Baja Bikes, Anybody had one?
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Road Warrior
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,672
Likes: 2
From: Indianapolis
Baja Bikes, Anybody had one?
Starting to look for my Kid's first bike. Places like Pep boys are selling these Chinese copies of 70's era Japanese dirt bikes. You can get a 4 stroke 125 CC with basic suspension for less than a grand. Does anyone have any experience with these? The design is bulletproof but I'm worried about the quality control of the Manf process. I'd hate to Pi$$ away a grand but paying twice that for something the Kids will tear up and make relatively worthless by the time we're done with it isn't very appealing either.
Road Master
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 876
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From: Eastern NC
Buddy of mine just gave me a Lifan GY3A 150cc Chinese dual sport. Basically the same idea as the stuff your looking at, little different design. The mfg. process is not the best, the hardware is not the best, but the technology is perfect for a beginning bike. It's basically a lawnmower engine stuck in a motorcycle frame. With that being said, had it not been free, I would not have paid more than $500 for it, and it's only 2 years old and has been garage kept. Anything that is rubber has dry rotted and there are only 3 different colors in the wiring, none of which are black or red. All the body mount tabs that are plastic have broken and none of the lights worked. With all of THAT being said, it cost me less that $40 and some of my time to fix everything. Not sure how old your kids are, which is going to decide on the basic model you're looking for, but generally speaking, you get what you pay for, and if I were actually going to spend money on something like that, I'd buy a good Japanese manufactured bike. (yam,kawi,suz,honda)
Road Master
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 858
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From: around
I'd agree that for a beginner bike, it wouldn't be a bad idea. If you look though, the welds are poor and the tolerances are terrible on most of those knock-off's too so reliability can often be an issue.
I'd personally stick with an XR 50. You can buy an XR for less than a grand. If your young'un decides he/she needs more power, you can get a trailbikes 88 kit, wide pegs, tall seat pad, and tall bars from one of several companies. Check out planetminis.com for more info and a minibike forum.
I'd personally stick with an XR 50. You can buy an XR for less than a grand. If your young'un decides he/she needs more power, you can get a trailbikes 88 kit, wide pegs, tall seat pad, and tall bars from one of several companies. Check out planetminis.com for more info and a minibike forum.
Road Master
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 858
Likes: 0
From: around
I've been looking for an XR to keep in the apartment to save on gas driving to and from school. It's only a couple miles away and I hate starting my truck up to make the drive...
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Cruiser
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 130
Likes: 5
From: Western NC
I just have to add that I bought my youngest son his first dirt bike at northern tool and it was a Baja Warrior 50cc. He rode the dog crap out of that bike for 2 summers and I finally upgraded him to a KTM65. Needless to say the first thing that fell off the bike was the muffler guard but that was no biggie. Most of the plastic is broken or torn off where he has crashed it several times. While he was learning he would constantly hit the rev limiter and hold it there before he changed gears. I was expecting the motor to pop anytime. The little bike is still here and it still runs great. Gonna try to find some other small kid nearby to give it to.
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