minibikes for kids

[kevrider]

my SIL emailed me the other day to ask what i thought about a particular minibike for my nephew. never had one myself, don't know anyone who has ridden one, so i thought i'd query here to see what you guys think. specs on the neph in question: 9 yrs, 55#, 3'8". he is athletic, if you can say that about a 9yo; plays soccer and basketball, training wheels came off the bicycle some years ago. do you think a kid his size can handle the 50cc bike or should they go for the 30? TIA!

[phaze5]

i had my girls on a 50cc at 3 yo, he is already past that point imo, i am looking for a 50cc for my 3yo grandson,  but maybe an 90cc would be a better start he won't out grow it overnight anyway

[Zixxerpilot]

My 7 year old is riding a tuned-up 49cc pocket rocket, and he's already ready to upgrade. If I were here, I would be looking more towards the 70cc offerings some of the dirtbike manufacturers have.

[Meemuh]

my 9 y.o. boy is rocking the CR70...but he's bigger.
He's prolly 4'2 & 70 lbs-ish (?)...but he could easily handle something bigger.

We ended up with the 70 b/c it was the biggest bike I could find w/o a clutch.  I thought that might be a little too much too handle for his first self-propelled unit.

[Tyrroneous]

We just moved my 8 year old son up to a CRF70 this summer.  The PW50 has been handed down to his younger sister.  Your nephew would be the right size for the 70.  You could also look at the CRF50.  I think the 70 and 50 share the same frame (but don't quote me on that).  I do know that Honda's 4 stroke 50 is considerably bigger than Yamaha's 2 stroke PW50.