Youth ATV? Honda Sportrax 90 or Yamaha Raptor 80?

8996 Views 10 Replies 8 Participants Last post by John, Jan 8, 2004

Guitars911

Discussion Starter · Oct 14, 2003

Just wondering if any one here has owned either of these 2 youth atv's.

I like the Honda 90 but it does not come with an electric start. Recoil only.

The Raptor 80 plastic looks pretty mean for a little bike.

I think I would rather have a 4-stroke engine over other models that have the 2-stroke with an oil injection system.

Any advise on a youth atv would be appreciated. My son is only 3 1/2 yrs old, but he is tall for his age. I think he would get more years out of an 80 or 90cc bike vs. the smaller 50cc versions. Both bikes have a throttle control that can be set to match the riders experiance level. Nice feature..

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JamesO

· #2 · Oct 15, 2003

I can't speak for the Raptor, but I can speak about the Honda 90. I bought one for my son a couple of years ago. I used the throttle control for the first year until he developed a decent skill set.

The 90 has taken a beating and never complained. It has been completely submerged in a muddy creek on two ocassions. All I did to start it back up was to clean the airbox and filter each time. He rolled it down a hill, it rolled side over side twice and end over end once, landed on the wheels and kept running after it rolled to a stop. The only thing that was hurt was that it creaed one of the plastic fenders.

I like the fact that he started out with w recoil starter and manual transmission. It made him respect electric start and taught him some of the basics about dring a straight shift car.

He learned to ride on the 90 and has since moved up to a 250EX. My daughter is learing to ride now, so she has the 90. Besides basic maintenace, I have not ever had to do anything but change the front brake pads a couple of months ago.

The 90 is very reliable.

James

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Guitars911

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 15, 2003

JamesO - Thanks for the reply..

The sprotrax 90 sounds like it has been a rock solid purchase for you. That is great to hear.

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festus

· #4 · Nov 15, 2003

my kid has suzuki lt 8o electric start, decent sus. 2 strokr (but vertualy matainance free) no shifting the thing comes with 3 ways to slow it down 1; a wafer in the carb slide 2;a exaust restrictor that goes between head and pipe 3;throttle limiting screw , you can use any or all, this is my 10 yr daughters and i am now getting the 6 yr old on it (she is fearless!) i checked them all out in fact we had a yamaha mota 4 -90 for about a year ,it is agood thing yamaha is puting sharp plastic on there new ones they need some thing to sell the pieces of sh--- and suzuki and the kawasaki are the same. resale if you buy it right, your kid should be able to ride for all most nothing, and you will sell it fast when you are ready to get rid of it !! sorry for the long reply but i think they are a hell of a machine . by the way they are oil injected, if you have any questions give me an email

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OuterLimit

· #5 · Jan 4, 2004

We started our youngest son on a TRX90 when he was six years old. He is now seven years old, and just followed us on a 35 mile ride around the Logandale ATV trail system in southern Nevada a few days ago. I don't particularly care for the pull start on the 90, because he cannot start his own ATV. But I do like the manual transmission of the TRX90, and would not purchase a learner ATV without one. My son has not learned the meaning of fear yet, so he pretty much pins the throttle at all times. With the manual transmission we just kept him in first gear for the first year or so, and he could not go too fast if he wanted to. Now we let him use first, second, or third gear, but not fourth, because he still keeps the throttle pinned at all times. Third gear pinned on a TRX90 is about 25 to 30 mph, which is pretty fast. If we had one of those mini ATVs that have a CVT transmission, and keep going faster and faster as long as you hold the throttle open, I know my son would have gotten himself into trouble by now.

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marine

· #6 · Jan 5, 2004

My first bike was the honda 90. I drove the crap out of this bike and am sure I did things that weren't excatly good for it (like rev it way up while holding the foot shifter between gears then letting off to make it wheelie). This bike gave me, from ages 4-12, awesome service!!! I NEVER did anything to it other than my dad changing the oil (because when i did it once I literely filled the oil resevoir up to the brim like you would gas). I will buy my kid a 90! The choice is yours to make but for a really good bike go with the 90.

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Guitars911

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jan 5, 2004

Thanks for the replies guys. It seems that even like the big bore atv's, the youth atv's have their good and bad points, but they all seem to be decent machines in their own right.

I had planned on getting one at Christmas for my son, but the wife thought he was still to young. We or she decided that his next birthday would be better. So later this spring he will most likely get a new TRX90. I want a new one as I also have another 6 month old boy that will get lots of use out of it when his time comes.

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hondaman

· #8 · Jan 5, 2004

Guitars911 My kids learned to ride on a Badger. The exact same quad as the Raptor only cosmetic changes (plastic). It is bullet proof. I did like the electric start. The Sportrax probably has better suspension up front but for a beginner quad it's not that big of an issue. My 2 boys beat the crap out of it for a total of 6 years & the only thing I did to it was change the oil and replace the battery twice.

OuterLimit, Dig the avitar.

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RobG

· #9 · Jan 5, 2004

A great little youth quad to consider is the Polaris Predator 90, or it's twin, the Sportsman 90 (same machine, different plastic).

It's electric start, has a kickstart backup, CVT tranny, and a really nice suspension. The Raptor is a joke because it has a crappy suspension.

A friend has the P90 for his son and it runs like a champ. It's decently quick, but not so quick that his 5yo kid can get it out of control (he's big for his age too). It'll go about 30 mph.

Rob

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Guitars911

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jan 5, 2004

I just looked at a new Polaris 50 and 90 at the local dealer. They look like a good sporty bike as well. The new plastic design looks good. Similar to the raptor. The only thing I did not like was the way Polaris is trying to sell them right now. The salesman told me that the 50cc atv was something like $1,999, but that Polaris would give a rebate of $1,000 back after 36 months. So in three years the 50cc atv would only have cost you $999. That was all I needed to hear so I did not even bother to ask the price of the 90. I thought what a crock of crap Polaris is trying to pull here. I guess this 36 month rebate may sound ok to some, but not me. I want to buy a bike out right and not have to try and remember that in 3 years I need to check on my rebate check.

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John

· #11 · Jan 8, 2004

I have both the Honda 90 and the Sportsman 90. The Sportsman is for younger kids. My 10 year only would much rather be on his Honda than on his brothers. The Sportsman is a good bike still. It is very sharp looking and good for my younger boy to ride. We looked at the Yamaha as well but I liked the Honda a lot more. Seemed to be more peppy.

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