My daughter just started riding my hand-me-down 400EX and Rancher. Before that she had a 300EX, 250EX and Recon, LT160, and LT80. We were riding this weekend with a bunch of other kids who were on the typical variety of "kids" machines. Everyone was trying their skills at a variety of hill climbs (I was cringing the whole time!!). My general impression was that the kids on the smaller machines were far less safe than my daughter was on the bigger, more powerful 400. The little bikes were having trouble making the hills, and occasionally someone would get stuck and start rolling backward before they caught themselves. But, the 400 just blasted right through everything, with torque to spare. In a tough situation, it has the extra power to bail you out. And, that's not even mentioning better suspension, stability, etc.

Conventional wisdom (and the government) suggests that kids should be on tame little wimpy machines, but I am not so sure anymore!!!

 

it sound like your daughter is a skilled rider having all the machines you listed to her credit. I have 3 kids and they all have and will ride when its time, but I think it has alot to do with how well she was instucted while she was learning, my 9 year old is stubbern, and he thinks there isn't anything he can't ride(even my P650) he can manuver around the yard, but he's not ready to go trail riding. my daughter is 17 going on 40(so she thinks) and has good skills on a quad, but she to doesn't judge things well. you should be happy your kids listen and learn.

 

The other kids were her same age, and a fairly experienced bunch of kids overall. In other words, the kids themselves were pretty much equal. The difference was what MACHINE they were riding!! To put it another way, it may not be good to keep a kid on a kids machine for to long.

 

My 10 yr old rides a 125 Breeze and puts it places where the kids on the sport quads get hung.One reason is he is good at choosing his line and knows to keep 2 wheels on the high side of a rut not to blow through it.More power is really a joke in my eyes it is more rider abbillity than machine.Like with my 4x4s they are the big FLAGSHIP machines but old 4x4 Polaris but I get around as good if not better than most of the new ones because of judgement .Oh yeah mine arent stock either though.But back to kids power is ok but as long as they know what to do with it.

 

The ratings on the quads are totally rediculous. my son and I went to take one of the safety coarses a few years ago, and according to the school and the recomended size requirements, my son would have had to ride a 50cc machine, the guy at the school cheated and let him ride a 90cc machine which was still to small and my son and he is not very big. He had just started riding a 250r. My son did all the demos and was more capable than the instructor. He is now 14 and rides a C-dale and very well I might add. I still have the 250r and let many of the younger kids ride it as they do better on it than the smaller bikes. I will note that good parental supervision is very important along with very strict rules on safety gear.

Bottom line is government needs to stay out as well as the lawyers which have imposed these stupid regulations.

 

reconranger

My experience with my son on his lt80 is the suspension is way too stiff for his weight. The machine does a lot of bouncing around making it more difficult for him to control. As for the power I still have the throttle limited to 1/2 way because he still wants to go as fast as he can all the time. Throttle control has been difficult for me to get through to him. But for the most part I believe the lack of power will get you into as much trouble as anything else.

 

I agree with other posts. My son, age 11 and 110#, is not over confident and takes well to instruction. He handles my Rancher with no problem and knows not to get too brave. From riding motorcycles and ATV's, I think more power is better. You have a chance to power your way out of a situation (such as the hill scenario you mentioned). But it's got to be balanced with intelligence and good sound training.

I powered my way out of being chased by an angry cow a few weeks ago. She was way to aggressive to be underhung with an udder. I was trying to herd her toward a pen, and she stopped, turned and challenged me, pawing the ground with her front hooves, then she came running! Fortunately, I was turned 45 degrees to her and could drop the throttle and go. Even then, she got within about 5 feet of my rear bumper before I outran her. We've since had her retrofitted with ********* and horns, which match her demeanor much better!

 

i agree that the age limits on atv are not right. i started riding a 50cc motorcycle when i was 4 and and then at 5 or 6 i got a lt80. i was half the age and never had a problem handling that machine. and if anyone is thinking about getting a lt80 i have nothing bad to say about them, the one i had went through everything. the only thing i wish i would of had on it was that headlight kit they make for it. i used to ride at night all the time with a little flashlight taped to it. it sucked but it was better than sitting in the house