My son is turning 5 in July and sometime in the next year I'll probably be buying him his first quad. I have 2 lt50s from the mid eighties that are only good for parts, so I've decided to get a newer 50 for him.
What's people's experience with newer lt/kfx50s, Polaris 50s, etc. Definitely not going Chinese. .
I had the KFX50/90's for my kids. Solid, good, basic quads. They are actually built by Kymco and branded as a Kawasaki. You can get parts for them easily, and they will hold their value mostly. The Suzuki lt50 is a 2 stroke and harder to find clean ones. If your trying to stay 2 stroke you would then need to find the LT80. Again it wakes up quite a bit with a pipe. They make better power and a simple pipe will up the power when your son gets used to the stock one.
My kids also rode out at Glamis and Buttercup on those small things. They could follow some group rides, but they cant climb worth a crap. After the 50/90, I bought both my kids Honda TRX250EX's. Great to learn the clutch on as they are shifter quads with sport clutches. Again they hold their value pretty good.
I would recommend NOT making many modifications to the 50/90 quads as they hurt resale and just don't gain that much in power (2-strokes are the exception). Plus your son will out grow the 50 and 90 quickly.
Good luck
Larry
Thanks. I thought the suzuki and kawasakis were clones, but I hadn't looked into them that much. My son and daughter are almost 3 years apart, so I hope to get a good 5 years out of the 50 before it's outlived itself.
Is that too young for a 250EX?
Lol. We're still working in consistently riding a bicycle. Once he shows he can control it AND listen to directions.... we can trust him on a little quad.
I'd recommend a Apex or DRR. They can go from 50 to 70cc (when ready).
They have suspensions that actually work.
They will give you years of service.