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42
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7/9/2019
Location
Tallahassee, FL
US
New motocrosser
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If he wants to race then that's a whole other ballgame.
Have fun!
and ... STFU NOOB!
The CR500 has ceased the production in 2001 and it is the gnarliest and least beginner-friendly bike in known universe. When you grab it's throttle and it does seemingly nothing and then you break sound barrier in split second.
I really encourage you too look up some old 500ccm GP MX footage with sound. The low RPMs and sudden wrist blast coming from the corner is something else than you get with modern tamed down 4strokes.
I would also encourage you to go for PW50 or maybe KTM 50SX which is more "advanced" bike.
- A little PW50 to get his feet wet and to not scare him. To use 3 or 6 months (i recommend 6 months). Buy clean second hand = resell for more or less the same price, so the budget is mainly gas and oil.
- Then a PW80 to gain speed, not scare him, build technique and confidence. To use 6 months to 2 years depending on his size (I would recommend a year+, if he rides a lot). Buy clean second hand = resell for more or less the same price, so the budget is mainly gas and oil.
- 6 months after the pw80, in parallel maybe try as mentioned a Honda's CRF's and Yamaha's TT-R's. To use 6 months to 2 years depending on his size. Buy clean second hand = resell for more or less the same price, so the budget is mainly gas and oil. Yes it is an extra budget but the resell value of the pw80 and crf or ttr = quite enough to start with a 65kx (or a couple 65kx).
- Then 65 kx for 1 to 2 years (until he is 9 or 10). It won't cost too much to operate but my advice is the learn how to maintain a bike from A to Z from the PW, it will save you a ton of money in maintenance later. He can learn that at the same time. Racing is possible for fun, it is possible to drop 50k to be really competitive but unless you are loaded it is not really necessary.
- Then from 9 or 10, 80cc (ktm/kx/yz/rm), where there are 2 routes : keeping it as a relatively not too expensive hobby (second hand bikes, and a 125 from 13 or 14), or going the racing route where things get more serious and the budget (and support) also depends of his level at that time.
A good way to keep it real is : great results at school + great behavior & surroundings = dirt bike during the week end. (This should help especially between 12 to 18!)
Good luck !
That's a well thought out plan!
the only thing I can add is for Dad to take the boy out to the local track & talk with the other Dads & see what they can tell you.
Good Luck!
Paw Paw
Pit Row
If things get serious around age 10, I highly recommend to bring 10k or more to buy a few fast bikes directly at Loretta Lynns, in these categories a fast bike is a big difference (that was a mistake for me personally so i was getting a bit smoked riding stock engine and suspensions vs mods). But the most important is to have fun, I am 37 and I still have great memories of when I was 4 to 8, blasting sand berms on these bikes and turning around some riding buddies. It is probably the most difficult part these days, to find a few friends or many friends with bikes ; i have had the luck to ride between 3 to 8 years old 3 afternoon per week in a club that was managed by a driving school (the bike driving school lane was next to the PW track). The track was fun and adapted to these bikes, with tires around, it was also modified yearly (could have been cool to have updates more often), and they had about 10-15 bikes, 5 quad, 5 atc, that we could rent cheap, so a lot of kids were riding. The driving school probably invested like 20-30k and was just making enough money to run, but i guess a lot of those kids passed the car and bike driving licence with them later (200 kids, 10 years later = 200 driving licence = 300k, so a good invest x10 in total
PW50 is a great bike for this, because they can use both brakes and put both feet down at the same time. As your son grows, he'll have to learn that the rear brake is at the right foot, but that's a quick adjustment.
You live in a city with quite a few pros. Barcia, Plessinger, RC, and a handful of privateers, including my son. If you get out much you might bump into them.
Good luck
Joey
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