what kind of bike for 10 year old daughter

[pappy86]

hello everyone im new to forum, have a question about what bike to buy for my daughter she currently has a crf70 which is no longer sufficient for her, she weighs about 55 pounds and is 4 foot 3 inches tall, we ride mainly on fire roads and two track trails last year about 500 miles she also plays around in the local sand pits, the 70 is just pinned all the time with her on it, a crf150 is to heavy for her to manage weight wise right now. a cr85 is perfect for her, she rides around on a friends but worried about trail riddin it, any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

 

[FruDaddy]

Have you looked at the KX65 yet? Your daughter is at a size where most bikes are either to big, or too small, expecially the trail bikes. Also, take a look at the small TTR125, my 10 year old daughter sat on one yesterday and, much to my surprise, it fit.

 

[CamDayKX125(4)]

look at the kx 65 like frudaddy said. a 85 or 150 is too much weight and power for your daughter. just think about it, if she went riding alone, ( a 85 weighs about 140-145lbs. and a 150 weighs about 215 lbs.!!!!!![ thats more than a new 250f !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!] imagine how hard it would be to pick a bike up that is almost three times your weight! the crf 150, is four times her weight! my little 8 y/o brother is on a xr 70 and hes 4'2'' and 50lbs. if anything, go for a kx 65.

 

[SpeedyManiac]

KX65 or KTM65SX.

 

[mxcoach]

somthing w/ a button

 

[mtk]

Since she's been riding a CRF70 long enough to outgrow it, I really doubt she needs a bike with an electric starter. Bikes with the button are for newbies who aren't entirely enthusiastic and the description above is far from that.

If she's ridden a CR85 and was OK with the power delivery but is a little too small for an 85, the KX65 mentioned before is a good alternative. Definitely go for the 65 and not the 60 as the 65 gets disk brakes while the 60 uses drums. I wouldn't buy a KTM either since they're more money and she'll outgrow the KX before too long anyway.

 

[Butcher-Boy]

My 10 year old daughter has a tt-r 90 and it fits her perfect. The power seams to be right for her as she is cofortable with it but it will still scare her if she uses it all at the wrong time. She has been riding for three years now. 2 years on this bike with plenty of wipeouts and the bike hangs together quite well. We've never had any mechanical failures yet.

 

[FruDaddy]

somthing w/ a button

My son's KX65 has a button. If he presses it for a few seconds, the engine stops running. At a whopping 55 pounds, he uses the kick lever to start it, just like any other respectable (non lazy) dirt rider. Last night he even took it off the stand without help. My 70 pound daughter is also capable of kick starting the 65.

 

[pappy86]

thanks guys for all the help, the 85 she rides has had the seat cut and the rear shock revalved so it squisshes better under lighter weight, she handles the power fine, she is very aggressive unlike my son, my biggest concern is how many mile before rebuild running on roads and trails with two stroke. last year we ran about 500 to 600 miles on trail and two tracks.

 

[XRpredator]

if you are hung up on a two stroke mini, you might check out an RM80, since they seem to run smaller than the red, blue, or green offerings. Yes, you will rebuild one more often than a four stroke, but if she likes it, it's all good.

Otherwise, I'd go for a TTR/DRZ/KLX 125

 

[FruDaddy]

Running a little extra oil in your fuel might buy a little more time between rebuilds.

 

[Masterphil]

Running a little extra oil in your fuel might buy a little more time between rebuilds.

Not enough to justify the cost of running the extra oil.

 

[FruDaddy]

I don't mean a large amount, just a couple parts above the oil manufacturers recommendation. Maybe 38:1 instead of 40:1. I leave more than that in the bottle when I get tired of pouring. I don't actually do this, and I also turn the bottle upside down on the ratio rite for a few minutes to ensure that it is emtpy.

 

[Masterphil]

On an 80, 20-32:1 would be as lean as I'd go on the oil.

 

[mtk]

If she's aggressive enough to want to go the 85 route, the RM or KX85s are the way to go as they have exhaust power valves, unlike the CR and YZ, which helps bottom end power.

From here, you'll have to make the judgement call. If she really likes the friend's 85, a KX65 will probably be a disappointment for her. It reminds me of a group I ran into two summer's ago out on a local slag pile. It was two guys and their two sons, both with new KX100s. One kid was small and had a KX65 at home, which fit him fine. Dad got a good deal on the 2002 KX100 and they were out for his first ride on it. Junior was so short that standing on the pegs his butt barely cleared the seat. Touching the ground was completely out of the question. They held the rear fender to balance and then Junior took off on it. After about half an hour, Junior was getting it on the pipe and really getting into it. Dad commented, "I don't know how I'll get him back on the KX65 now." I just laughed as clearly Dad had created a power-hungry monster. ;)

I imagine your daughter will be much the same.

 

[FruDaddy]

I have an 02 KX65 that has been running on Motul 800 and 93 octane from the pump at a ratio of 40:1 for the year and a half that I have owned it. It it still on the stock top end, and making as much power as the our 06. IMO the acceptable range of premix is 32-40:1, although I know that it really depends on the oil.

 

[mtk]

If you figure out the cost of premix oil, per gallon of fuel, you'll see that leaning out the oil ratio is about useless as far as saving money is concerned. It's not worth it to save $0.15 per gallon of fuel.