[TM_Turbo]

Hi BHPians,

I am Naveen based out from Bangalore. I am in my mid 30s and work in one of Big4s. Despite my career at a Big 4 firm, my heart remains captivated by the allure of automobiles.

My son who is 10 years old shares my enthusiasm for automobiles and has a budding interest in DIY projects. He is also a good Karate player and won multiple trophies and medals in National and International level open championships.

Last time when he won a trophy in a International level open competition I had promised him to gift him a small bike (which he was very keen from long time). As my son's birthday approaches I am contemplating gifting him a 50cc bike, a token of my affection that not only fulfils his youthful desires but also allows me to share my love for all things automotive with him.

Now, here's where I could really use your expertise and guidance. While I've spent countless hours reading about maintaining those 50cc 2 stroke bikes, availability of spare parts, etc, I truly value the insights and experiences of this community.

So, dear forum members, I turn to you for advice.

1. What are your thoughts on purchasing a 50cc bike for a young rider?
2. Are there specific models or brands you would recommend?
3. Any tips or considerations I should keep in mind while making this purchase?
4. Any leads/contacts/dealers in Bangalore
5. Maintenance and spare parts availability
6. Any 1st hand experience owning these small bikes?

Thank you in advance for taking the time to share your insights. I eagerly await your responses and look forward to embarking on this journey together. Please note my budget would be around 20-25K max.


Moderators: Please move/merge this to an appropriate thread if necessary. I couldn't find any existing thread for this

[aargee]

Originally Posted by TM_Turbo

1. What are your thoughts on purchasing a 50cc bike for a young rider?

It might work by avoiding getting caught or use private land for practice because:

Learning License Age Limit for Two wheelers
The minimum age for a learning license for a two-wheeler whose capacity is below 50cc is 16 years of age. However, in today’s times 50cc scooters are few and far between. Hence, it is better to wait to get the two-wheeler above 50cc license

Source: https://www.icicilombard.com/knowled...ng-license-age

[deep_bang]

Rather than looking at petrol bikes would suggest to look at electric ones. This space is already fairly clear wrt rules and regulations and it's very clear that any vehicle that has < 250 watts motor does not need a license to ride the vehicle.
With petrol these regulations exist but hardly any manufacturers make them (as far as I know).

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by TM_Turbo

I am Naveen based out from Bangalore. I am in my mid 30s and work in one of Big4s. Despite my career at a Big 4 firm, my heart remains captivated by the allure of automobiles.

My son who is 10 years old shares my enthusiasm for automobiles and has a budding interest in DIY projects.

While I've spent countless hours reading about maintaining those 50cc 2 stroke bikes, availability of spare parts, etc, I truly value the insights and experiences of this community.

So, dear forum members, I turn to you for advice.

1. What are your thoughts on purchasing a 50cc bike for a young rider?
Please note my budget would be around 20-25K max.

Lovely! This is really nice to read. Nothing like starting them young when it comes to automobile enthusiasm.
My Dad did. And Ive ended up being a die hard automobile enthusiast.
I agree that the sensible choice to make in your case is to go Electric. But there is a certain joy in the internal combustion engine, especially for your budding DIY enthusiast. Thats why I feel you should go with your instinct and get him a petrol driven mini dirt bike or similar, along with the other safety kit etc. The greatest thing you can do after this is to take him to professional biking tracks where he can receive training and hone his skills.
I like the picture you posted. If my folks/ grandma had allowed it when I was a teenager, I would have loved to have an Enfield Explorer or BSA Bond 50cc bike both of which, when modded a bit, looked a lot like that picture. Of course those were bikes used by teens, college goers and even adults then.
Now some of us can live vicariously through your little boy and his biking!
Upon doing a casual search of the internet there seem to be literally tens of options of these 49-50cc petrol powered bikes for kids ranging from 10000 to 70000 Rupees.
Thing is, how good, how safe and how reliable are they? That is the primary set of points which require to be answered.

[CzechItaliaMoto]

One idea that comes to mind - converting a bicycle into an electric cycle/adding a 50cc engine to it.

Many kits are available online for less than 25k, and they're all DIY so you and your son can have a good time building it. Have personally seen and ridden one of these bikes that was built by a college student(it was electric) and it was pretty impressive. Could handle the sloping roads of Basavanagudi pretty well without breaking a sweat.

I know this does not give you the complete feeling of actually riding a standalone dirt bike/EV but does come close to that.

