PW50/QR50 2 wheeler + trainers or quad bike for kids?

[Rob]

One for parents.

plus's or minus's for each of the options here please.

Would like to know how you went about it, or what your thoughts are etc.

get the 2 wheeler or the 4 wheeler etc??

Cheers

[Stoneville]

2 wheel and trainer wheels, Rob

Not that I have done it, but it is the way I would do it when and if my grand daughter gets up here.

Once they have balance there's a lot bigger option on 2 wheels, they even have racing etc here for 4-14 yr olds, but this is only for trailies, not quads.

Basically anyone can ride a quad, just sit on it, yeh you have to learn to ride it as well, but .... There's also a big push to have these banned for kids under a certain age, haven't heard anything about them trying to ban 2 wheels

So saying my nephews daughter loves her quad and my grand daughter likes it as well, boys might be different

[Twinks]

Go the PW50 with trainer wheels.

Quads are only for people that can't ride bikes.

[=Stevo=]

I started on the PW50...

It came with trainer wheels but they were really bad for riding on dirt, honestly its not worth the effort if the kid has half reasonable coordination - Dad just made sure I was good on a pushbike first before jumping on (at about age 6 or so I think it was)

They generally also come with a governer / exhaust restrictor to limit the useable power which is a good start instead of trainer wheels.

I tried a quad that my cousin had but found it way too boring, two wheels was way more fun.

From there, moved up to a PW80, clutchless 3-speed - initially restricted and then de-restricted as I got older.

[thestewy09]

I also started on pw50.

dad was into dirt bikes so every 2nd weekend nearly our family would go away with the bikes. didn't use training wheels just farther running along like mad man behind the bike. although before i started on the pw50 could ride my bike pretty good.

[Marty MOOSE]

Rob Joel started on a PW 50 with trainers he did fine. I still have it if you wnat its a Yam not a copy and cost me $500 that's what it will cost you if you are keen.

MM

[Rob]

Cheers for the replies guys - ok, 2 wheels + trainers it is then - glad I asked.

Get back to you on that Marty - cheers for the offer. Dont have the Honda version by any chance do ya?

[footer]

don't baby the kids put them straight onto a crf450 My young bloke rides both but my girl can not ride a push bike with out training wheels so she is on the quad.

[robocop]

depends really my 2 have a quad and a 2 wheeler and they both like the quad.

my oldest with the 2 wheeler wants a quad for next bike.

Maybe if you can get your youngun to have a go on both before buying something and they dont enjoy that much.

Luckily my two swap with each other so they stay happy .......for now

[robwas]

My 3 (now 11, 8 & 4) all started on the quad but we had a Minitrail 50 as well and once the 2 oldest got the idea of throttle and brake control on the quad they mastered the 50 without trainerwheels. The 4 yr old can't balance on the 50 yet but he is not far off.
I may need to talk to Marty about the PW50 for him as the Minitrail is a bit tall for him.

[thro]

Can they ride pushies yet?

If they can, I'd go for 2 wheels. safer than a quad, in my experience.

[Jack0207]

My 2.5yr old boy could ride a 50cc quad after 2 goes and the 3.5yr daughter got on the quad and was tearing around the first go.

Was thinking of getting them a 2 wheeler to share as well but will wait until they can ride a pushbike without training wheels first.

Either are just as safe depending on where they ride and what you let them do on them.

Matt

[-JC-]

I found training wheels are crap on dirt, they dig in and drag the bike off course...really hard for kinds to control...you need a fairly hard surface for them to be any use. My suggestion is get the kids to learn to ride a 2 wheen push bike before going the motorbike.
It takes a bit for the kids to learn brake and throttle control, but combining that with learning balance and countersteering can be a bit much.
My kids had a PW50 (Yamaha) and KDX50 (Kawasaki), great little bikes but they run 10 inch wheels like most other 50's. These small wheels tend to bog down on the soft sand at the Kwinana, Gnangara and Pinjar offroad areas...the're fine on slightly harder surfaces...my oldest managed to get his 50 to do some amazing things on the right surfaces.
As most "legal" riding areas are boggy in the metro area I ended up getting the kids a pair of quads. My kids are still to small for bigger bikes so it's quads for now, but once they've grown a bit back onto the motorbikes. The quads go great over the boggy stuff but they're a fair bit heavier and it didn't take the kids long learn to fishtale...we've had some lucky saves and 1 rollover so far (only had the quads for a few months) but no injuries.
Whether you go 2 or 4 wheelers, invest in the the full set of safety gear...whether it's saved my kids a bit of skin or bigger injuries they've tested their safety gear more than once.
-JC-