All 2st 2-stroke Endurobike for 14 year kid.

My son is starting to get interested of going out and get dirty with his father it seems. The problem is that i´m not sure of what bike that would be good for him. My first thouht was to get a Husky WR 125 and lower it as much as i can and put on a flywheelweight and reduce throttletravel. He took a slow ride on my WR 300, but he thought it was a little too much... We want a 2-stroke for easy maintainance and lightness. Any other tips from you guys? He is 14 years old and 165 cm tall and no bodybuilder like his father

Johnny

I have my son on a 08 CR125 Husqvarna. He came off a series of RM 85's, DS 80's and KTM minis before that.
We did not lower his CR when we got it, I just raised the forks in the triple clamps and put as much sag as I could in it for him.
Its been 2 years now and he is at the normal ride height and he rides it well, good enought to pass dear old Dad on some open sections of trail last weekend. (taught the little bugger a lesson or two in the tight and nasty stuff though)
Anyway, we are pretty happy with the bike. He rides it well, I don't worry about him on it, it has been relialble and his race results are improving.
Great bikes once you figure out the jetting and cure the bog as best as possible.

Like I said on SOE

I don´t think there is so much different between GasGas Husqvarna and KTM 125cc endurobikes.

I would buy a WR 125, then you can buy parts from the same place. You seam to like your WR 300. So I don´t think you would get disappointed in the WR 125

I would consider a Kawasaki KDX 200 or 220 first. Kouba has lowering links too.
Dirt cheap to purchase, maintain and are reliable as a rock.

If he has no riding experience, maybe get him an XR200 or something like that to get his basic skills figured out. He could get into a lot of trouble on a wr125.

Thanks guys! Her rode Honda CR 80 R a few years ago, so he is slightly familiar with riding. I found a WR 125 2006 here for 22000 Swedish crowns,that,s about 3000 for you over there. New piston, plastics and , what he said of course, in good condition and well looked after. Seems like a guy who´s not too young which i think is good. My plan,if he wants to ride that is, is to lower the bike in the fork and reduce the spring preload at the rear as much as possible, cut the seat as on my 300, put on a flywheel weight and maybe a gnarly pipe or similar. A throttlestop above the throttle too. I think this is the best way to go. There will NOT be a pumpkin in my garage

Johnny

I would go with a kx100. They are just the right height out of the box for a 14 year old kid. Super reliable with smooth power. It's light with good suspension.

A 125 is not an easy bike to learn on, more so if it does not fit you size wise.

We don´t have that bike here in Sweden. He is 5`1/2ft tall, so i guess it should work with a 125 with lowered suspension and poweroutput. I could also change the gearing to reduce top speed too.

Actually a KX 100 big wheel is a terrible bike to learn on. We have experiance with them and compared to say any RM85 Suzuki they are in no particualr order.
1. They Kawi is a collection of parts that do not fit their KX 85 and can be hard to find.(pistons, rings)
2. The tire sizes is goofy and you just about have to order them because most Dealers stock tires for "normal' sized mini's, not that 19" front, 17" back bullshit.
3.The motor is an undersqaure design with the same carb and basic jetting as the 85. As such, in stock form, it has more top end but less bottom than the 85, that alone makes it a pain for a newbie in the woods.
4. Some idiot at Kawaski designed the main frame with a bar that comes down further in the middle of the frame than the outside frame bars under the motor. Go to any Hare Scrambles, Cross Country or MX race and you can walk the pits and see all the KX 100's laying down beside the bike stand. Dang things go up on the stand and lean 30 deg to the left. Stupid!
Put him on that WR 125, lower it and soften the suspension the easy way so you can put it back when he gets faster, sort out the jetting, gear it 13/52 or 12/50. Keep the air filter clean, and ring it from time to time. It'll make him a better rider down the road beacuse it will teach him throttle and clutch control.

5'' 1/2 should be ok with the wr125 then.

No kx100's Sweden? So all you have is the ktm105 in that size. Frankly I would not recommend it. Ours cost us 2000$ + for 40hrs of use. The KX for the same run time 24.00$...we lost the chain roller. I have not even put brake pads on it yet.

We don´t have the KTM 105 either! W e are Vikings you know, and only have proper stuff here! I guess we live in a too small country for the big ones to bother with selling the odd bikes. Even that we are odd people!

As we intend to go Enduro i think it´s better to gear it for tight stuff and reduce throttletravel instead. Or else he will ha to use the clutch all the time in the beginning, and i think he will have enough to do in the woods anyway in the beginning!

You are on the right track get the WR125. It's a bike he won't out grow and if he does you can keep it for yourself. I can putt aound on my CR 125 without the clutch; it has very good low speed pull and I weigh in at 200 lbs. I'm 51 and my 08 CR125 is a blast!

At 14 I bought myself a Husky 125 for my first real dirt bike. I was all of 4' 11" and 75 lbs dripping wet. I know this was a different era and the bike had ~6" in the fork and a hair less than 4" in the rear and the piston port engine made maybe 15 hp at most once I replaced the Amal waste of alluminum with a 32mm Mikuni. But that 125 transformed my riding and a year later I went from a rook to a 4th in class and 19th overall at 450 rider cross country race up north. Of course that was 37 years ago with a 30 year gap of no riding and I can barely waddle across the house now without falling down. The take home is that I don't think you limit the performance of the bike you get him. Allow him to find his limits and then expand them, he isn't an 8 year old anymore. Just adjust the height so he can at least keep it upright.

JMHO,
Walt

At 14 (slightly over a year ago) i went from a 1977 honda ct 175, to a 2000 husky 360, stupid mistake, i almost killed my self. But for my 15th birthday, my boss helped me port it. But im 6, 4 and 190Lbs so yeah. buy him a 125, so much fun!