Motocross style dirt bikes for a 10 year old

[johnr]

My daughter wanted to play hockey, I told her no, that sport is inappropriate for girls. That went over terribly, but I was telling her how I honestly felt. My girls are not going to be playing hockey, just like my boy is not going to play girls volleyball, or cheerlead.

 

[gst]

"have some friends that did something" isnt a great argument for doing something dangerous, but Im sure you are aware of that.... :;:cheers Most people skydivers dont kill themselves, but enough do that its not high on my list of things to do. I have no dog in this fight, so dont want to argue about it, its true that parents cant protect their kids from everything, but some may feel that discouraging dangerous behavior is also part of a parents job. Guess it just depends on the parents, if you get your kid a dirt bike and they kill themselves on it, you likely wont be charged for child abuse, unless you allow them to ride without safety gear.

Hopefully you don;t "throw" your kid in one of these.
[h=2]Summary:[/h]

• 6 million – average number of car accidents every year.
• 3 million people are injured every year in car accidents in America.
• Around 2 million drivers experience permanent injuries every year from car accidents.
• 40,000 people lose their lives every year due to major accidents while driving.
• 40% of all deaths caused by car accidents involve alcohol.
• 30% of car accident fatalities are attributed to speeding.
• Reckless driving accounts for 33% of all deaths involving major car accidents.
  
  Recently they tried passing a law restricting kids from "working" on the farm because it was too "dangerous". They were going to restrict them from working around large animals, machinery ect..
  
  My suggestion sent in during the public comment period was have the fella enforcing this law come to a branding and tell the kids they had to quit helping. He would be roped and hog tied and hopin to keep his nuts and not one person involved would have been over the age of 13.
  
  But perhaps we need more people to fill this world..........
  
  http://www.thedailyrash.com/ny-times-calls-obama-bicycle-photos-rugged-masculinity-gone-wild
  
  
  
  Out of curiousity what is on the "non dangerous" list approved for kids to participate in?

 

[ndlongshot]

my wife played hockey, actually got to play in college too and see some country. just another extra curricular sport although it takes a shit load of parent committment. she also out fishes me and shoots bigger deer than i do, i have no problems with it. son cheerleading would be a diff story.

i rode and raced growing up and wouldnt change a thing. live a little. ok i guess i would change the screws in my foot but thats about it. started on trail 70s and annually upgraded to the next step. race bikes are fun. BOOTS AND HELMET! work boots are garbage. trust me get the mx boots.

 

[guywhofishes]

My daughter wanted to play hockey, I told her no, that sport is inappropriate for girls. That went over terribly, but I was telling her how I honestly felt. My girls are not going to be playing hockey, just like my boy is not going to play girls volleyball, or cheerlead.

 

[johnr]

Me an Carroll O'Conner do share some ancient views, and mrs johnr runs at my every command like Edith...haha
However I don't have any filthy liberal kids bugging me left and right.

 

[eyexer]

Lot of good advice on here. I've been involved with MX since 1980. There are pro's and con's to any bike you choose. two strokes are great but they are tough to ride for beginners unless you do some things to them to make them more ride able. Four strokes are easier to ride but require far more maintenance and far more cost to keep up or repair. All bikes hold their value fairly well now compared to years ago. So starting a kid out on a 65 two stroke for a year then to an 85 then a 125 isn't as big a financial hit as it used to be.

Four strokes are more expensive initially but you get more for them at resale. However, with four strokes unless you buy the racing version such as a CRF150R a boy will outgrow the power of them fairly fast. And they're heavier than a two stroke so you have that going against you. Here are the pro's and con's and some of the ways to deal with some of the con's.

Two stroke-65 or 85 cc'
Harder to ride due to an abrupt power band. You can put on a bigger rear sprocket to help take some of the hit out of the power band. This will require a new sprocket on the rear and a longer chain. so $100 or so. You can also install a heavier flywheel which is around $75 and it helps a bunch. But you need to buy a flywheel puller or have the dealer do it. Takes ten minutes to swap out but a special tool to do it. The two stroke race bikes have a much better suspension than the non race bike 4 strokes. So they're a little safer to ride in that regard once jr gets to giving it the wood. which he will fairly soon. Two strokes are much easier to work on in regards to engine work. And much cheaper for parts/labor.

