stormer94

~SPONSOR~
May 30, 2001
597
0
Anybody know the horsepower rating on the bike? My Daughter is outgrowing her's, and I'm trying to figure where to go for somebody that isn't using the power of the xr50, but needs a bigger bike. HP ratings, like KTM puts on all their little 50's are really helping me get a feel for where I need to go.

Any ideas on the XR50r horsepower?

Thanks,
Bob
 

HammerXR

Member
Jul 10, 2001
7
0
I just got an '01 XR50R two weeks ago. On the state of MN registration certificate, the bike is rated at 3.1 HP. I am not sure how accurate it is, but is sounds like it could be close to me.

By the way, what a superb little machine. My 6-yr old daughter is already making laps around the house every chance she gets!
 

One Dollar

Member
Mar 15, 2001
126
0
Hammer

That's great. I was just at a dealer sizing up one for my 3-1/2 yr. old son. He is riding a 40cc quad right now but I told him he can get a real dirt bike when he learns to ride his bicycle without training wheels. Well he started riding without training wheels but when he sat on the xr50 he could not reach the ground at all. I guess it will be a little longer - give him time to master the no-training wheel thing on his bicycle :)

I was considering a PW50 or JR50 but the XR is the only one with a 3 speed auto, which I like better.

Glad to hear your daughter is loving it. What did it cost new over there?
 

stormer94

~SPONSOR~
May 30, 2001
597
0
One Dollar,

Don't do the PW or the JR. Having experienced both with new riders, the XR is the way to go for fun, and #1 for safety. Here's an example.

My daughter had been riding her's for about a day (riding laps around the house). She had mastered the basics, start, stop, shift, even how to choke it, start it, put up the kickstand, etc.

We have a small track in the yard and we also live kind of on a hill. I mentioned that she had been improving, and asked if she wanted to just ride around on the track. She said sure, so I put her on the track and let her ride. I told her to give it just a bit more gas going up hills (little 3 foot mounds of dirt) and to let off going down, and she did that just perfect for about 10 minutes. Then all of a sudden I notice her go up one hill, then accelerate down the hill, and you could hear that she wasn't letting off:scream: She rolled over the next 2-3 obsticles gaining speed and finally shot off the track, caught about 2 feet of air and dissapeared down the big hill in the yard that we live on. I heard the engine gain speed and then rap and hold wide open, which is the universal sound for "the bike is laid over and the throttle is jammed into the dirt". I ran over to the hill expecting to see the bike in a heap, daughter in a heap, broken bones, tears in eyes, ranting about never wanting to ride again... I was figuring that I just ruined her for life.

I got to the top of the hill, looked down and there she was at the bottom of the hill, still on the bike, sitting there with the bike idling like nothing had happened. I went up to her, pretending nothing was out of the ordinary, no sense spooking her with stories about how she had just missed a 3 foot boulder by about an inch. I asked her, "what are you doing down here". She just looked at the foot peg and brake lever and said, "it wouldn't stop". Seems she temporarily forgot that to slow you let off on the throttle, not pull it harder. I also found out, that she went down the entire hill looking at her foot, making sure she was trying to hit the break, didn't even see where she was going.

To make a long story short, she was on the xr50r, and in first gear. This means that in this case, even though she screwed up and forgot how the gas worked, she was not able to go much faster than about 12mph. Had she been on the fully automatic PW or similar, she would have been going 40mph before she got to the bottom of the hill. THAT, would not have ended as positively. Pretty scarey stuff...

In my opinion, kids should learn on bikes that require a shift. If you're not ready to shift, you're not ready to go fast, on purpose or accidentally. Worst case scenario, they can only go 12mph in first, and also have the advantage of full power and torque to ride up hills and learn the bike.

She rides it in second, never shifting and has a ball. Her skill is up, and now she rides up and down the big hill (for fun) that she nearly crashed on.

Bob
 

jsmith811

Member
Jun 21, 2000
241
0
My son has ridden the JR50, owned a PW50 and now has a 2001 XR50, the
XR is by far the best one, in my opinion, it has a foot brake, tons of power and 3 speed auto. Although the bike can be ridden in 2nd gear all the time and its similiar to a PW, but with more power, then the kid can learn how to shift at his own pace. Mine started out riding everywhere in 2nd, now he upshifts & downshifts on his own. bike will pull just about any hill he has nerve to climb from a dead stop. Gee if these bikes had a Pro-Link type suspension they would sale millions of them.
 

Marklx

Member
May 24, 2001
278
0
Originally posted by stormer94

In my opinion, kids should learn on bikes that require a shift. If you're not ready to shift, you're not ready to go fast, on purpose or accidentally. Worst case scenario, they can only go 12mph in first, and also have the advantage of full power and torque to ride up hills and learn the bike.


