Been reading for weeks on here and traveled all over internet and thouroughly confused.

I purchased my 12 year old son a 110cc BMX 318 ( From Dallas BMX). The reviews about this company are completely mixed, but I must say for the price it's been great and what we needed for him to learn on.

Sadly he has outgrown the quad, not size wise, performance wise. He does peg the throttle but as a concerned dad, I can live with that so not really looking for much larger cc. The biggest problem is the lack of suspension and general quality of the unit. The terrain we have to ride on causes the chain to continuoulsy pop off from what appears to be too stiff and rigid of a suspension & frame.

On a track with controls turns, jumps etc the thing is fine, however a stiff rutted trail is a night mare.

I've adjusted shock, shortened and lengthened chain, air pressures all the elementary stuff but it still happens.

Several friends have TRX90's and Polaris Outlaw with better suspension and relability, and never seem to have that problem. However neither quad has the features wanted.

I want him best prepared to ride a real sport quad or dirtbike.

So criteria. Rear disc brake and specifically rear foot brake. He loves shifting , current unit is 3 spd semi automatic. Electric start and reverse while luxuries, have really come in handy.

I find all kinds of chinese & name brand models out there with 1 or two of these features, but none with all. I am mechanically Ok to handle small repairs and basic stuff or bolt ons but am not comfortable with engine overhauls and performance modification. I really would prefer the reliability of a name brand bike.

Have looked at an LT160, but it really doesn't get good reviews on any of the forums. Does anyone else have reccomendations of models with similar desired features? Did I miss an obvious choice?

 

Probably the best performing kids quad is the Cobra 70. Manual clutch 6-speed, disc brakes all around, 11" travel up front / 8.5" in the rear, runs like a bat. Of course, it will set you back over eight grand. Can-Am's got an X version of their 90 that is set up for racing - I think it's around $3,500.

However, at 12 he's going to be growing pretty quickly. Since he seems to be anexperienced rider you may want to look at the 250 class. Yamaha has the best of them currently - theirs is a clutch operated 5-speed - very light and sporty. Honda 250 TRX and Suzuki Z250 are good solid bikes, but not inthe same speed class as the Yamaha. All three are around $4,000, withthe Honda and Suzuki being just under. Don't bother with the LT160. It's a decades old design and although it is a good, solid and reliable bike, it does not have near the performance that you are looking for.

Jaybee

 

Thanks, I will look into the Can AM.

While he seems to have really done well, I'm just not sure he's prepared for the power or weight of a 250 Raptor or LTZ250.

Plus most of the places we ride follow the age and cc ratings, or have a modified version of it. I guess for liability's sake. We have no private land availalbe for us to use so it's been a real pain in the butt.

We were resting on a trail and he was just sitting on my KFX400 and ranger informed me " he better not see him sitting on that thing running". He then proceeded to ask my son about his age and informed me that techincally my son wasn't allowed to be on the BMX either as it was 110cc and for riders 16 and over but he'd let it slide this time.

 

Keeping to state regualtions is tricky. At 12; is he still limited to riding 90cc ATV's. Thats a tricky age because of their size. At that age most kids that race are moving up to the 200-300 cc class because the bikes are built so small.

I have a TRX 90 for my 8yr old about 70 lbs.. He loves it and its bulletproof. Doesnt have the suspension for jumping though. My son is up to jumping 3 ft high and about 9 ft longs right now and it bottoms out but he can still jump with no problem. You can upgrade the suspension but I have not had any issue at all with this bike. Start everytime and never one issue at all. Its a 2003 Modle Year.

I thought the CanAm 90x was a CVT automatic as well. so pay attention to that. My son loves to shift as well but when you get on an ATV that pulls away from all of his friends with ease he totally forgets about shifting.

We just ordered my son a new DRR 90 from G-Force Powersports. Its an automatic 2 stroke but the runs fast as hell.. It destroys the TRX90 when it comes down to anything. Better handling and flies in the air. It wins MX racing all the time but is still good on the trails the way it comes. It is alot better then the CanAm 90 because it is faster and alot of great tech support from them. It is also 40" wide. Performance parts are very easy and cheap to find. You would $1000 over the Can Am and be much happier with this ATV. And they stand behind their product.

