I'm thinking of buying a mini moto (dirt bike style) for my eldest Boy's tenth birthday.
Any advice?

 

You mean like a pit bike? Or something smaller? I've had a mini moto and 2 pit bikes. The pit bikes I had were great fun. Is there anything in particular you were wanting to know?

The most important thing, apart from getting an engine size that's appropriate for his experience/age obviously, is making sure you know where you can get parts for it, because a lot of things will break. Having said that, most of them are a doddle to get parts for, but just be ready for having to replace things regularly.

Is this the sort of thing you mean? (smaller than a pit bike) http://www.funbikes.co.uk/pl-Mini_Dirt_Bikes-19-0.aspx

 

Pit Bike will be a bit big for a 10year old.. Just a mini moto dirt bike will be perfect for him.

 

I race pitbikes now and again so know them pretty well!

Id say the only thing to watch out for is buying too big, or too cheap! those bikes linked to earlyer (funbikes) should be avoided like the plague! The build quality is shocking and bits are harder to get. If i was sticking a lad on a bike, i wouldnt even consider putting him on a bike that has a bar you can bend by hand, modern pitbikes have developed into a range of really strong and capable off road beastys which can take a hammering! and prices start at about £400

Your choices will be

-engine size (for a 10 year old you shouldnt go bigger than a 110!)
-Clutch or semi auto (possibly go for a semi at first, but dont be scared of teaching him gears, littluns learn fast and clutch/gears is a good skill to have)
-bike size (theres 3 main sizes minibike,cr50, and cr70 .... hed probably get on a 50 sized bike ok, but the 70 sized bikes are almost definately out of his bracket .... as an example, im 6'5'' and i race a 50 sized bike with a 140 engine)

If you want to see a website with all the range of whats possible, have a look at www.welshpitbikes.co.uk, they sell a good example of every type and size!

I personally think a "mafia bullet 90" or "boyo 110" would be perfect .... plus they are strong enough for you to have a play on too! ...... assuming your not too chunky! :-)

Have a look at the juicebox90 page ...... good vid of an 8 year old lad pinning on it! but i had a play on one the other weekend and couldnt trouble it at 15 stone..... theyre so good, if you really want to have fun with your lad, get 2 so you can join in! after a days riding he'll probably be smoking you! :-)

As for parts, yes they break often, but the consumables like handlebars (£15), footpegs(£10) are all so cheap it doesnt really matter! and if you keep the engiine oil changed regularly, keep the filter clean and rebuild the carb every so often (reallllly easy to do), they just go on and on! If you do buy one of these, get a spare bar straight away as they bend when theyre dropped (better than bending the frame!), and when your learning they get dropped regularly. And its a ballache to get everything sorted to go ride, get 10minutes in, bend a bar and have to go home. bars really are a consumable.

 

This sort of thing i was thinking....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-Moto-...item2a20460598

It would be his first bike, and he's only little, my 6yr old is the same height (but then he's tall for his age). He's a very quiet, shy lad who only goes out at weekends when we take him out as he spends most of his time on Xbox, PS3, 3DS and youtube at his Mums.
I'm looking at 50cc, off road if possible but i see little road replica's go for only £30. And i think i'd be ok repairing them and hopefully he'll help and learn along the way.

 

The only problem with the road replicas is that there aren't a great deal of places to use them. Also, I tend to think there is more to learn offroad and just more you can do in general. He will learn to control two wheels well offroad. Not saying that he couldn't on tarmac, but there is more variation offroad IMO, and plenty of places to use it... just find any field or bit of rough land that the labd owner doesn't mind you using. I reckon it would be more fun for him. The road replicas are a bit pants, in my opinion. Possibly OK if you can race them, but otherwise not fun for long.

 

Get him a demon x 160 like mine lol 10 mayb bad idea well fast lil bikes

 

"he spends most of his time on Xbox, PS3, 3DS and youtube at his Mums."

Not healthy bud ..... physically and mentally, that just isnt healthy!!!!!!

Id agree with glesga, get off road! Those little road rep minimotos are fun for about 5 minutes, then he'll be back to his playstations!

Plus, falling off on dirt hurts alot less than tarmac!

Go get him muddy and show him real life is way more fun than any feckin computer game.... they are the devil! if i ever have kids, im not letting them near a playstation till theyve learnt clutch control on a motorbike and broken a bone falling out of a tree! :-)

 

They are crap.

Buy an 85 cc motocross bike....that doesn't fall apart!

 

Or a TTR or CRF for something a little less wild, but won't fall apart.

 

Rememeber you can not use them on public roads and if the fuzz see it in use they will take it away !

 

Yes!
I had 2, used to take my lads to a disused car park, plod turned up and confiscated both, said I could have them back when I showed them proof of ownership and insurance.
Never got them back.
IMHO off road is the way to go, but plod do still them off you even then, ideally need to know a friendly farmer and get his permission

 

Plenty of tracks about to pay a fee and ride. No need to ride illegally.

 

Hence the reason Me and the mrs are hell bent on getting him out of the house for the weekend. Climbing tree's, running down hills, playing football or riding his bike. And now obviously an extra boost of having his first bike.

As for breaking bones, well my youngest is having his fractured elbow plastered up as i type. He's been taught moderation, so throws himself off monkey bars.

 

make sure it has two wheels.

 

I am sure he will really enjoy it.

I would have loved something like that at his age.

Les

 

Lol, sorry, it was just too tempting.

 

Ok, picked him up a cheap 50cc dirt bike with running problems. It will run on choke, but on throttle it just wants to die. So i pulled the carb apart, needle's fine, jet ok. Mucked about with the tickover screw as it sat the slide halfway up the venturi.
So! I bit the bullet and bought a new carb. I've just fitted it and it runs better but the choke still has to be on to a certain degree and the throttle response is a little better. Once going though the tickover is high enough to move it forward.
Pre mix is 25:1 (iirc)?