Bob

I have been trying to explain that exact situation to my wife, who is uncomfortable with my son riding anything other than a pw50. He would learn shifting in minutes, as very clear on the process. That pw50 has some top end without the governer (no power at all with it). Figure if she reads this, she'll either agree or fight me over his riding at all. Hmmmm?
:think

Mark
 

One Dollar

Member
Mar 15, 2001
126
0
stormer94

I remember your story from a past thread somewhere. Your advice and information is the reason I am wanting an xr50 for my son. Thank you in advance for your valuable information. It just makes so much sense, I'm glad I read it before i made a mistake with the PW or JR. I pass on the logic of your advice whenever I hear someone is looking for a jr. bike.

I also plan on getting the wife a TTR125L (she's tired of the quad) and I have a KLX300 so in the not to distant future i'll have all three major jap manufacturers in my garage :)

Talk about no brand loyalty :D
 

stormer94

~SPONSOR~
May 30, 2001
597
0
I can't take that much credit for it, I got some good advice from a friend of mine who's son had a pw50. Firstly, I blame this on 100% 'HIS' bad parenting, but also on the nature of the pw50 and the innocent nature of kids. The kid was riding the PW up and down the street, racing the neighbors in their golf cart. Finally he found all of full throttle and held it wide until he was going whatever a PW50 will do at WOT on cement. The kid lost it, slid on his belly and legs to a stop from like 30-40mph on the street, tore him up bad. Spent several weeks wrapped in bandages and has some serious scars out of the deal, even now. We went riding with that family last week, and even though the kid is like 5 years older, and riding an xr80, you can see he's really timid about it. He rides like a kid that's been hurt bad. He enjoys it, but you can see he is aware of the consequences more than most, and it looks like he's having fun, but maybe now he's just doing it because Dad is. I dunno on that one.

To make a long story short, he's the guy that hipped me to go to a shiftable bike as a first bike. You can't get an XR to go more than 12mph in first, solves a lot of problems. I argued that the bike only had like 3 innches of travel, and look at all the travel those cool Polini's and KTM's have!!! He then asked me if I felt my first time rider would be catching 3-6 feet of air on a regular basis... Guess what, you don't need the suspension.

She's been riding now for a couple months and still you never see more than 3 inches of air under her tires, and that ain't very often either. She's developed good throttle control and is starting to really understand the bike, and more importantly, SHE'S HAVING FUN!!! loves to ride and can't wait to go out and ride. So I think I got the right bike.

We ride a lot, like 3 times a week, and I think she'll be ready for a new bike by the end of summer. And I already know exactly what that is, and it took me forever to come to this conclusion. So write this down if your interested.

Next Bike: KTM50 sr adventure. It's got a long wheelbase 40.5", which I like a lot for stability. The seat height is about 4" more than the xr, but kids grow 3-4 inches a year, so that will be right on. It only weighs 89 pounds, so it's even lighter than the xr50 which is good if she needs to pick it up or it's on her, it will be easier to get out from under. As she develops an interest in air, it's got 6+ inches of front and rear travel. What I don't like is the horsepower 6.5hp I think that's to much. And although I've done no research on this yet, it looks like the engine in all the KTM50's is the same. So the plan is to take the 18mm carb off the sr and use the 14mm KTM JR Adventure carb and the pipe off the mini adventure. Should knock back the power to about 4 or so. THEN as the rider increases in skill I can add a pipe and carb and go from 4 to 6.5hp. It's the best plan I've come up with, and I'm willing to buy whatever it takes. :cool:

Good riding,
Bob
 

Airstyle

Member
Jun 20, 2000
5
0
I wasn't aware that we had a National Lawn Mower Champion in our back-yard! Which part of Montana are you in, we are in Great Falls. :cool: We also went through the mini 50's to the KTM Pro Junior then the Super Junior and he is now on a KX65. The KTM's worked well for us.
 

stormer94

~SPONSOR~
May 30, 2001
597
0
Airtime,

We're up in Glasgow.
You coming up to Malta for the state points race?

I'm temporarily re-tired from lawnmower racing with 7 national championship titles.:) To much big money behind it through the TV end of things if you follow the tour like we did. The 2001 schedule was so intense, that we needed 7 months off of work and $65,000 in gas, hotels, food, just to get to the races this season... (let alone parts, and you don't win a national championship in any motorsport with a bone stock engine, some of those last ones were in the 4-5K range) so we bailed. Lotsa fun though. We'll do it again in a few years. My wife is happy that we aren't doing it, I'm home more now. Hung up the mowers for motocross. The whole family gets to play, and I don't feel so guilty for having all the fun.:cool:

Bob
 

Airstyle

Member
Jun 20, 2000
5
0
No, I'll be here because I have to work. I have watched the races on speed-vision and thought that it looked like fun. I agree with you though on the big money part!!
 

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