Hello, I am buying a Suzuki King Quad 450 for myself and might buy one for a family member. He is 14 years old, 5' 8.75" tall, skinny, but pretty muscular for his age. I'm not positive if this machine would be too big for him or not since it has a differential lock for the 4x4. There are a few spots on our trail where we will need the differential lock and I'm not sure if this would be over powering for him. How about the power itself?? Is this too much for a teenager of his size?? He likes the fact that it has fuel injection and independent suspension. He has read many reviews on it and it seems to be a good ATV. He's not a speed demon, especially since you literally can not go fast on our trails, there are a lot of turns. So I was also wondering the speed of this ATV.

Thanks for reading this and for any input!!

 

if this is his first machine and he is inexperienced, give him the gift of an ATV safety course.

When he sits on the machine, can he reach the controls with his back straight, or does he have to lean forward?. Does the handgrips rest in the meat of his palm or do they land on his fingertips?.

If he has to lean forward to reach the controls, he may tire on long rides. If the handgrips fall to his fingertips, he may not reach the brakes in time in an emergency,or steer quickly enough to avoid an obstacle on the trail. You might want to look at a smaller machine.

 

Size wise, it will fit - after all, many adults are that size. The thing is, It could be a lot more bike than he 'needs'. The KQ450 has some decent speed and power to it. Since 14 is in the in-between stage of bigger-than-a-kid-but-not-yet-an-adult, you really need to assess his skill level before putting him on a machine this size. If he's new to riding, then I would think that a KQ450 would be a mistake - he has no business being on the types of trails that would require the dif lock and other HD features of a 600 pound quad. However, if he's got several years riding experience there is no reason that he cannot be just as skillful a rider as an adult.

My oldest has been riding for over ten years. Started with a 50, moved to a 90 at age 8, a 250 at 13 and a 400 at 16. Skill wise, he's probably a better rider than me but he does still have that 16-year-old mentality of being invincible.

Jaybee

 

He's actually a great rider. He has driven many 4x4s before in the 400cc range and handled them with no problem. He rides his ATV almost every day so he really picked up on his skills.

 

You know better than anyone if he can or can't handle it. It has the power output of a 500cc class engine, and it's a regular full size atv, so he won't outgrow it.

 

Mike.. Are you talking from your perspective or your father... rretard

 

My dad was talking on this forum, thanks very much ryan. you're mean, calling me names....lol

Hey, I slid off the planks while trying to cross the stream with my quad and landed side ways in about 2 feet of water/mud. It was so irritating.

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

haha... i am telling u that u should buy better boards

 

For the creek, I know. Now that my dad came out there to help me, he saw what I have to go through whenever I want to go riding. My front tires slipped of the boards, partially because one is really narrow. With 4x4, I wouldn't need boards, I'd just claw my way out, hopefully. Anyway, my dad said he's going to try to get me a few more big planks and more plywood to cover the swampy part.

 

the big question is does he have the weight to counter the atv when going on the sideof a hill stuff like that i gave my 13 year old my 250 recon after i bought the eiger 4x4 he still loves it at 16 typical honda change oil etc and it keeps on going