I need help ..... with all the machines out there I don't know what to be lookin at first.
This what he wants.........
sporty / fast / shifting / clutch manual. He is 12yrs. been on quads but not much ride
time. My other boy and I do trail rides & fields. No racin as of yet.
I let him on my trx250x today to see what he knows and he's very skiddish on the clutch thing
and throttle coordination. I just let him move it 5ft. and he stalled it twice, so I'm thinkin
maybe not manual clutch right now, or maybe he'll get the hang of it like we all do.
I don't know, also I'm thinkin fast, but not too fast ,I don't want him to be gettin bored with
goin slow{ that he will do}. This came as a total surprise to me, I thought I only had the one boy
to ride quads with but now I got 2 buddies wantin to enjoy an awesome hobby with !!!!
My other boy has an LT80 { which Jack is repairing the clutch on in a couple of days},
the LT80 is just okay as far a speed goes, but I'd like something else that has alittle more to offer
as far as speed and reliability goes. I'm open to either 2 or 4 stroke { I'd prefer the 4} but
as long as I can get a good around machine thats gonna be reliable I would'nt have a problem
oh..... PRICE as well. I was lookin at the E-TONS does anyone know if they come all moded
up like they show on the showroom floor?? I could't find any info on the moded form
E-Ton on the website.
Well enough from me. Lets here somethin from you guys about suggestions you may have or
good machine expieriences you've had.
Thank you !!

 

Oh I forgot, I DO NOT WANT SHAFT DRIVE. Just chain drive only. Thank you !

 

If you are looking for a 90 that's already modded up, you could contact a few mini-Quad performance dealers. Some of them sell modded machines (re: their customers want something different), or they sell modded machines for fun. In any case, search a few historical postings and you'll find a few dealer names. Names like Greg Peak, Billy Holt - WRH Racing, LT-80, Hetricks, etc, etc. You can also use the search button to find exact machines. For example: Hetricks, WRH Racing, etc.

Before you contact them, I'd recommend you give some serious thought on what your son "can handle" versus "what he'd like". My middle son would love Predator 500, but there's no hope in heck I'd get him one at his age. Especially if all he has on his mind is "fast speed". I'm not going to lecture about driving with buddies (isn't my style) but I will tell you that every time my son rides with more then one other buddy his age, one of them always gets hurt. They start "fooling around" with inner competition or seeing what the other is doing and the next thing you know, one of them gets hurt. Even to this day, I still can't figure out why the 2 of them were playing chicken behind the everygreen trees and my son just watched them. And yes, that got two of them benched for 1 month. Today, when I take my son riding (on his Pred-90), its always a 1:1:2 ratio. One parent to one kid and there's NO more then 2 kids with us. And both kids are always pinned between two adults. To me, this is safe "common sence".

Anyway, give some serious thought if your #1 son has "safe quad passion in his heart" (like my son) or he's only looking for the thrill of doing high speed with his many other buddies. If safe quading is his passion, then also look at the 125 & LT160 units.

Hope this helps...

.

 

Its always tough to recommend quads for other kids as we don't know there abilities.I'm assuming you want to step up above the mini class.The yamaha blaster sounds like it may be a good fit.It is a 200cc two stroke with a manual clutch(if you are going to go in that direction) and can be modded up very fast as most two strokes can.I believe it has a throttle limiter screw just like the mini's(in fact I think even most adult quads do).I know you said you don't want a shaft drive but the Honda 250 EX is also an excellent machine that has a semi automatic trans so you wouldn't have to worry about the clutch.Moving up to the 300EX will get you the chain drive.If you do some searching there is getting to be quite a few sporty type machines from the Taiwan market as well in the 170-250 range in a 4 stroke engine with either fully automatic or manual trans setups.Polaris has a new Pheonix model out for 05 that is a 200cc model and looks very cool in the pictures.Might be wise to wait a year or two for that one though unless it is a knockoff of a proven model.

 

My 2 cents.
I have 2 boys. One is a bred racer, the other sounds like your child in that he don't get the clutch thing.Both love to ride.
Now one has the 300ex and the other went through the 93' auto clutch LT-230. I got him a 350 rancher this year.
That's what I recomend for yours is an auto clutch type (no clutch, just pull up). The z-250 may be an option or an equal of another brand. Sorry most have a shaft, but I feel this ios a small trade-off for a machine that the kid can ride safely. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Thank you guys !!!!
SPIKE99, I think you misunderstood what I was saying about "buddies"...I was talkin
about I'd have 2 buddies to ride with, not he wants to ride with his buddies. I would NEVER
allow that. They ride with me, and thats it, no if's & or buts. Either me or nothin.
I also think you misunderstood the term fast, I don't think he's ready for a very fast model
, I said something thats fast but not too fast. It's not all about what he wants, I can go for the cool
looking thing but he isn't gonna get exactly what he's requesting, no way.. no how!
I don't think the Blaster is a good choice cause it is a little too fast for a beginner" IMO"
with not much of any handlebar time. I do however appreciate your help in all of you leading me
into the great" unknown" with all these new models comin out of the woodworks, it does
get confusing , I thought I would know myself....but to look at every option out there is
very troublesome to say the least.

 

Asuming you won't run into laws and regs regarding the age of the rider......

I think a semi auto like the Suzuki z250 or Honda 250ex would be good. Or even a full auto like the Polaris 250 Trailblazer or even the Kymco Mongoose 250.

Good luck!

 

I was just lookin at the polaris, that sounds good F/ N / R trans mission auto clutch.
does anyone know reliability of these machines though?

 

My biggest beef with the trailblazer is its wieght, a whopping 461 lbs! I'm not sure why you want the chain and sprockets to maintain(unless you'r planning on regearing or something)but I would really take a look at the Honda 250 ex.At 349 lbs its well over a 100 lbs lighter and being a 4 stroke with shaft drive its basically maintenance free.My wife races against lot of these EXs from 250s-400 in the womens class and they are very impressive.

 

The trailblazer is a large machine too. So you may want to make sure your kid would fit. The weight is bad, I agree. I guess the pro is that being a 2-stroke it can be modded to produce big horsepower as your child gains experience.

The z or ex may be a good in-between machine to help prepare your kid for a clutch.