First mini bike for youngsters?

Hi - I'm looking for some up to date info on a suitable mini bike for
my 2 young sons (5 & 3 y.o.) to start on. Many, many moons ago I
started out on a bike known as a Deltek "Rockhopper". It was a
tube-steel frame with a small Briggs & Straton motor, centrifugal
clutch, small, fat tyres. A load of fun for a youngster and generally
didn't hurt too bad if you stuffed up....

I'm looking for a similiar experience for my boys now, but there
doesn't seem to be much choice between these pocket racer style bikes
(which look like it'd be a trip to the panel beaters or resprayers at
the end of each week end) or the 4 wheel ATV style, which really isn't
what I had in mind. Much of the riding will be done on sandy type
pasture/soil so skinny earth riping tyres are definately out...

Can anyone make any suggestion as to an "old style" compromise for a
first mini bike???

Just to complicate it some more, I'm interested in messing with the
engine myself, so something based on a Honda OHV horizontal shaft
engine would be ideal. (As my wife says- "Is this for you or the
boys???")

Thanks in advance for any advice/assistance...
Cheers,
Paul.

 

wrote:

<SNIP stuff about first kids bike>

Young Jacob has one of those chinese bikes (110cc) it's been thrashed by
him and his younger and older sister and sisters boyfriend and me and
jodz and even the dog I think.

Other than bits falling off (because the chinese factory refuses to use
locktight or locknuts or lock washers) and the cheese metal chain it's
been very reliable.

Keep the maintenance up to them and they are fine. I've heard several
stories that the smaller 50cc versions are less reliable than the larger
ones.


G-S

 

Maintenance is the key with chinese imports. I have 2 boys currently
riding, one 4 years, one 6. The 4 y.o. is on a PW50 copy (50py) and the
6 y.o. is on a CRF50 copy (Mojo 50).

I wash, lubricate and adjust after every ride, and they are both still
running like new. The only problem I had was a poorly-adjusted (from
factory) oil injection pump on the PW copy. It wasn't mixing enough
2-stroke oil with the fuel. I grabbed the relevant pages out of the PW
manual, and set it to facory spec. Since then, it's been perfect.

Many shops pull these off, and simply tell you to pre-mix the fuel. The
problem with this approach, IMO, is that plug fouling can occur at low
speeds (while the kids are learning), because the fuel/oil ratio is
constant, rather than being based on engine RPM.

Because kids grow so fast, I didn't want to drop 2K per bike, only to
sell them both in a couple of years, losing $$$.

I could buy both bikes brand new (based on current prices) for about
$1600 now. Once the boys are a little bigger, and have decided to stick
with bikes, I plan on swapping to Jap brands (probably once they get to
110cc).

Don't buy something that's built for adults (pit bike style), as the
ergonomics are all wrong for kids (bars, pegs, etc), and you won't be
able to teach them to ride properly. Make sure it's designed for kids.

 

stick with the original yamaha PW50, theyre flawless almost zero
maintainance bikes and if you get a good one your grandkids will still
be riding it on the next set of rings.as a cheaper alternative the
PY50(pee wee copy) are actually using yamaha motors now(so the local
dealer tells me)and they can be picked up for $800 brand new.and if
your 3 year old needs trainer wheels, i make the best ones ever
produced, just look on ebay.nothing like free advertising eh.good
luck..........willow

 

Agreed, PW50/PW80 or equivalent jap.
Our PW50 was bought new for a 3yo in 1993, he is now 18 and the bike is
still untouched having been my son AND his two younger brothers learner bike
for the last 13 years. We also have a PW80 and then a CR80 as they grow into
them.

Regarding the chinese imports, whenever we go to the track, the scene is
always the same. The chinese bikes scream around for an hour or so, then
there's an hour or so of the chinese bikes parked at the side of the track
while dad fiddles with something on the engine, followed by the chinese
bikes being loaded onto the trailer and driven home before lunchtime

The PWs and TTRs etc keep going on long into the day, kids going home
totally worn out, but with a big smile on their faces

YMMV

 

yep, certainly does vary..............

ck

 

Maybe the dads should learn how to prepare / maintain their bikes!

I conceed that Jap bikes probably take less looking after, but I can
honestly say that my 2 have never given a hint of trouble.

 

I fully agree with this statement!

Now we just gotta get the chinese cheapie retailers to target their market a
little better.
I bet if you asked them for their demographics, 90% of their market is solo
mothers and clueless dads who just see "WOW! BIKE ONLY $800 LOOK HOW SHINY
IT IS! MUST BUY FOR JUNIOR SNOT NOSE!", and wouldn't even think ANY
maintenance would be required.

