When You Lowball Your Buddy and he says, "Yes!"

[OldTLSDoug]

So a buddy has a 2012 KLX110L that has less than 1/2 a tank of gas run through it. It has been stored in a shop. I like little bikes, so I made a silly offer......and he took it. I will go pick it up tomorrow. Should be fun, a new toy to play with.

 

[Tuco]

How silly?

 

[thirdcoaster]

High smiles-per-dollar ratio with that one! My kids had one (not the “L”) when they were young. I taught lots of their friends how to ride on that bike. We had a MX track behind the house at the time & that bike made countless laps with kids & adults too. I don’t think I ever repaired anything other than levers. It was pretty sad looking when I finally sold it to my nephew but his kids ran it for years.

 

[ntklr650]

That's what I'm planning to get for the kids in the spring. Nice looking bike. Thoughts on new rider with auto vs clutch? Knee jerk reaction is to start the kids on a clutch but they would have a lot of fun on one of these.

 

[Fordf350]

He said yes cause he is your buddy

 

[Aspear]

Lucky man! I'd love a 110l to rip around on

 

[Windmill]

Doug, there is no known cure for it. I know

 

[mitchntx]

I am predicting a grudge race track around PPSS in the near future.

 

[gixxerjasen]

That's what I'm planning to get for the kids in the spring. Nice looking bike. Thoughts on new rider with auto vs clutch? Knee jerk reaction is to start the kids on a clutch but they would have a lot of fun on one of these.

Started my son off with the auto clutch on the CRF50 and throttle limiter. When the limiter was all the way out he transitioned to the 70 with the auto clutch. I think there's so much they have to learn that throwing in the clutch is too much. There's a lot of stuff that we take for granted that we already know, even from driving cars. Things like closure speed (Fun times for Jakob his first time driving himself at the go kart track and someone spun out in front of him) that the less you can keep them focused on, the more they can focus on what they are already learning and possibly staying safe.

It's sad the 110's and 70's share the same frame size, because Doug had been bugging me to get this since I sold Jakob's 70, but he's way too big for that frame size.

 

[OldTLSDoug]

It's sad the 110's and 70's share the same frame size, because Doug had been bugging me to get this since I sold Jakob's 70, but he's way too big for that frame size.

I ride it just fine, so it is plenty big enough to have fun on. As to Auto Clutch vs. Manual, I think full immersion could be best. Gets all the fun right off. I never rode an auto clutch until I was an adult. I learned like most folks, I got up and stayed with it. Once I learned it, there I was smiling as I popped wheelies. The only path I absolutely wouldn't go down with a kid is training wheels on a motorcycle. I think they get negative training and have to un-learn it and it might put them off of bikes. I think they should be proficient on bicycles before they ride motorcycles.

That said, I am about to jump into youth riding gear. Got to measure up the babies and install throttle limiters (something I could have used when I started) on the scooters. They should be interesting to train. I think my Grandson is going to be mad because he has to ride his bike without training wheels first. But Mommie and Daddy said, well since you bought the new one they can ride now. Go figure.

Here are pics now that she is up and running

And of course, the carb after cleaning

 

[Tourmeister]

When it comes to training a new rider, being able to communicate is HUGE! I highly recommend some kind of communicator setup so you can speak to them WHILE they are riding. It makes things so much easier if you can talk them through it as they are doing it. It helps especially if they start to panic because you can talk them back down and tell them what to do. I did not have communicators when my kids were learning, but I did use them when training several other kids. I really wish I had them when training my kids.