Ok my fiance and I are debating buying at 4 wheeler for our 9 year old. He has been asking for one every since he saw mine. He loves riding on mine as a passenger. I kind of want to get him one so I can take him trail riding, etc.

I know the "recommendations" from the manufacturer, and I don't think we're going to follow them. He's only 9 but he's 4-8 and about 100 lbs. I was thinking of a used Breeze, a used 80 or 90, or maybe one of the Chinese knockoffs. I would even consider a three wheeler but he doesn't want one of those for some reason.

We're looking to spend about $1000 but not much more than that.

 

My fiance? Our 9 year old? You guys don't get in a hurry, huh? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]


I think the breeze would be ideal.

 

Well he's really her son but I say our's cause I've just gotten used to doing that, without realizing that it may cause confusion. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

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ajd187,

Regardless if new or used, there is a few things that one must consider. They are:

1 - Focus on "proper body fit". Mini should be a little big this year, "perfect size next year" and a little small the year after. On average, one's mini is expected to have a 3 year life span - based on body fit and rider's average growth. To me, this is the most critical facto in deciding what engine size to focus on.

2 - Focus on the mini that best meet your riding conditions. 4 strokes with sealed tranny & sealed electrical are much better in mud / crud when compared to 2 strokes - which usually have open stator (electrical systems) and open CVTs. In wet / mud riding conditions, hydro disc brakes are much better as well. Many kids love a foot brake much better then hand brake lever system.

3 - Comined weight & riding style. To me, the Pred-90 brand has too thin of stock chain. The Eton 90 has thicker chain. If your 9 year old is heavy (like my 135ish lb kid), do get a mini with a 520 "thicker size" chain. Less chain and less sprocket wear. Especially in the mud / crud riding conditions. Or, be prepared to upgrade a thin chain to HD O-Ring in the near future. If your young riders "is a jumper", plan on installing frame gussets and performance shocks. After a while, even strong frame minis will break under these conditions.

4 - Parts availablity. Some brands of minis have better suspension then others. Some have better brakes then others. Some have more available maintenance & upgrade parts then others. Many like the Kasea, Xtreme, E-Ton, Dinli, Polaris brands because of parts availability. Others like the Honda brand because of its high reliability and its foot brake.

5 - Safety items & driving features. If trail riding, focus on minis that have DRLs (Daytime Running Lights) on both front & rear. Some only come with DRLs in the front and a Brake light in the rear. If they don't come with DRLs front & back, consider adding them yourself. If trail riding, you may want Reverse. Sure wish our '03 Pred-90 had reverse. On trails, Reverse is near mandatory. Some young riders love FUL AUTO and other kids can adapt to shifting. Each kid is different. If into sharp corners, don consider making its front end wider. Installing wider A-Arms is the best solution. Wheel spacers will work - if it doesn't put too much stress on its front bushings / bearings. If wondering, my son hasn't tipped his Pred-90 since we installed 1.5" wheel spacers. Installing 2" wider A-Arms would make it even better.


As a suggestion, make a checklist of many focus points. Take as many minis for "test rides" as you (and he) can and RATE EACH brand. By rating each focus point from 1-10, one is forced to look past the mini's look. The mini with the best score (for your critical focus points) is the winner. New or used, a checklist should always be used.


Hope this helps....

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ajd187,

As another suggestion, spend the time to narrow down your list to 3 different brands (based on your focus point checklist) and tell us these 3 brands. The others who are experienced with each brand will then tell you "what they like or don't like" about that brand. Thus, allowing you to narrow down your choice even more. And, you get to obtain "real world" feedback from the folks who drive these specific brands. If wondering, we took 4.5 months to narrow down our list. Back 3 years ago, the available brands in my area were limited. They only had 4 brands back then. By avoiding "impulse buying", you'll have the extra research time to get the right mini - for your unique riding conditions and young rider's wants.


Buy used or new??? This can be a hard question to ask. The price of some brands don't depreciate too much. Other brands do. When buying used, you "could" get a mini that may need new brakes, may need new chain / sprockets, may need new Swing Arm bushings, may need new A-Arm bushings or may need some engine work. Especially if the owner drove the snott out of the mini and/or didn't take good care of it. Thus, they are selling it - before it breaks on them. Depending on where you live, maintenance parts and/or upgrade parts can be expensive. With some brands of minis offering pretty good loans, one might break even if they put 75% down and obtained a loan for the other 25% - instead of 100% bought used and needing immediate maintenance work. If you plan on installing wider A-Arms, engine upgrades, frame gussets, stronger Swing Arm, Performance shocks, engine upgrade, etc. etc. then perhaps buying used at less initial price is worth it? It all denpends on the specific brand of mini and how expensive maintenance parts are - within your region.


Hope this helps as well....

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If we were going to go with a Chinese mini I was thinking of either:
Dinli
Eton
Kazuma

If we go with a major brand:
used Breeze (which I mentioned earlier)
used KFX80, LT80, TRX90 or Raptor 80.

A 50 is going to be too small and slow for him.

 

This is a difficult question many have had to address... and the real answer is going to be that it is difficult for those of us out here to really give more than a passing answer. You know the child. We do not. We do not know his mental state, or if he is capable of following instruction and obey your rules whether you are present or not, or react in time when faced with an emergency situation. You are the best judge of that.

We can state that all of the machines you mentioned, to include the used major brands will all provide hours of enjoyment. All we can say is be careful, and treat this as a dangerous thing. They are not toys... or baby sitters.. but they can provide a means of communicating on a different wavelength with your son. Given that he will be using the proper safety gear, and that you will be training him to act responsibly and safely.

We wish you well.

 

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Of the brands you mentioned above.....

Dinli
Eton
Kazuma

used Breeze
used KFX80, LT80, TRX90 or Raptor 80.

If mud / crud is your passion, focus on the TRX90. If for dry riding conditions, have a serious look at Dinli, E-Ton and LT80. If smashing rough jumps, the LT80 engine case might break. But for normal trails, its a good fast mini. Sorry, I don't have any info on the Breeze. But I do know there's very few bad historical posts of this brand. If you search this forum, you'll find lots of "help me - it's broken" posts of the Kazuma brand. Always remember to focus on "body fit" and rider controls. What do they like and don't like when they seat on the seat? Hopefully, your young rider can drive each brand around the yard for a while - before buying.

Hope this helps...

 

Thanks to all. I think we will probably go with a used major brand. It's a bit more money but I'm not very mechanically inclined, and I want him to be able to ride the heck out of this thing without breaking it because I'm not going to be able to fix it easily.

 

Im knocking on wood as i type this. We love our LT80 you can see it up close under the post some other lt80 pics. I have heard people talking about breaking cases but i can tell you this.... My boy is 9 and he jump the bajesus out of his and so far so good. My boy likes to spend more time in the air then on the ground. I cant even get him to ride the pee wee track anymore. He wants to ride the pro track with dad. So the LT80 is the way to go for sure in my eyes!!! Good luck with your decision!