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Advice on kids trials bike for birthday present


dombush1
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Hoping for a bit of advice from those who might have had similar experience.

I bought my son a TY80 a couple of years ago (just as I had when I was his age). He is 11 now.
Although he has enjoyed it, he has never become very confident on it and struggles with clutch and gear shifting. I remember finding shifting difficult on my TY when I was a kid. The TY is actually quite small for him now but he still doesn't find it easy to ride.

We have also had reliability issues with the TY and I don't have lots of time or enough knowledge to be fixing a servicing it all the time (and I don't particularly want to either).

With all this in mind I'm considering selling the TY and getting him a modern bike like a Beta80 or similar. But I would like to be a bit more sure about whether this will make a difference (given that they are expensive things). I ride a modern bike so I know reliability wise it will be better (as long as it's a good bike).

Will a modern bike be easier for him to ride than a TY?
Will the clutch and gear shifting be easier, allowing him to gain confidence and get more enjoyment out of it?

I've even considered getting him a 80cc motorcross bike as it may be more enjoyable for a kid his age and his ability?

Is there anywhere I could take him to try out a modern bike for a few hours?

Any thoughts would be welcome. Cheers

Edited by dombush1
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Hi,

My son is slightly older just 13 now, and started on a modern Beta 80 Evo 2012, to be honest it was forever requiring parts and accordingly was quite expensive to maintain as my local dealer did most of the work, due to limited time on my part. Starting, Clutch and Gear changing was ok. I may have been unlucky of course with the bike I bought as buying second hand is always a gamble !

He now has a modern Gas Gas 125, which is a superb bike in comparison and the build is far superior and also easy to work on.

My conclusion on speaking to many people who have owned Beta 80's is the build on the smaller bikes is not a patch on the bigger bikes. However as your son is too young for a 125 ( if you are planning ACU events) and based on the fact you have very limited choice, and Beta 80 bikes are the most popular, if you are going to buy one I would buy a new bike, If I had my time again I would buy a new Beta 80 due to lack of choice in the market..

What your son needs is probably more focused training, followed by practice, practice & practice.

Not sure where you are based if in the North of England.

I can vouch for Inch Perfect my son ( and I) had a great day out with Matthew who could also sell you a bike Bumpy in West Yorkshire is also superb ( not sure if they have any Beta 80's ) although you have the added bonus of booking a lesson with very experienced instructors such as Roger or even Dan Thorpe who started on a TY 80 I beieive  ( A former British Champion and one of the most successful riders in the UK).

Best of luck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thanks very much for that. Plenty to think about.

Sadly I can't afford a brand new Beta, if I got one it would have to be second hand so all that is good to know.

I'm in Kendal so Inch Perfect Trials isn't far away, I may see if I can take him there for a day.

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I am surprised you and your sons found the Ty difficult, the none down 4 up is one of the easiest gearboxes to learn on as is the torquey hard to stall motor.

I would advise a Gasgas 80 as the next step. Friends sons have had both Beta and GG 80s and the GG was the better all round bike. Whatever you get it is as well to brush up on your mechanical skills, all trials bikes need some work and trailing to a dealer frequently will be frustrating and probably expensive. Better still get your son to learn to do his own fixing.

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