Now that I have the Speed, I've decided to sell my 500 Scrambler and get a smaller sport quad for my 13 year old son. He has been riding a Polaris Trailblazer for 2 years and rides it well. I'm getting $4000 for the Scrambler so that's what I've got to work with. I've narrowed it down to 3 quads and would like some feedback.

Yamaha Blaster - smallest, no reverse, kick start, weak brakes, prefer a 4 stroke
Honda 250 ex - shaft drive, worst suspension and slowest in the group.
Kawasaki Mojave- seems like best bang for the buck, only downside I see is kick start.

 

a blaster sucks, but, is a lotta fun, if your expecting your kid to run with 400ex's and raptors, then get him a 300 or 400ex. when i was 13 i was driving a banshee. dont think he cant handle a 400ex, he knows how to ride, give him a 300 or 400ex. or maybe even a raptor, i started out on a banshee lol, before i had a banshee, i had a dirtbike, kx125.

 

I would not say the blaster sucks, my son started out on one. They are excellent to learn on and they sell new for under $3K, pretty good value and you can find tons of them used if you want to save even more. Their brakes do suck, I'll admit that but not so much so that I would not buy another one. It gives the youngster a chance to learn how to use a manual cluth and a kickstarter. Many people including me would say the ultimate quad ever built and still today is the 250R so learning on a blaster now and eventually going to the R would make alot of sense. If you're going to stick with sport quads, starting on a blaster would not be a bad choice.

 

blaster sucks??? my 9 year old son ownes one and let me tell you it hauls me around at 190lbs no problem. yeah the front brakes suck but overall for the price and performance i would buy the blaster over a 250ex and 300ex anyday.

 

If I went with tht Blaster i'd have $1000 left over for upgrades. I wouldn't necessarily want to make it any faster right now, but is there a good low end pipe for it. How about suspension and brake upgrades?

 

Jay, I have a neighbor with a new Blaster, he just added an FMF pipe and silencer to his and he claims it really opened the Blaster up. I always thought the Blaster was pretty fast as stock!! I remember seeing in dirtwheels where someone offered an upgrade on the brakes. I'm not sure about the suspension but I'm sure there are aftermarket A-arms and shocks for the Blaster as well. But if it were me, unless you were going to keep the quad for along time, I would not put anything into it. Ride it for a while, I think you'll be pretty impressed with how it performs as stock.

 

I just sold my 01 scrambler and pick up a new 250ex. My first rided was today and I love it! Now I have 2 sport quads, and 1 work quad. A fx400 that I changed to a Blaze for harescrambales a mag325 for the yard work, and the 250ex for playing around. My inlaw has a 99 blaster I have riden a lot an I think the 250ex is a better pick. I think the ex feels bigger, the brakes are a 100% better. The power is better than you would think it would be for a 250cc motor, but not as fast as the blaster. The ex also handes better in the woods an turns a little quicker. I did change the rear tires as soon as I got it to mud sharks, because I live in Ohio and it winter. Good luck on your pick!!


RACERJIM

 

I'm tempted to say go with low maintenance 250ex, aaaahh, but i can't. no clutch? The blaster is a great fast, beginner quad that can be turned into a screamer. My son rides all three but usually goes with the blaster. I think the size is just right, he's 5'4 ,100lbs. The brakes are fine, when they work, but do take more attention than they should. Especially if he likes mud and water! I rode it alot til we got the 'bull and it was great fun having that 2 stroke powerband to play with. If we had a lakota, i bet i would have had to kickstart it way more than i wanted to. The blaster has been rock solid, cept the brakes and we are talking about adding $400 or so in power mods. haha. But then, maybe that honda would be NO maintenance.
FUN choices, good luck!