50cc for 16 year old son
Discussion
Hi all,
He's got his CBT on Wednesday - really does not want a twist and go.
His favourite is the Rieju MRT50 but £3k ish is a bit strong for a 50. I was thinking of £1500-2000 for the bike as the insurance is going to cost me £400.
We looked a a WK Scrambler 50 - same as the 125 so a bit heavy for a 50 but nice 'full size' bike. Unfortunately this particular one was a bit tired.
Thought about a TS50/DT50/MT5 but not sure how usable they will be these days? They are mostly kept as toys by old guys like me :-)
Would like the ability for a bit of light off road so he can come out with us.
Anything else I should consider?
He's got his CBT on Wednesday - really does not want a twist and go.
His favourite is the Rieju MRT50 but £3k ish is a bit strong for a 50. I was thinking of £1500-2000 for the bike as the insurance is going to cost me £400.
We looked a a WK Scrambler 50 - same as the 125 so a bit heavy for a 50 but nice 'full size' bike. Unfortunately this particular one was a bit tired.
Thought about a TS50/DT50/MT5 but not sure how usable they will be these days? They are mostly kept as toys by old guys like me :-)
Would like the ability for a bit of light off road so he can come out with us.
Anything else I should consider?
I'm a biker and would normally encourage anyone to want to start riding..... but from experience, a 16yr old on 50cc is a bad move.
I bought my son an Aprillia RS50 for his 16th. He did the CBT on a twist and go and sailed through that, picked the bike up and taught him the gears and clutch and off he went.
That thing was a death trap! It was restricted to 30mph, couldn't get up a hill any faster that 5mph and left him to contend with cars not giving an inch.... I followed him on a ride one day on my MV and couldn't believe what i'd done to him.
Luckily the thing broke within a couple of hundred miles with a broken gear selector and his enthusiasm died off when he realised he could go downhill faster on my Mountain Bike than he could on his RS50. (He could probably pedal up the hill faster as well!!!)
Personally, i'd get him an offroad/trials bike and get him out on the mud for a year and then get him a 125 when he's 17 rather than have him risk his neck on a 50cc.
I bought my son an Aprillia RS50 for his 16th. He did the CBT on a twist and go and sailed through that, picked the bike up and taught him the gears and clutch and off he went.
That thing was a death trap! It was restricted to 30mph, couldn't get up a hill any faster that 5mph and left him to contend with cars not giving an inch.... I followed him on a ride one day on my MV and couldn't believe what i'd done to him.
Luckily the thing broke within a couple of hundred miles with a broken gear selector and his enthusiasm died off when he realised he could go downhill faster on my Mountain Bike than he could on his RS50. (He could probably pedal up the hill faster as well!!!)
Personally, i'd get him an offroad/trials bike and get him out on the mud for a year and then get him a 125 when he's 17 rather than have him risk his neck on a 50cc.
I would say top marks to you for allowing your son to get out on the road but make sure he has suitable training.
Regarding the Rieju 50 my son bought one of those when he was 16 and first got on the road. I had never heard of them and it did seem quite pricey but to be fair it was a very reliable bike. Also they hold quite strong money so after a year using it to commute to school and get to his evening job at the supermarket he sold it for pretty much what he paid for it.
Maybe he was lucky but he got through that year unscathed and without dropping the bike. It was great experience and set him up well for his bigger bikes. He quickly moved to an R125 Yamaha and again had no problems with that for a year. Then moved up to his A2 licence on a Kawasaki ER6 which was fitted with a restrictor although I believe he unrestricted it very quickly!!! He's been riding for best part of 10 years now accident free and as well as stealing my wife's bike and my bike he also owns his own GSX-R1000 and has toured Europe on it.
There is no doubt biking is dangerous we know that but 50cc is in the right hands can be great experience in my view.
Regarding the Rieju 50 my son bought one of those when he was 16 and first got on the road. I had never heard of them and it did seem quite pricey but to be fair it was a very reliable bike. Also they hold quite strong money so after a year using it to commute to school and get to his evening job at the supermarket he sold it for pretty much what he paid for it.
Maybe he was lucky but he got through that year unscathed and without dropping the bike. It was great experience and set him up well for his bigger bikes. He quickly moved to an R125 Yamaha and again had no problems with that for a year. Then moved up to his A2 licence on a Kawasaki ER6 which was fitted with a restrictor although I believe he unrestricted it very quickly!!! He's been riding for best part of 10 years now accident free and as well as stealing my wife's bike and my bike he also owns his own GSX-R1000 and has toured Europe on it.