Four strokes-ie-KLX110,KLX125, CRF non (R) designations. Much easier to ride due to mellow power band. but not near the fun once jr starts giving it the wood. Expensive to work on and expensive parts. But pretty dependable at that displacement. The CRF150R is an excellent bike that kind of gives you the best of both worlds. Fairly mellow to ride unless your really on the rev limiter all the time then it flat out flies. Race suspension. Very reliable. expensive parts and labor if you don't do the work yourself. Very light an nimble like the two strokes. But they're loud. However, you can install an insert in the exhaust to knock down the noise some. The two strokes scream but it's not the same loud as the crf150r.

 

[Lycanthrope]

My daughter figure skated for 4 years and has been playing hockey for the last 5. Its a great sport for girls, but not as much fun to watch from a parents perspective as boys hockey is. I should have just stuck with hockey instead of getting her involved in gymnastics, her surgeon said that gymnastics is one of the worst sports, injury wise... Unfortunately you never really think about that until its too late.

 

[Captain Ahab]

My daughter figure skated for 4 years and has been playing hockey for the last 5. Its a great sport for girls, but not as much fun to watch from a parents perspective as boys hockey is. I should have just stuck with hockey instead of getting her involved in gymnastics, her surgeon said that gymnastics is one of the worst sports, injury wise... Unfortunately you never really think about that until its too late.

Hindsight is 20/20. Would you have gotten married if you knew it would have ended in divorce?

- - - Updated - - -

By the way, the odds are 50/50 so I hear. Worse than Russian Roulette.

 

[DirtyMike]

My daughter figure skated for 4 years and has been playing hockey for the last 5. Its a great sport for girls, but not as much fun to watch from a parents perspective as boys hockey is. I should have just stuck with hockey instead of getting her involved in gymnastics, her surgeon said that gymnastics is one of the worst sports, injury wise... Unfortunately you never really think about that until its too late.

Gymnastics is right up there with hockey, football and wrestling for injuries. It's crazy because there's "no contact." I dated a gymnast in high school and you'd see more knee braces and tape jobs there than at other sport. Spondylolisthesis is probably the biggest injury in gymnastics so make sure her back has been checked out.

 

[You]

I rode a mopehead once. Supercop in Valley city pulled me over. Wtf is the issue with riding on the sidewalk in a one horse town?

I rode b on a rocket once, somehow lost my pegs at about 100 mph. I defined terror that night.

Friend threw me on his rocket once because he thought I was "smart enuf to just get on it and go"

I proved him wrong. That curb came up QUICKLY.

Didnt tip er, but rockets can become airborne

i now avoid motorcycles....well, except for my classic 'see motorcycle coming, come to a complete stop at stop sign or light, then roll forward a bit and watch reaction' maneuver

 

[Captain Ahab]

I rode a mopehead once. Supercop in Valley city pulled me over. Wtf is the issue with riding on the sidewalk in a one horse town?

I rode b on a rocket once, somehow lost my pegs at about 100 mph. I defined terror that night.

Friend threw me on his rocket once because he thought I was "smart enuf to just get on it and go"

I proved him wrong. That curb came up QUICKLY.

Didnt tip er, but rockets can become airborne

i now avoid motorcycles....well, except for my classic 'see motorcycle coming, come to a complete stop at stop sign or light, then roll forward a bit and watch reaction' maneuver

NOT cool!

 

[johnr]

I have had some close calls riding my bike, I always thought it was accidental.

 

[Colt45]

My boyhood buddy was killed on a motorbike at age 12 or so......... don't recall what he was riding but it was a smaller bike. He was riding ditches on the outskirts of town, came flying out of the ditch and smacked into a semi, got run over by the trailer. He was killed instantly, and that incident took away my desire of owning a motorbike to this day. That was a sad sad situation to say the least. I know another young dude who lost two toes when he was forced off the road into a ditch and clipped a rock with his foot............ he says he is lucky for only losing 2 toes.
Owning a motorbike is a personal choice, I have no problems with people riding them, racing them, or whatever. I am not judging anyone's parenting skills either, just throwing my experiences out there. Personally, I didn't let my kids ride em, and never bought one for em, and have no regrets about it. Like the sayin goes......... its all fun till someone gets hurt, or worse yet killed.

 

[johnr]

going to look at one tonight, 2014 that the other kid out grew already.

 

[5575]

Thumbs UpThumbs Up

 

[eyexer]

going to look at one tonight, 2014 that the other kid out grew already.

what is it?

 

[johnr]

Honda 125F.
Price was right, likely getting it for himself.
He is opposite of me and wanted to think about it for a bit