Honda CRF150R experience.

This bike hasn’t been updated since it was introduced in 2006, and it wasn’t competitive then.  It is essentially a play bike.  If your kid is just looking for a fun bike to play around on, it is great.  If he’s looking to be competitive in the Supermini class, you need to look elsewhere.

Competitive bike? Nah not really, kind of needs its own class. Was a nice bike though. I broke my femur on one when I was your kids age. Just dont let him take it WOT across a cornfield and hit a broken field tile hole

Yea as others said that bike is extremely antiquated and outdated at this point. Underpowered, bad handling, bitch to work on, carb problems, etc. No reason why you should be riding that thing. Honestly would say skip the supermini bullshit and just let him race his 85s and start him on a 125 as soon as you feel comfortable. Too many years wasted these days on the supermini shit IMO. 

With the mods you're planning on doing I think the 150r would be both plenty competitive and a good stepping stone to a 250f. Only against elite lorettas level supermini riders is that bike truly a disadvantage but in most circumstances against most competition countrywide it is just fine and a cool badass bike that I think would be a worthwhile machine to at least tryout. If it's truly a massive disadvantage you can always go back to a 2 stroke supermini but on the flip side  of that, racing at a disadvantage in the supermini class (which in the grand scheme of things is meaningless) could prove to be an asset on big bikes when tehcnique and corner speed was needed to bridge the gap on superminis. Just my 2 cents. Lmk what you choose.

Carson Mumford and Justin Barcia used to race one all the time ! 

Mumford's bike was tricked out.

https://www.vitalmx.com/features/Fuel-Injected-CRF150R,4999

https://www.dirtrider.com/carson-mumford-factory-connection-honda-crf15…

Webb raced one. He said it was slow compared to their CR Supermini. 

Put him on a KTM supermini for a year or so then 125.  If you’re not racing competitively at a pretty high level no need for full blown 112.  Been there, super trick and fun but don’t last very long and a little finicky.  Get the 105 kit and that’ll be more than enough.  There’s a reason no one buys 150s

Reach out to boomslang he wrenched for a national level rider racing those 150's and will,be able to give you all the ins and outs of it. Its been the same bike basically since it debuted.

CR500 (it's vital tradition)

Stick with the supermini. Even better, get him a 125 if he is tall enough.

Does anyone know if honda has any plans to update the 150 any time soon? Seems like theyre kind of kneecapping themselves by not having a competitive supermini. They have entry level 50s that are popular and 250fs that are popular but in between ppl who like honda have no options. Kind of dumb when they already had a cr85 and all of the intellectual property and then just stopped making it. I can understand if they only want to sell 4 strokes, but then they should make the 150 competitive. If they upgraded the engine with a twin cam, finger followers, downdraft, centerport…etc I’m sure it could be competitive. Honda with the 150 and kawi with the 65 have been slacking so hard on their minis. 

Oh I thought he was riding a big wheel 85 looking to make the jump to supermini class.  Yea, definitely stay away from the 150r, IMO KTM is the best package at the moment for superminis.  Looks pretty big already, no sense in getting a 150 and putting a good amount of time, effort, and money just to get it no where near as good of a package as a KTM.  He'll probably be ready for a 125 in no time anyway.

As long as you aren’t planning on racing it against 2 stroke Superminis, there is nothing wrong with the bike.  A good friend of mine bought one for his wife, and she has a good time on it.  Enjoy!

Okay then,here goes. The power is smooth but the fork feels much stiffer than the shock, making it feel unbalanced. The spokes come loose like crazy (watch the ones near rimlocks). And the foot pegs feel too high and too far forward making it harder to hold on to under acceleration. Rip it sir!

I can't speak to the competitiveness, but as a Honda fanboy from the early 2000s I thought those bikes were so cool. I've been trying to convince my wife she "needs" one for years now. 

My old man and I use to be big into play bike racing and he had a 150r. That bike is odd. It doesn’t make power like a typical thumper. It feels like all of the power is up top and has to be revved more like a two stroke yet you have the down side of all the compression in the engine braking that you don’t have with a two stroke. My opinion is that you aren’t going to set yourself up for a 250f any better riding that bike than an 85/supermini. If he’s a big 13 year old I think the best bike to get outside of a super mini would be a 125. At least you have the advantage of bigger wheels and can start to understand line selection on a full sized bike. 

I would love to see it when it's all built up!

The CRF150 was never a competitive bike in the Supermini class. You had to put $3000 into the motor to get any power out of them, or so I was told back when I was racing.

Man. Just have fun.  Everyone gonna say get a ktm supermini and blah blah blah.     Everyone says rm85s suck. Yet my little brother gets on his and beats kids on ktms all day long. Just have fun. Get the bike comfortable and lap times will come.

Sounds like you want the bike more than your son does....  I say get him on a 125 

Some of this is the angle but damn he looks giant in that thing! Ready for a 125!

He has a 125, been on it for 2 years. Just recently ended up with an 85 from a cousin, He can still race mini sr and supermini classes so he wanted to give it a go.

Heavy tank. Avoid them. They are primitive and slow. You will regret buying one. 

KX112 is a far superior platform. Throw a Steahly flywheel weight on it for the first 25 hours and then take it off. Pro Circuit can turn it into a monster if he gets good enough to need it.