My brother can't decide between them which one should he get. He is 11 years old weighs about 80 lbs. wants to be able to do a little work but still be able to keep uwith me on the trails (I have a 300EX. And people, no fighting.

 

if he were to only go with honda i would say the recon. it's peppy and has good handling and can do work. but i would also sugest the kawasaki lakota or even a polaris trailblazer becuse you can put a rack on the tb plus there are many aftermarket mods for polaris 2 strokes.

 

He should go with the Recon because the 250ex does not have a hitch or racks. If he wants to keep up with you he should get the 250ex. The 250ex is faster than the Recon and has better suspension.

 

I'm an instructor for the ATV Safety Institute, so you may guess what's coming: Children under age 12 should NEVER operate an ATV larger than 69cc. Chhildren under 16 should never operate an atv of greater than 90 cc. Honda, who builds all the machines you are considering, is a strong supporter of these guidelines. If your dealer isn't, then Honda wants to have a talk with him. Why these limitations? In part, because of body size and coordination at different ages. But mostly, because riding an ATV safely requires mature consideration of potential hazards and sound judgment to avoid these. And NO 11 year old has enough maturity or judgment to avoid the risks of injury or death inherent in these machines. If your parents aren't providing you with guidance on this, they should. If you think I'm wrong, ask yourself what your brother is willing to do to keep up with you while riding, and how easily he could be hurt. Maybe he'll get lucky, and only need a 90 cc wheelchair. Mark Scofield, ASI Central Region Instuctor

 

Scosho,
This is far from a personal attack but I must take issue with blind support of the industry age standards. While I believe I understand the reasoning behind the industry standards, I feel they should not be pedantically applied. As any arbitrary and capricious standard, they are asinine in many cases. Point in case:
My son is 14, 6' 1" 200lbs (yes he does play football). Please tell me (and the forum) of one 90cc machine he can safely and COMFORTABLY operate.
He barely fits on the Bayou 220 anymore and we're discussing a new machine. The arbitrary industry age standards completely ignore basic ergonomics and human factors in determining SAFE ATV operations.
The lawyers and an overly litigious society have driven the industry to use these guidelines to protect their own sixes. They are not based on demonstrated ability, size and weight of rider, or basic human factors engineering and clearly are not applicable in all cases. That is why they are industry guidelines and not the law of the land.
Each person is different, I submit a sub 16 yr old riding an over 90cc machine, well taught and supervised, is safer than many riders over 16. Each instance should be judged individually.

For Mojave13,
I'll ditto the other words in the forum, for work the Recon, for play the 250EX. Since you're putting the Rancher 4x4 ES on the table, and want to work and play, you may want to look at the Yamaha Wolverine.

 

Buddy I'm not sure wich quad is right for your little brother, but at 80lbs you might want to fasten him to the seat so he doesn't blow away at about 45mph!! I would think a Recon or a Bayou 220 would be a good starting point to learn and grow on. I know I wouldn't want to try and hang onto a 300EX if I was only 11 years old and weighed 80lbs.

2000 Mojave
2001 TrailBoss

 

scosho.......I am 15 years old and weigh 132 pounds. are you saying i should not have anything bigger than a trx 90? these ages limits make no sense. if i had a trx 90 or something that size i would be driving it around at full throttle all day because it would be so boring. i'd get so borred i would try to jump it and i would end up braking something on it that would send me out of control and into a tree all because i couldn't get the atv to go fast enough so i would have to jump it to get any thrills. the kid is 11 yrs old, if he is not going to do anything stupid and try to jump it or something he should be perfectly capable of handleing the recon. he is a little small but like i said, if he does nothing stupid he will be just fine. and don't you think a 90 cc quad is a little small for someone at least 5ft 5in tall or in most cases taller? it makes no sense. i have a cousin who is 9 and he drives my uncles sportsman 500 around all the time. he does nothing dangerous and has yet to crash or fall off. get my point?

 

If it's between the Recon and 250ex, while he will probably have a great time on either one, let it be determined by what type of stuff will be done. If he is planing on doing any work more than towing a trailer, get the recon. But, if you are solely play riding, with maybe an occasional trailer towing, go for the 250ex. I mean, I love my recon because I can use it to take it camping, then take it out riding with sport quads and fit right in with them. In fact, the recon's name fits it perfectly, because alot of times when I'm riding with all sport quads, we will take out the recon to go check out a new trail and clean it off.

P.S. Neither the Recon or the 250ex come with a trailer hitch. I made one ouf of scrap steel, very sturdy!

 

I just want to add my two cents to this age thing. I have two sons who started out on ATC's. They are currently 9-1/2 and 7 years old. The oldest rides an '87 250X and the youngest rides a '98 TRX90. They always ride with me because they are not allowed to ride anywhere but up and down our yard by themselves. My point is that my kids handle their machines extremely well. While you may think the 250 is a little big for my 9 year old he is actually a very level headed and cautious kid. I have taught them how to ride and how to jump safely. They are both jumping like pro's, clearing 17 foot jumps about 3-4 feet in the air on just a small jump. They both can slide their quads through a turn and know how to shift their weight. My youngest is an especially excellent rider. He can power slide completely around a turn on our little oval track. He will make a jump out of the slightest bump he sees! I think by starting on the three wheelers they have learned valuable balancing skills that would ordinarily take many more years to learn on a quad, you know like riding around the yard on 2 wheels. Believe me I watch my kids closely and we have helmet communicators so that I can talk to them while riding and instruct/warn or scold them when needed. My 7 year old has even driven my 300EX and the 250X by himself and he handles it just fine but it is too big for him. I guess I'm trying to say what others have already said that it depends on the kid.
John

 

Everyone my brother may only be 80 lbs. but he rides my 300EX almost as well as I ride it. I have been riding since I was 3 and now I am 14 and I started out on a Yamaha Tri-Zinger 60 (not like any of you know what that is) and I was able to handle it just fine. From there I went up to the Mojave 250 when I was a little younger than my brother and lighter. Then I just got the 300EX and gave my little brother the Mojave which he rode just fine until it broke. So everyone I am sure he can handle any 3 of these quads and he has already rode a Recon and Rancher and handle them just fine. So most likely he can ride a 250EX.