2000 CR80 seat height adjust

[bigboss]

Hello everyone. A couple of months ago I got my son a 2000 CR80. Bike runs good but my son is 10 years old and the bike is too tall for him. He loves riding the bike, he just hates stopping! Because someone has to catch him so he won't tip over or he has to jump off at the last second. I have the forks all the way up in the triple clamps. But my problem is that I have tried to adjust the shock to get the bike to sit lower and no matter what I do it just stays way too high. I forgot the name, but the rings on the shock body are about 80% down and I have not noticed any difference in height after lowering them. I rebuilt the linkage (bearings were really bad and I replaced everything with motion pro bearings) but still the seat is high. The shock is fully functional and will go through the stroke completely. It just stays way too high. The bike even looks funny because the rear is too high. What am I doing wrong? I was thinking that maybe the linkage has been changed by previous owner. Is there a way to tell original from aftermarket? Does aftermarket even exist for this bike? Can I get two shorter (or longer?) links on the assembly to get the bike down? Anyway I would like to hear from you on this.
Thanks

Marc

 

[Patman]

I never let my kid on a bike he couldn't safely control and operate on his own but you can make your own choices, just doesn't make for a good situation no matter how skilled the parent might think their kid is.

The "rings on the shock" are to adjust the compression on the spring not seat height. Cut the seat foam down to gain maybe 2 inches on the seat height and adjust the fork back to where it is balanced, again not a safe situation having the bike setup the way you do. If it's still too tall maybe you can find some custom dog bones but I wouldn't bank on it.

 

[bigboss]

Thanks for the info Patman. If I could get the dog bones, would I need a shorter or longer set to get the seat down?

 

[bigboss]

Another thing I noticed is that a friends' 2008 YZ85 is a lot lower (completely stock)! I can't imagine that the factory setup on the CR would be that much higher. There must be something I'm overlooking.
In general, do you believe that the average (a bit on the tall side) 10 year old should be able to ride a 80-85cc MX bike?
My son started on a PW50 when he was 5, then a PW80 when he was 7 and then we upgraded to the CR80. He was basically destroying the PW80 so an upgrade was really necessary. Maybe the CR80 was too much? I must say, not because it's my son, but he is a really good rider (very smooth, like his dad). And honestly I believe he can handle the bike on the track very well. It's just the stopping part where he literally falls short (haha..). Except for an FMF pipe, the bike looks completely stock, so I find it hard to believe much has been modified on it. Anyway, any helpful thoughts are appreciated.

 

[Patman]

You could also look at cutting the subframe but that's a little more expensive to reverse.

My son started on a PW50 at 3 1/2 and moved to a KTM 50 a couple years later. We made a stop at a XR80 for a bit and then the CR85. He was always small (my wife is tiny) until he got about 12 then he shot up and outgrew the 85 in not time so it's hard to really go by age IMHO. Everybody's kid is different, I just see so many dads pushing their kid to get on bigger bikes when if they just spent a little time letting them manhandle a slightly small bike the kid would be more confident moving to a larger bike (again IMHO). Lots of folks skip the 65's from KTM/Kawi/Suzuki and those are a great middle step on the way to a 85. We looked at them but the son insisted on a 4 stroke (Rich rebuilt a monster motor for it after the first round of bent valves) so that was an expensive mistake.

Kids can get creative when they need to. I rode a old Suzuki 90 that was my cousin's when I was 9 but I stopped next to the picnic table. My son came up with a little hop up like a trick horse rider to start out on the XR but it was just a little tall for a few months. He rode that CR85 until he was well past ready for a 125 and it honestly made him a more aggressive rider because he was used to hammering the 85.

 

[IndyMX]

If you are going "Lower" on the shock with the rings, that would indicate that you are tightening the spring, making the rear harder and higher..

Try turning them the other way, so they are at the top of the shock body. That should lower the shock some.

But still, you should get the right spring for his weight and set the sag properly.

 

[Matt90GT]

Do you have the Expert or standard model?

What size wheels are on the bike???