OTOH many regular/more experienced motorcyclists would know the difference
in chinese vs japanese engineering and quality control, but the chinese
cheapie target market wouldn't have a clue IMHO.

And thats just the way they like it probably

QUOTE:
"If you're so inclined, go to the dual sport forum at thumpertalk.com
and you can read for days about Chinese dual sports and the experiences
of guys who have bought them. "
http://groups.google.com.au/group/r...otorcycles.dirt&rnum=1&hl=en#2ff1eacd6b273815

 

My experience, several of us purchased chinese minibikes for the kids at the
same time, mine was a mojo-50.
Our kids ride almost everyweekend (easy firetrails) and normally have at
least one run around the backyard a week (we live on several acres)

All bikes have been well maintained with a couple of blokes in our group
being engineers, one works with aircraft fabrication.

Id go so far as to say these bikes are dangerous, the frame to shock mounts
have broken on most of them and one bike snapped around the headstock of the
frame. Mechanical faults have been too numerous to mention.

I purchased a used Yamaha Pewee 80 about 12 months ago which has been 100%
reliable, the kids reckon its better to ride and of course spare parts are
easy to get if needed.

The larger (125cc) chinese bikes appear to be even worse, one was purchased
for a mates 15 year old daughter so she could go on rides with us and the
first time it was used the frame tubing containing the swingarm bush
cracked, we took the bike to an engineer who refused to try and repair it
saying the metal/construction was so poor he wouldnt take the risk of doing
any work to it.

The Jap bikes are not expensive to own at all, especially if kept in good
order and purchased secondhand can normally be onsold every couple of years
as the kids outgrow them for around the original purchase price. The chinese
junk I suppose is attractive to cheapskates who only take notice of the
initial pricing, our chinese bike is currently sitting in the shed and
although still running ok Id not feel right about selling it after the frame
being welded up on two occasions.

I dont know how they are allowed to sell this junk and I belive one state is
legislating to stop the sale of them.

 

i hate chinese bikes.i dont know how they can make an exact copy of a
bike from another manufacturer and get away with it legally and i
certainly wouldnt trust the safety of my kids with one, yet.but lets
not be too hard on them.thirty years ago the japanese used steel that
bent like playdough and made some mechanical nightmares,weve all got to
start somewhere.im sure some of the chinese bikes are ok,in another ten
years,we might know which ones they are........willow

 

The Honda Z50 is great , but the chinese copy is pretty good, next door
has one and it hasn't let them down yet

ChengShing (close spelling I think) make 2000 bikes a day,(just watching
a doco on Discovery ) better get used to them, largest (by Quantity)
motorcycle maker in the world.
Mick Chester

 

Here's an idea, buy mine!
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4637246337&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MESE:IT&rd=1

rgds,

Don




*** Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com ***

 

If you were in Melboure I would.
then sell this bloke Cammos QR50!

 

cheng shin have made tyres for years,when did they start making
bikes.......willow

 

zongshen

did a google the other day

Piaggio bought into them so gotta say something there

 

If I didn't know how to wield a spanner I wouldn't either.

Eggsactly... and if everybody thought the same back then, where would they
be now?

From the bit of research I've done I see the most bias coming from Jap bike
owners. I've heard one local track has gone so far as to allow only Jap
bikes to use it. It seems times change but people don't!

No matter which way you look at it they are here to stay. In this day and
age an increasing number of people are looking at price being the only
factor. They're being catered for. Next will come after sales service,
parts and modifications (which seems to be the main complaints at present).
Some manufacturers that I know of have made substantial improvements in the
last six months that I've been looking. The rest will follow. It's the
future!

 

On 10/5/06 10:55 PM, in article
tpl8g.1293$, "Pisshead Pete"


Jeez. I thought you woulda said "wow, all these newbies here that hate the
Chinese bikes, what a coincidence. Now, **** off!"

Hammo (Pizza for cat)

 

if you cant wield a spanner then you really shouldnt be buying kids
dirtbikes or yourself

same is happening with korean cars , cue hyundai

so no KTM there either ?

parts are already available if you know where to look

 

Owning a mojo 50 myself, I'd be very interested in hearing more of your
horror stories, specifically about this model, if it's not too much
trouble.

 

Legally? Perhaps you should google "copyright" and "china". That'll
answer your question!