I know I am going to get destroyed for even posting this. My kids started riding a trx70 when they were (daughter) 3 and (boy) 2 at Dumont. Same as rudedog, 1st gear around camp with Mom and I on either side. When my daughter turned 5, we purchased her an 03 LT80. Out of the two kids, she takes to this hobby more naturally. Most of the kids in our group have LT80s and my son was tired of the girls teasing him because they were faster. We bought his 03 KFX80 before he turned 5. My daughter removed her own throttle limiter screw without my knowlegde soon after she got her quad. My kids ride responsible but what I think makes this work is that my family teaches and watches out for them. Too many parents do not teach their kids the fundamentals of riding. My kids know the rules and obey them religiously. I let them decide what hills to climb and never force anything on them. Young children are not as helpless as we think. My kids are now 6 and 7. They have raced the Adelanto Grand Prix and will race again this year. Their bikes are decently modified and their skill level increases every time we go to the dunes. If anyone wants to see my kids ride, we go to Dumont dunes. My daughter is the yellow LT80 climbing Comp Hill.

 

Sometimes people HEAR without LISTENING.

 

My Daughter has been riding since she was 7 she is now 10 and has a modded Kasea 90. My Son has been riding since he was 5 and he is now seven... Both kids race and are doing great!! Ebfore long my girl will be graduating.... She wants more power and she VERY TALL........[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

 

My son got his eton 50 for his 4th bday. Still have the same machine just had the 70 kit and pipe and bigger carb. Now his sister is 4 and other brother is 3 and they are starting to ride it also. Thats a perfect age in my eyes.

 

My oldest son started when he was 6. My youngest son started when he turned 5. Now they have almost 4 complete years riding. My oldest son is now 10 and riding a 300EX. My youngest son is 8 and riding a moded LT80. I don't understand how people can think that any certain age is right to start riding. And how the age/cc thing could stand with so many people being different. When I mention that my 10 year old is riding a 300, most people kinda flip out and start giving me heck for letting him. But when they see him ride, they change their minds. He hates school, he has not ever put much effort into sports, but he really is a different kid when it comes to riding. He has always proved to me that he is in control. Letting him ride the 300 was not an easy discesion. But so far Not 1 that I regret.

 

Quadduck:

"Question: "but is your son mentally ready to handle the 250r?". I'd have to say yes. My son is very level headed, safety consious and in tune with his ability. When riding I'd say his maturity level is leaps and bounds above his 10+ years of age. He seems to know exactly how far he can push it and stay's just below that limit. I "very rarely" see him use bad judgement when operating ATV's. On the seldom ocasion he does, it's a very minor incident which doesn't raise much concern. In fact he's so mellow and in control that it worries me. When he goes racing, he never seems to be nervous or edgy before the race starts ("seems weird"). Back in the day when I raced dirt track stock cars, I remember having butterfly's (bats!) before the start of the race. Everybody makes mistakes and I wonder when he will have one. I can only remember 3-4 minor incidents over his 7-1/2 years of riding, and they "were minor". No injury beyond a mild scrape. IE: no broken bones, stiches, torn muscles/ligaments Etc. ("knock on wood", he races the LT tonight)

Rude Dog

 

Rudedog only you can be the judge of if your son is ready and according to what you typed it sounds like he is. My raising the question was just that, to have others think long and hard before they possibly move up to an adult sized atv.

 

when i was about 9 i was out at a track with my ktm 65, and i knew how to handle the bike, my father tells me to hit a certain jump at a higher gear and relunctantly i did wich resulted in my overshooting the jump and breaking my arm, to this day i listen to myself when riding.
Ironicly (sp?) when my father tried to ride the bike he flipped it, not saying that my dad isnt a good rider (he is way better than me) but its more of know what your riding first.
Sometimes parents dont know as much as they should when trying to teach their children how to ride.

 

Well, it has been a long time on this thread since anyone commented.. but I just re-read it all.. I have another comment to make.. First off, I don't think anyone is here to judge the decisions made by other parents. I have enough problems making decisions on my own kids, I sure don't want to start outguessing someone in another state. Secondly, for every one of you that has a child that is able to go fast at a young age, I think you should count yourself lucky.

I have a boy who is now 9 years old, that I purchased a raprtor 80 for XMAS a couple years ago. The first time out, and every time since, he has managed to scare the crap out of himself, and won't go near it for weeks, until he gets his courage back up to try again. Throw in a year he had to lay off because I was laid up with knee surgery pretty much for 6 months and unable to get it out of the shed... but still, he is scared of it.

Anything else in life he is fearless, but that ATV just seems to throw him for a loop. I doubt I have more than a hour run time on the engine... I thought if I could get him into the training class, it would help him.. but because of his age, and the size limits.. he can't take the course. All this has made me an outspoken critic of the guidelines... and I took some steps to fight them... In the process, I did a lot of resaerch on the subject, and found that I had everything wrong, and that there is a lot of information available to help parents educate themselves. I also found out afterwards that some states follow the guidelines to the letter, and if you intend to ride on public lands, you need to meet the age standards. Bummer.

Anyway, these are all decisions that you might be faced with at some point in time... depending on your state's laws... either way, it has also made me sceptical when I think about a child at 4 riding a machine. Oh sure, they may be capable of operating the controls.. but what happens when the throttle sticks wide open, and they have to stop quickly. I'd guess that the little hands are hard pressed to pull on the brakes.. and thought processes take longer than they should... and you have a disaster waiting to happen. Sure, you can mitigate those possible hazards, depending on where you let them ride, but make sure you think long and hard about it... Like Quadduck has said...

 

We started our daughter out on her LT80 when she was 6. We just bought her a Z250 Suzuki last month and she is now 11. She is also 4'6'' and weighs 120lbs. She is a great fit for it and I believe is mentally competent for it also. I always am very cautious about putting her in an "iffy" situation in the first place.