TVRider

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Oct 29, 2002
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I know this is a what bike question, but I wanted the opinion of the Mini-Dads.

My son is 12 years old, 5' and 90lbs. He has been riding a 73 GT80 up till now(since March, limited # of rides). He doesn't have any other experience. This past weekend he really got comfortable and was getting some air on it. That's kind of scary on a 30 year old bike with 2 or 3 inches of travel. :eek: I don't have visions of him MX'ing, we just want to trail ride together. We are going to Colorado in August for a family renunion and want to take bikes so I want to get him a TTR125 to make sure he has a reliable bike out there. I had made my mind up to buy the 125L and then they wheeled out the LE(electric start). I not so much interested in the electric start, in fact the 13lbs it adds is a negative, but the LE has compression clickers for both front and rear suspension. He is tiptoe on the 125L and I'm worried about the extra weight making the bike harder to handle. We will probably do some things to shorten either bike at least temporarily. The LE is about $300 extra.

What do you think?
 

Chili

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Apr 9, 2002
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Originally posted by TVRider
I don't have visions of him MX'ing

As long as he doesn't have visions of MX'ing either than my choice would be save the $300 and the weight and get the L. I would definately have the talk about MX'ing before making the purchase, I didn't and ended up selling a brand new L less than 2 months after purchase to get an mx bike.
 

hp500efi

Member
Aug 12, 2000
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My 12 YO rides a 125-L and he can start it by himself so I too agree, save the money and get the L.

We changed the air filter, main jet and pipe and that little bike screams with a 12 YO on it. As far as the suspension, sure it is not up to MX riding but my Son does ride on a few MX tracks where there are whoops, big jumps etc and so far the suspension has been fine. Not that you want to race with it but for average riding, it is just fine.
 

TVRider

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Oct 29, 2002
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Guys,

Thanks for the replys, as it turns out he sold the last L model and all the new bikes are now LE's (Electric Start). I called every dealer in a 2 hour radius and none of them had a non-electric start model.

I started thinking... at the vintage event we went to last weekend he finally was fully confident with his GT80 (1973) even though it was having some problems and was a bear to start. At the end of the day, after riding for a good 4-5 hours, instead of dinner, he went out on the motocross track! I just wonder, is there an 80cc MX bike with good low end and no big hit that he could control? That way he could ease into it and keep getting confident, but still do trails. Any thoughts?
 

Chili

Lifetime Sponsor - Photog Moderator
Apr 9, 2002
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The KX85 and RM85 would be the best option of the MX bikes as they both have powervalves which help the bottom end power a bit. The KX85 is most likely the most beginner friendly of the 85 class bikes although it still has a definate "hit" in the power. The bike can also be altered for bottom end performance (change the reeds, porting, certain pipe etc). The bottom line I think is going to come down the what he plans to use it for the majority of the time. If this bike is going to be trail ridden 98% of the time and only 2% of the time being used for the odd lap around a mx track in practice then I would stick with a TT-R/XR/DR-Z/KLX line of bike. If that breakdown is going to be closer to 50/50 then I would look at an MX 85 class bike and look to make it more trail friendly.

good luck!
 

KelvinKDX

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Aug 25, 2000
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Originally posted by Chili
... If this bike is going to be trail ridden 98% of the time and only 2% of the time being used for the odd lap around a mx track in practice then I would stick with a TT-R/XR/DR-Z/KLX line of bike. If that breakdown is going to be closer to 50/50 then I would look at an MX 85 class bike and look to make it more trail friendly. 

If the 98% trail 2% MX rule is going to apply - i'd suggest loking at a KX100 too.  My wife went from a ttr125L to the kx100 (btw - she thinks the electric start on the ttr125L would be a waste).  We've had Eric Gorr port hers for more low end power and added a flywheel weight and reeds.
 

TVRider

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Oct 29, 2002
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We went with a TT-R125E. It was the right bike for my son. Thanks for the replies!! There are more details in a related post in the what bike should I get formum.
 
C

Cr80 mx

Keep him on the 80 I'm 14 and I still ride a cr80 bigwheel I think you can do a conversion but I'm not sure
 
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