I'm not sure what your point is?Yes I like E-tons but I realize that two strokes are on the way out as emissions become tighter.My post was strictly on some technical points about 2 strokes and 4 strokes,not which one was better.I wouldn't trade our viper 90 for a 4 stroke 90 but I wouldn't trade my DVX 400 for a Banshee either.As the two strokes are phased out the little 4 strokes will have to step it up a bit.

 

My twist on this subject is why are we modifying the crap out of our machines in the first place? Is our natural sense of wanting to compete overshadowing the whole riding experience? I have to admit, I used to race.. but I also knew that it was a game of cubic dollars. Speed costs... I raced to get a chance to ride on a well prepared track.. and measure my own skills against those of others. I didn't have that win at all cost mentality... I just enjoyed being out there. I think too often we measure success by the results we achieve, and miss the fact that the intent was to have fun. Anything more than that, and it has gone from a hobby to a full time job. No thanks, I have one of those already.

When we talk about kids/mini quads... their attention should be on developing riding skills yes... but also make sure they have fun and enjoy all the things going on around them while they do it. Not seeing who can get to the next corner first. Teach them how to make good rational decisions.. how to work their way through problems etc... and down the road they will be better human beings for it. Combine it with camping, or fishing.. or just spending time with mom or dad.... pull off the trail and have them look at the surrounding nature and ask them what they see... We have enough soccer moms and baseball and basketball dads out there.. let's not bring that mentality to the sport of ATV riding...

If you do have to modify a machine.. do it for the right reasons.. Safety is the big one... There are situations where you need more power to handle the terrain where you ride, or your machine needs more power to pull a wagon etc.. That is a good reason to boost the power... but I question the speed for the sake of speed argument, just so they can beat their buddies. Out on the trail.. there are very few opportunities that require top speed anyway.

 

I would agree. Within our bush trails, my 10 year old son ranges between 5 mph to 15 mph. Rarely do I clock him doing above 15 mph. Way too many trees and sharp corners to go faster then that. Besides lossing control danger, we spend most of our time spinning our tires in the mud, and getting each other covered in over spray. When the chain wears out on our Pred-90, I'm going to install a smaller front sprocket and/or a bigger back sprocket. Probably go with a smaller front sprocket to retain the same ground clearance. My son's Pred-90 doesn't need to go 20+ down our bush trails. For our unique trails, we need more bottom end. So we can spin the back tires even more. Simple sprocket change should do the trick.

For folks who ride their minis on straight hard trails, racing and/or long flat sand dunes, doing 5-15 mph would probably "put the rider to sleep". For them 25+ (even more) is their safe level of norm - for their unique riding conditions.

If you ever come across a smaller then factory front sprocket for an '03 Pred-90, please let me know. I'm always trying to find surplus "good as new" parts to better tune our mini - for our unique slow riding trails. Thanks.

You are right about one thing.... The specialized tuning of one's mini all boils down to one's unique riding conditions and the danger that pitt crews are upgrading "just to keep up with the Jones family". Then, their very expensive "Race Ready" mini sits in the corner of their garage until they sell it.

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My 1964 80cc Yamaha had oil injection....