old barely used alot of times for as low as $600

My Grand son got a new Honda 50 when he was 4. Now, at 8 years old, he's riding an 07 KTM 65. I put "my son" on a Honda 50 when he was 6. I started riding when I was 25.
Even my wife rode for a while. It was camping & dirt bike riding. "Family fun".
Use extreme parental guidance ! Enjoy

"BUY IT NOW"

Forgot about my Grand daughter (6 years old), she's riding the Honda 50 now.

And the newest Grand son (1 year old) 3 more years for him.

OGR - Never any injuries? And how did you know that they were ready to handle something like that? How much practice did it take?

I broke a collar bone the first year I rode. Almost gave it up. At age 15 my son (JR.) could outride me. Because he started at 6. My grandson (RB3) had training wheels on his 50 for a few months till he got his balance & used to the throttle. Jr. has taken some hard spills, he rides fast. Trees don't move. RB3 was at a race this summer, leading the pack, took a spill & quit the race. An hour later he was back on the bike.
Kids start sports early these days. Soccer, softball, golf.
If he wants the bike, give it a try. See how much interest he shows. The Honda 50 with no clutch is a good starter bike. You need a good place to ride, not in the neighborhood streets & someone to ride with. A truck or trailer to haul it. Helmet, real dirt bike boots, gloves, shoulder pads, goggles, etc. How good is he on a bicycle?
Is he going to get hurt ? Absolutey. He'll decide if it's worth it.

RB3's girlfriend at school was accidently run over & killed by her mother yesterday.
You never know.

Just wondered what Santa brought Scotty for Christmas.