There is no doubt biking is dangerous we know that but 50cc is in the right hands can be great experience in my view.
Before anyone says it, having a 50cc back in the 80's/90's is completely different to having a 50cc on the road today..... they were dangerous back in the 80's/90's when there was much less traffic and the average road car had less than 100bhp. Today with probably twice the traffic and almost every car having > 100bhp.... the roads are now lethal on a 50cc.
It's a tricky one.
50s are really pretty nasty. I am unclear whether they are any safer than a 125.
Needs forced my son to commute to his apprenticeship for 6 months on one - he hated it.
I now run a motorcycle training school, which includes CBTs on 50s.
They are all hateful on the roads. I would recommend looking for a tidy Honda vision. It'll do the job and just go on and on and on - it's Honda.
4 gears to get you up to 28 mph isn't really much fun, but I guess if you determined to play off road, then buy "classic" on condition.
50s are really pretty nasty. I am unclear whether they are any safer than a 125.
Needs forced my son to commute to his apprenticeship for 6 months on one - he hated it.
I now run a motorcycle training school, which includes CBTs on 50s.
They are all hateful on the roads. I would recommend looking for a tidy Honda vision. It'll do the job and just go on and on and on - it's Honda.
4 gears to get you up to 28 mph isn't really much fun, but I guess if you determined to play off road, then buy "classic" on condition.
Motorcycling is dangerous, anyone who says it isn't is an idiot.
Fortunately I have never had an incident in 55 years and nearly thirty different bikes, but one of my sons nearly had his leg amputated several years ago when a car pulled out of a side street into him. He was doing 30mph.
I could post a picture of his injury but it's not very nice so I won't.
I tried to talk him out of it, but it was his choice at 23.
Fortunately I have never had an incident in 55 years and nearly thirty different bikes, but one of my sons nearly had his leg amputated several years ago when a car pulled out of a side street into him. He was doing 30mph.
I could post a picture of his injury but it's not very nice so I won't.
I tried to talk him out of it, but it was his choice at 23.
I loved my Aprilia RX 50 when I was 16/17. I've got my daughter an Aprilia RS50 now she's 16. Just starting to get it all rebuilt at the moment. Not much rush with this weather. I remember having mine derestricted after the first service. Made it much safer been able to travel at road speed. Rather then smoking along at barely 30mph.
I appreciate the points about more traffic, quicker cars, etc. but for a lot of us in the 90's getting a 50 when we were 16 changed our lives.
We were free to come and go as we liked with no reliance on parents or public transport, for me it also meant a better part time job as I could get there myself, and we went places we wouldn't have been without one. It also taught maintenance and responsibility to ourselves and other road users.
I did my CBT on my 16th birthday then had 8 weeks of further tuition every Sunday morning, if that is an option it would be good to do it.
In terms of bike it is pretty disappointing how few geared 50's there are, with Chinese bikes being the most prevalent. Might just be the same with anything you want that's rare, keep an eye out on Facebook and Marketplace. Saying that there is a nice MT50 on eBay...
To address the first point. I have motorbikes that just break 20mph, and quite a few that won't pass 50, some of which I ride on dual carriageway and occasionally motorways. It's not that bad, and your son becomming more aware of other road users can only be a good thing. If it was that bad nobody would cycle on anything other than 30mph limits, and they do all the time. I have had far more close calls cycling than on lower powered bikes.
We were free to come and go as we liked with no reliance on parents or public transport, for me it also meant a better part time job as I could get there myself, and we went places we wouldn't have been without one. It also taught maintenance and responsibility to ourselves and other road users.
I did my CBT on my 16th birthday then had 8 weeks of further tuition every Sunday morning, if that is an option it would be good to do it.
In terms of bike it is pretty disappointing how few geared 50's there are, with Chinese bikes being the most prevalent. Might just be the same with anything you want that's rare, keep an eye out on Facebook and Marketplace. Saying that there is a nice MT50 on eBay...
To address the first point. I have motorbikes that just break 20mph, and quite a few that won't pass 50, some of which I ride on dual carriageway and occasionally motorways. It's not that bad, and your son becomming more aware of other road users can only be a good thing. If it was that bad nobody would cycle on anything other than 30mph limits, and they do all the time. I have had far more close calls cycling than on lower powered bikes.
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