Grandson's next bike??

[gunner]

Help! I need some advice! My 7yr. old grandson has pretty much outgrown his Z50R. He races a few Harescrambles and trailrides with me. We put him on a XR70 and he can sit flatfooted with his knees bent slightly! My question is; since the next class in harescrambles is 65cc, what bike can we get him that will work both racing and slow/tight trail riding? I'm afraid the KTM-RM-KX65's will be too pipey to be very good on the trails. As far as I know, there aren't any 4-strokes that will work in the 65 class. Can the 65cc two-strokes be tuned to have a decent bottom end? I really don't want to get into the "one bike for racing/one bike for trailriding" thing. (We have 4 grandkids and that's going to be WAY too many bikes!) Any ideas? Thanks, Gunner

[sonorawfo]

While I don't consider myself an expert on the smaller bikes I think the smaller 2 strokes would work fine with a few mods, the powerband can be moved around with exaust tuning,ignition timing and gearing changes, it may take some time and effort to find the right combo then again the youngsters adapt very quickly and you may find that he will need only time and an adjustable throttle stop to adapt to the bike?, the up side is that as his skills grow the bike will have the performance to grow with him. ?

[bushsbiggestfan]

If he fits on the XR70, then he will fit on the TTR90, and witht he right mods that bike will run with the best in a harescramble.

[st3ve]

Find out if the event organizer or ama district your grand son races in and see if they allow a 4-stroke that is larger then the kx/sx 65 2-stroke. Even if you got him one, I'm sure he'd get used to it and he'd probably wind up liking it. Once he gets in spooled up and rollin im sure he'll be in heaven, why not try a stock kx or ktm 65 and see how he does?

[gunner]

Good points!

After our last outing, I asked him which he liked better, racing or trailriding. He said "trailriding". I told his mom what he had said. Later she asked him if he still wanted to race, thinking maybe he had lost interest. He said "YES! I like racing!". She then asked why he said he liked trailriding better than racing. His answer: "because I can ride with grandpa". Sniff.

I guess we'll maybe try a 65 2smoke. I know the handling, weight and power are going to be much better than a comparable 4stroke (darn it!).

Are the small 2strokes prone to overheating when ridden slowly, as in tight gnarly trails?

Any idea which of the 65's will be the most receptive to "detuning"?

Thanks for the help. I'm feeling a little better about the situation. Guess I'm not the first one in this spot!

Gunner ?

[st3ve]

Sounds good, as far as overheating goes, I don't think so, I'm sure it would of been discussed on various forums ive belonged to but most of the riders are 7 yrs old ? maybe some dads would of complained but i havent seen any. if it does overheat, run racing coolant and water watter or tell your g'son to speed it up. The KX65 would be your best bet, the KTM is a beast I hear, according to the mag tests. Get some reeds, gear it down and get a pipe for it, retard the ignition and if thats not enough, Eric Gorr of Forward Motion offers a porting package that lets you select a powerband (suited for beginners,intermediates,exerts,etc). His site is: www.ericgorr.com

[87XR250R]

If your grandson is anything like my little brother, he is way to agressive for a honda mini. He would love the little two stroke powerband once he got adjusted, the XR70 frame will not stand up to an agresive rider. We have one with a broken frame and a bent swingarm to prove it. The suspension on the 65cc MXers will bee leaps and bounds better than the Z50. If I remember right the KX/RM65 has the best low end of the class.

[jcrawford1]

Get a KTM 65, We race and play ride ours with no problems, Get a Dorma Pipe good bottom gain smooth power.

[berkeman]

My son berkeboy went from an XR50 to a Suzuki DS80. I don't think they're called DS80 anymore, but I think they have a comparable model. It was nice because it had a real mellow and wide powerband, more like an enduro bike than a pipey MX bike. Plus it had a lower seat height that fit him better at 7 years old. He moved up to a KX-65 about a year later, and really loved the extra power and better suspension. But the enduro-style 80 was a good 2nd bike for him, IMO. I don't know how the 80cc 2-stroke would play into your grandson's racing, though. Going up against 85cc 2-strokes on a DS80 style bike might not be much fun.

Have fun riding with the little guy -- great fun! ?

[Maddog542]

I remember many moons ago when Dad took me down to Ontario Honda on Holt Blvd. when I was 10. You see, I had outgrown the trusty MR 50 that had been my steed for the previous 5 years. This was in late 79, and the 1980 CR 80 was just released. She sat there next to the XR 80, and Dad asked "which one do you want"? Well I just felt pretty lucky to be getting a new bike, and as I recall the CR was about $40 more. I didn't want to seem like a prick and pick the most expensive one, so I told a lie and said "well I don't really want to mix my gas and oil anymore, so I'll get the XR". I was sorry for as long as I owned the XR that I didn't get the bike I wanted. I beat the crap out of that thing, as it simply couldn't hold up to the rigors of my riding expertise.

Moral of the story: Kids are funny and will pretty much go along with what they feel the parent/grandparent wants. Trust me, he wants the 2 stroke full race setup, not the lead sled 4 stroke trail bike. ?