All-Terrain Vehicles(ATVs) are a new outdoor entertainment method and are also used in sports. People have been using these vehicles for a long time in deserts and urban areas. But now, this vehicle has become a joy for everyone in the world. Children are attracted towards ATVs and it is increasingly becoming part of kids' entertainment nowadays.
90-110CC ATVs are the best for kids up to 10 years of age. They are not heavy, and ATVs below this will cause the child to outgrow the vehicle soon. These models will be enough for kids playing up to 13 years of age.
However, there are many things to understand before you buy an ATV for your 10-year-old kid.
Readiness
They say age is just a number, and they say it right because no matter what the age of a human is, his/her abilities and strengths are the ones that value and not how much time he/she spent on this earth. So, if your kid is ten years of age, he may or may not be ready for an ATV yet. It would be best to analyze your child's readiness, which is your prime responsibility as a parent. Also, consider your child's age wen thinking to buy an ATV. ATVs and 4 wheelers for 6-year olds are not the same as ATVs for 15 year olds.
Readiness means size, strength, weight, coordination, etc. Other than these, cognitive skills like discipline, judgment, and risk assessment are also considered the readiness of a person.
Assessing before buying an ATV for your child will indeed reduce the risks involved. If you think your child is on the small side or has never been on an ATV before, try considering the 70CC models. They are low in power and are the best, to begin with, for the kids of ages 6-10 years.
Of course, you will not analyze the kid's abilities properly before they ride an ATV. So, it is better to find a way to test ride it, and then you can see what type of power your kid requires at their current age.
Different states have different rules regarding the minimum age requirements for ATV operation. So make sure to check the rules before you buy it.
Size and Weight
Well, weight and size matter when it comes to such a sport. An ATV is operated by acceleration and weight shiftings on turns. So your child should be able to sift his/her weight when turning. This is a common technique used in bike riding and is a must for the proper operation of such a vehicle.
You should make sure about the size of the ATV you choose because to make this happen, the feet need to reach the footrest to stand on and apply pressure when operating.
A standard measure to this is that when your child stands on the vehicle's footrest, there should be at least 4-5 inches of clearance between the seat and the pants of your child. And another standard measure to the weight of the vehicle you are about to buy is that the importance of the bike should not be more than 3-4 times the bodyweight of the operator.
Mostly the sizes that I have recommended can be used for the older kids as well. That is, when your child grows to 12-13 years of age, he can still use the same ATV. But when the kids grow older, then you will need to consider upgrading the ATV for them. You can move on to a bigger size with a bigger engine. Your kid will also have gained some experience until then. So, you can shift him to a more powerful ATV without worrying.
The best way to give experience to your child will be to let him/her go for a smaller one at first, and then after some experience is gained and skills are achieved, you can move towards upgrading. This way, you can entertain them with the real adventure of motorsport at its best and very for a smooth ride.
Engine Size And Top Speed
Most of the ATVs in the market for ten-year-olds lie in the range from 90-110CC engines. They are the best for kids that have their first bikes. But the analysts say that this is very low power for kids and mostly recommend up to 250CC for them.
But as far as the safety of the children is concerned, you should start with the range of 90-110CC. The kid should first learn the rules of operating an ATV and get a bit of experience. And then, if you feel so, you can increase the engine size after they have learned properly how to ride one.
250CC is considered way too heavy and too powerful for kids of that age. Manufacturers of these vehicles specifically restrict the age limit to 16 years.
You can consider buying the fastest and strongest bike in the range of 90-110CC. You will be sure of the safety of the kid and the bike as well. The recommendation is also to use a speed limiter on one of these. You can set the limit of the maximum speed of the ATV and can increase the limit with time. When the kid is experienced enough, you can either allow him the full speed limit or even upgrade the ATV with a bigger and faster engine for more adventures. Also, choosing the best 4 wheeler for your kid, will help their learning process.
Gas or Electric?
There are many electric ATVs that are being promoted on the internet, and people are being attracted to them. But in reality, those electric ATVs are proven to be flimsy, super slow, and are literally totally made out of plastic. These electric vehicles may be good for children of lower ages, but they are being recommended for older kids too. They may be fun for kids of up to 5-6 years of age. But when it comes to 9-12years of age, which is what we are focusing on in the topic, these electric ATVs are not the best.
Electric ATVs and electric QUAD bikes may become efficient in the future, but until then, gas-powered ATVs or gas powered four wheeler are the recommended ones in this article. If you want your kid to try out real motorsport, you should consider buying gas-powered ATVs.
Anyhow, there are many promising electric ATVs as well in the market in case your mind is set for that one. You can see multiple ATVs online and in stores. But make sure to have a closer look at those in terms of strength, speed, durability, lifetime, etc.
Transmission Types
As all the other motor vehicles do, even ATVs have both manual and automatic transmission manufacturers. They both compete with each other very well, and both have different riding styles. The manual transmission is a bit more complex, but the vehicle is completely controlled by the operator. And the automatic transmission is a lot simpler, but the operator does not feel totally in control of the bike.
The manual transmission gives a total feel of the motorsport in which one is into. The manual gear shift and the control of the bike make the rider feel more in control of the vehicle. It consists of a clutch system with gears which the rider has to operate according to need. The ATVs with manual transmission are proven to be more successful as it requires good experience and the operator enjoys the ATV to the full.
