Ok, I took my daughter to a local Honda/Suzuki/Yamaha/Kawasaki Dealership last night and she fit great on the 50 cc's and actually fit well on the Raptor 80 except I do not want that kind of power available to her and the hand breaks are too far away from the hand grips for her to easily access. They did not have a Raptor 50 onsite and won't until November. I was wondering if anyone has or had the Raptor 50 to let me know if the hand break is closer to the hand grip than the Raptor 80 and what type of experience they have had with their Raptor 50?????? I am going to take her to sit on a Polaris and Eton tomorrow, so anyone with experience with them would also be a great help!!!! I am trying to do my best to research to make the best decision possible for my daughter and myself[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

As I said in a previous post, the chassis are the same between the 80 and 50.. which means the controls etc are the same. I agree, the 80 is just too powerful, and I suspect if the dealer knew the 80 was for your daughter, he would not be able to sell the 80 to you any way. If he did, he would be in violation of his dealer's agreement. You can see how she fits on it.. They will be the same. The 50 will sit slightly lower to the ground due to smaller tires, but if she has issues with reach and brake controls on the 80, they will be the same on the 50.

My son's Raptor 80 is pretty hard to pull on the brakes. It does have the advantage of a foot brake, which some mini's do not have. Be sure to check. You can mitigate this some by adjusting the brake cables/levers so they are closer to the bars.. And you might be able to find a set of dogleg style brake levers that give small hands a little more leverage.

One thing I have found at least on my son's Raptor 80 is that if you let go of the throttle, it has a tendancy to stop on it's own quickly without using the brakes. This has saved him a few times... but being able to use the brakes is very important, and we had to work on that for quite a while.

One of the things you notice on small children, is that they have to think their way through things... and you will see it when she rides. You will see her think through problems.... Making sure she has the time to learn how to react is your challenge

Lastly, the Raptor 50 is not a speed demon in any shape or form.. Top speed is around 10mph.. so if down the road you might have some thoughts of going faster, there isn't too much you can do with them to get them to go faster. The CDI ignition controls the speeds, and to my knowledge, there isn't an upgrade available to let the motor rev higher. The number one selling point in my mind is the tank like construction. It is hard to hurt one of these things.

 

My understanding is that WRH Racing now has a hop-up package for the Yamaha 50. Problem is the chassis. I don't think you can get a pipe to fit it. You might give Billy Holt a call if you're interested.

You can throttle these back to where they barely crawl over a pebble. Problem with the cvt is down an incline they'll still gain speed. Mine came with a walk behind tether kill switch which I thought was great. Little yank and it killed the engine. I started out walking or jogging with her and eventually hooked a retractable dog leash to it and followed on my quad. Wonderful learning tool that made me feel better about her safety. They even have remote kills on a few brands.

 

FunMom,

We have an '03 Pred-90 that's been driven by my large physical size 10 year old for the last 2.5 years. With its throttle turned down to a crawl, my physical small size 8 year old daughter also drives it in our back yard. Only in our back yard this year. Each of them complain its factory hand brakes "suck". They used to complain about its rear cable drum brake system too. Being hand lever at factory, it took lots of strength to "lock up" the rear tires. To me, locking up the rear tires is the "minimum must". Being frustrated, I designed / installed a foot brake on our Pred-90. I can tell your from "before and after", both my kids can control its rear brakes with ease. Like night and day. After seeing the difference with for my own eyes, I wish all minis came with a foot brake. Better yet, hydro disc rear brakes that are foot controlled. If you can, only try to focus on a mini that has a hydro foot brake. As a minimum, hydro disc brakes (yes, they still work great when they get wet) and if possible, install a 3rd party foot brake control. It's well worth it... Like night and day.

Another thing to keep in mind in your unique riding conditions. If your area has lots of water / mud and crud, I'd stay away from the 2 stroke minis that have open CVT trannys and open stator systems. These areas don't like water. Especially water above the running boards. If your young rider is "a mud lover" like my kids, try to focus on the 4 strokes. Most of the 4 strokes have a sealed tranny, sealed electrical system and can handle the mud / crud much better. If into mud / crud and you still want a 2 stroke, get one that has hydro disc brakes - and keep the water below its engine.

Hope this helps as well....

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Thanks so much for everyone's postings as they are a big help!!!! I haven't made any final decisions, but these postings are really helping in what route to take. Please keep giving me info[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Also, I did want to see if anyone had any experience with the Polaris 50cc.???

 

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Polaris 50cc???
- Cable drum brakes that are hand lever controlled.
- Some say they have week A-Arms.
- Some say they have weak Swing arms.
- Many say they need immediate power upgrades for soft sand / soft mud conditions.

These minis are designed for "around the house" and semi-soft ground minor trails. And that's it. When needed, some install a 70cc engine upgrade kit. Thus, more power for soft ground conditions. But, they risk putting too much stress on their frames & suspension. Especially if jumping or sudden hard bumps in the trail.

As a suggestion, try to focus on "body fit" as your main checklist. A little too big this year, perfect fit next year and a little too small the year after. Hence, 3 year expected life span of the mini. After body fit, focus on driver control & safety features.

Perhaps the E-Ton 70 (or other 70s) might be a good body fit with lots of features? This brand has Hydro disc brakes, E-Ton can handle more water abuse then the Pred-90s, etc. With a 70cc throttle turned down "now", it might be a good mini to grow into for next year?

Hope this helps as well...

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Can the Eton 70 be throttled down pretty good? I have heard alot of good things about Eton, but of course I am getting from people that they are not a main name brand and I should not waste the money. I am going to take my daughter to sit on the Eton Saturday.

 

Of the NON major brands that have been around for a while, Eton has been around a long time....that is saying something...

 

So, you definitely think the Eton is worth me looking into right?