Didn’t many of us get our initial introduction to dirt biking on a mini-bike?
Kids are not restricted from riding dirt bikes! In fact, we encourage getting into riding at a young age. This provides a great base of fundamentals a younger person can take into their later years that will serve them well and make them a better, safer rider.
Many of these smaller sized bikes are recreational in nature. Although there are some that are competitive, high-performance machines! (Most notably the 65, 85 and 125cc Motocross Bikes)
Being smaller-wheeled, these bikes are generally (although not exclusively) more at home in the terrain at Limerick and Larose Forests for example. However, we have seen many of these little bikes in the back-country at Calabogie having a blast. It all depends on trail choice, the rider’s capability and fuel range. These fall into the Recreational Bike category as far as ease of maintenance and ride-ability.
Most of the smaller displacement bikes do not have a clutch leaving the beginning rider one less variable to deal with! Most of these bikes are ideal starter bikes with easy to use controls, some have throttle stops to limit the throttle range and top-speed available to a newer rider. Most of these bikes also provide a seat-height that allows smaller riders to place both feet on the ground.
Examples of bikes in this category: Honda CRF50, CRF70 and Yamaha PW-50/90/110 (the PW-50 is really the easiest starter bike for 3-5 year olds after they have mastered a “strider” or bicycle), Suzuki JR series, Kawasaki KLX series and more. These particular models have not changed much over the years. They are dead reliable, easy to find/fix/get parts for and seem to maintain their relative value much longer than the other categories.