But if we consider a ten-year-old or a newbie, we should reconsider this manual option. The manual transmission ATV will be hard to learn at first. But the experience gained by this transmission is totally different than the one in an automatic one.
But we should look forward to making them learn the acceleration, braking, speeding up, and slowing down techniques at first because these are the basics that should be learned easily. The manual transmission makes this learning a bit hard as the mind of a new operator would totally shift to when to leave or press the clutch or when to change the gear.
Automatic transmission proves to be a success for new learners and kids. The operator will only have to get control of the speed and skills without worrying about the clutch system or gear shifting.
The automatic transmission ATV is recommended for kids of this age and/or who are new to the sport. Once your kid is skilled enough and has gained enough experience, you can consider shifting him/her to a manual transmission for the 'real' fun.
There also are some semi-automatic transmission ATVs available in the market, which serve both the purposes, automatic and manual. You can also consider buying this one because this can give your kid the ease to learn the sport without any hardships and also an option to learn the manual transmission at the same time. This type is considered by many who are new to the sport because it gives them what they want and an option to learn more. You can consider this one if you think your child also needs to learn manual transmission for the future.
Features of a Recommended ATV
There are various mistakes that people make while buying an ATV. They either end up buying too powerful a vehicle or an underpowered or undersized one. So based on the discussion above, you should be pretty clear by now about what size and power are the best for your child.
Here are some of the features that you should look for while buying an ATV for your kid:
Speed Limiter
Your desired ATV should have a parent adjustable speed limiter. This will help you to limit the maximum speed of the bike. There are ones with three steps that are very common and will be sufficient for use.
Safety Tether
There should be a safety tether on the bike you are about to buy. What this does is that it stops the bike in case the kid falls off the bike. This prevents excessive damages. You should not ignore this feature because you very well know safety is the priority. It is strongly recommended to obtain this feature if it isn't there already. Manufacturers also provide this feature for the old bikes. You can, as your bike manufacturer to install this feature for you in case you already have a bike and are missing out on this.,
Lights
There should be bright enough lights on the front as well as on the back to see in the ark and to be seen.
Keyed Ignition
This feature will help you to control who rides the bike and hen. This is good to get control of the time your kid spends on the bike and when you want them to spend it. Of course, you don't want them to go out without your knowledge or have them be in it for a very long time.
Shocks and Brakes
Well, to look into the quality of the shocks and the brakes are a must. You should look for the best quality brakes and shock. Low-quality brakes do not give much of a problem in the start, but they sure would cost you after some time. So, it is better to spend some more at the time of buying to avoid multiple repair costs or any accident.
Tires
Tires are the soul of the quad bike, and you want them to be the best for the best experience. You should get the best quality tires for good durability and perfect traction. A method to look for a good tire is to make sure there is a well-threaded pattern on it, and of course, the quality of the rubber is at its best.
Price and Suggestions
Well, the price of these quad bikes is, of course, way too high. But you need to choose the best and most optimal one for your use. There are multiple price ranges for these vehicles. And you get the quality of what you pay for. So you need to look for the quality first.
If your budget is not too high, you can consider buying a good branded second-hand ATV rather than going for a cheap new one. A quality second-hand bike will take more time than a new cheap one. You can have to deal with multiple repairs with the ones made for a lesser price, but a good second-hand bike will last longer in all ways. And on top of that, the bike will have more resale value than that of the cheap one.
You can visit stores or even look for these online. The suggestions for the top 5 best ATVs in the market today would be:
Honda TRX90X
This is the best-selling ATV for kids of the ages 9-10 years. The main feature of the bike is that it has an automatic transmission. This means not struggling with clutch or gears. Just throttle and brakes.
But the disadvantage of this is that its shocks are designed for smaller kids. Thi means the kids of ages more than 10-12 years can damage the shocks.
Yamaha Raptor 90
This an ATV with a very sporty look which the kids will love, and has low profile tires. The low-profile tires give it a sporty look and hence making it the most stylish one in the market. This is also considered the best ATV for kids.
Polaris Sportsman 110EFI
This gas-powered ATV looks smaller than the other but is more powerful and more durable than most of them. It has a fuel-injected system which helps in better gas consumption. This vehicle has a very efficient Safety Feature Tether installed on it, which means that the bike will shut off if the operator falls off of it.
X-PRO 110cc
This is a gas-powered ATV that brought new tech to the market that is the Air-Cooled system. The engine is air-cooled, which results in increasing the efficiency of the engine.
Razor Dirt Quad 500DLX
This is an electric ATV which is the best on the market when electric quad bikes are considered. It has a very long run time and is known to be the best electric ATV on dirt. It has a hand-operated disc brake system.
To Sum Things Up
Well, as we have discussed in detail the features of a quad bike, which will be the best for your child. You can now analyze what ATV suits best for your kid.
I would recommend going for the Honda TRX90X because, of course, it is Honda and its well-known quality of the vehicles. The ATV is best suited for the kid of 10 years of age. You can always choose between the available options here or do some additional research. And there is no wrong one out there. You just have to find the most suitable one for you and your child. Have a nice day!
Shawn Manaher loves to play with new toys and dive into new hobbies. As a serial entrepreneur, work definitely comes first but there is always room for hobbies.