Here's a link to some videos. http://www.bestkidsatvs.com/videos.php


If your located in or near Maryland you are welcome to come sit on my sons DRR. We haven't even started it up yet but you can see how he fits on it. Its a Christmas present so we have to keep it hidden.

Here is a link http://yhst-17379619078614.sto...net/drx90licoatv.html

You can call him as well because he will give you a great price on it, better then list usually. Let me know if you are interested and I can get you his cell number to talk to him in person. He usually keeps its cell phone on and gets you back on the road if anything ever does break within a couple days. The amount of tech support they give is amazing.

I dont get anything out of recommending this ATV.. I just love the brand and the quility of the bike. Another close option to this would be the APex 100mx. But its gonna be atleast $1000 more then the DRR and not much tech support.

 

DRR/APEX/EXTREME.
The DRR is a great choice.

 

Thanks for info & links.

The DRR seems to be more in line with what we'd be looking for. LT 250 4X4 you guessed it, we are in Maryland, near Annapolis, so may take you up on that offer.

Am calling G-Force for info on DRX-90 tomorrow.

In the mean time am looking at installing universal chain tensioner on BMX unit to help with constant chain popping off.

Anyone have any insight on these? How effective they are , best brand etc.

 

I am about 1 hour from annopolis. Up in Harford county above Belair Md in rt 1 .

We are putting the bike together this weekend but not starting it up yet. Its my sons present . Sit on it and see how it is for your son. I have to do it when he is not around for obvious reasons. When you call him tomorrow tell him Chris Boyd let you know about him, word of mouth sometimes gets you a better deal.I have his number if you need it . He should be able to get you a nice deal on one.

I have heard good results on these tensioners especially on ATV's that extended the swingarms. It may help a little, but my father's Roketa 250 still pops off with it on sometimes. Just not as much.

 

Just another view on where you are at with your son, age wise. My girlfriend's son is 10 and weighs around 100 lbs. He is fairly tall. We have a Polaris Outlaw 90 that her son and daughter rode and we found he was just too big for it. I looked at just about everything, including the Raptor 250. Felt it was too much bike for him, full manual and no reverse plus a lot of power and doesn't weigh a lot. We ended up with a 2007 Honda TRX250EX. It is a little heavy, only 229cc and has a sport clutch. You can ride it like a manual or shift without using the clutch. This way he is learning about shifting up and down but is fine if he forgets to use the clutch, it still shifts. He rode it for the first time in Oregon on the dunes. We took it really slow and had him just cruise around the camp. By the end of the week, he was riding very well, conservative, but safe. We were glad to have went the way of the Honda. I just put a Big Gun exhaust and jetted the carb. It runs much better now. My suggestion would be to not go too small. You can always use a throttle stop on a larger bike if you need to. The TRX250EX is a smaller framed bike, like the Raptor 250. Good luck in your search. We had looked at the Can-Am 90 X but the Polaris Outlaw 90 has the same engine and is faster. Also, we paid less for our new Honda 250 than what the Can-Am dealer wanted for the 90 X.

 

I think he was saying by law he has to keep it under a certain size. My sons 2003 Honda TRX 90 is bigger then the DRR. We may be selling it next month if you are looking for something used. The DRR by the way is faster then the Can AM and Polaris stock and much better suspension.

 

Yeah it's tough to go up in CC with the regulations and the places we've been able to ride. It doesn't help that my 13yr old is pretty small, only 95lbs. So he stands outs when on larger quads. We ride at state parks and the rangers will let him slide on the 110 even though it says 16 or older.

A friend of ours has a 220 Kawasaki Bayou and let him try that, we got stopped, the DNR Police made him get off so unless we find different places to ride, we may be stuck for a while.

Even going to Southern Md ATV Park, they will allow him to ride up to a 200 but nothing bigger.

Will take a look at the Honda though for the future, I used to love my TRX. Thanks for the advice.