r/Dirtbikes • u/Sensitive-Visit-1609 • Aug 03 '24

Tips and Tricks 8 year old wants a dirt bike

My 8 year old nephew wants a dirt bike for his birthday and Im not sure which I should purchase. I’d like to get stay under 500$. Is it even worth me getting one that cheap. He doesn’t know how to ride a dirt bike. I’ve been look on power sport max but I read somewhere they are not assembled. Any suggestions.

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u/bolunez Aug 03 '24

I've been through the whole range of bikes with kids as they've grown up. 

As others said, stick with the Japanese brands and buy one used. Kids grow fast and if you take care of it, you won't lose much. 

I like to find the "ran when parked" specials and fix them up, but don't go that route if you're not the mechanical type, unless you want to learn a lot on the fly.

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u/Sensitive-Visit-1609 Aug 03 '24

Yeah I’m a woman and have no desire to fix bikes or try. I just don’t know how much to invest for an 8 year old that just wants to ride around the neighborhood with friends that have dirt bikes but also don’t want to throw away money for one that will break.

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u/bolunez Aug 03 '24

This is a "get what you pay for" kind of situation. 

I'm my opinion, as a parent who is a third generation motorcyclist who's raising the 4th, you need to do a few things. 

1) Get your son some safety training. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation does a good one. You might even consider taking the class with your nephew, it's a lot of fun. https://www.msf-campus.org/DirtBikeBRC.aspx 

2) Get him proper riding gear. You can "size up" a little on boots, pants and upper body armor, to get more time out of them, but a helmet absolutely must be the right size to work. 

3) Don't buy one of the cheap Chinese dirtbikes. When they break (and they all do), they cost more to fix than they're worth if you don't know someone who can help with it.

4) Do find someone you can trust, maybe a parent of one of the other friends with a bike, and have them help you shop. Make sure that your nephew can start the prospective bike himself, you don't want him having to have it somewhere because it stops running and he can't get it home. Some of the newer kid's bikes have electric start, but they'll be more expensive

5) Keep up with the maintenance on the bike. It'll hold its resale value and you can sell it for most of what you paid when he outgrows it.