Adding a few links below-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Ai...UgYmlrZQ%3D%3D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La8y...cmljIGJpa2U%3D

https://www.electronicscomp.com/my10...t?gad_source=1

Above kit can be sourced a la carte, maybe with a bigger and more ergonomic(rectangular) batteries that are also available.

[TM_Turbo]

Originally Posted by aargee

It might work by avoiding getting caught or use private land for practice because:

Learning License Age Limit for Two wheelers
The minimum age for a learning license for a two-wheeler whose capacity is below 50cc is 16 years of age. However, in today’s times 50cc scooters are few and far between. Hence, it is better to wait to get the two-wheeler above 50cc license

Source: https://www.icicilombard.com/knowled...ng-license-age

Thanks for your inputs aargee, this is going to be strictly for usage inside apartment and in my village farm, will not allow my kid to ride this in public roads until he got right skills and right age

Originally Posted by deep_bang

Rather than looking at petrol bikes would suggest to look at electric ones. This space is already fairly clear wrt rules and regulations and it's very clear that any vehicle that has < 250 watts motor does not need a license to ride the vehicle.
With petrol these regulations exist but hardly any manufacturers make them (as far as I know).

I tried looking for it, however for some reason the EVs are not closer to my heart, neither my son likes it. As a petrol head for sure will miss the fun driving petrol bike

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Lovely! This is really nice to read. Nothing like starting them young when it comes to automobile enthusiasm.
My Dad did. And Ive ended up being a die hard automobile enthusiast.
I agree that the sensible choice to make in your case is to go Electric. But there is a certain joy in the internal combustion engine, especially for your budding DIY enthusiast. That's why I feel you should go with your instinct and get him a petrol driven mini dirt bike or similar, along with the other safety kit etc. The greatest thing you can do after this is to take him to professional biking tracks where he can receive training and hone his skills.
I like the picture you posted. If my folks/ grandma had allowed it when I was a teenager, I would have loved to have an Enfield Explorer or BSA Bond 50cc bike both of which, when modded a bit, looked a lot like that picture. Of course those were bikes used by teens, college goers and even adults then.
Now some of us can live vicariously through your little boy and his biking!
Upon doing a casual search of the internet there seem to be literally tens of options of these 49-50cc petrol powered bikes for kids ranging from 10000 to 70000 Rupees.
Thing is, how good, how safe and how reliable are they? That is the primary set of points which require to be answered.

Thanks for your note Shakar, even I didn't had opportunity to ride any bikes until my dad bought his first 2 wheeler (Hero Splendor, I was 21) followed by Bajaj Pulsar in 2019 (which we still have), and then a preowned Thunderbird Twinspark (2019 Model) in 2016. With regards to reliability I think these 50cc engines carry the same engine which is used in grass cutting machine used in agriculture.

Originally Posted by CzechItaliaMoto

One idea that comes to mind - converting a bicycle into an electric cycle/adding a 50cc engine to it.

Many kits are available online for less than 25k, and they're all DIY so you and your son can have a good time building it. Have personally seen and ridden one of these bikes that was built by a college student(it was electric) and it was pretty impressive. Could handle the sloping roads of Basavanagudi pretty well without breaking a sweat.

I know this does not give you the complete feeling of actually riding a standalone dirt bike/EV but does come close to that.

Adding a few links below-

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=k4Ai...UgYmlrZQ%3D%3D

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=La8y...cmljIGJpa2U%3D

https://www.electronicscomp.com/my10...t?gad_source=1

Above kit can be sourced a la carte, maybe with a bigger and more ergonomic(rectangular) batteries that are also available.

I had made this few years back, I had used the hoverboard motor in to a standing scooter (not sure if this is the right word) and powered it with a DIY 18650 Li Ion batteries and control kit, as expected he got bored of it after few years of usage and now he is no longer interested in EVs.


I will try finding out some dealers in Bangalore and plan a visit soon to test the bike in person if available

[Redex]

Hi,
I have 4 boys who all went through this stage (as did I). Get a real "dirt bike" with a petrol engine. Get all the safety gear. Teach you child how to maintain the vehicle.
All 4 of my boys had their fill of 2 wheelers riding off road. They went straight to cars when old enough to drive, much safer. Only 1 continues to ride a 2 wheeler but mostly drives his car.
Keep safe, regards Neil
Personally, I have ridden 2 wheelers since the age of 11 and still do now at 68.

[Hypno0784]

Originally Posted by deep_bang

This space is already fairly clear wrt rules and regulations and it's very clear that any vehicle that has < 250 watts motor does not need a license to ride the vehicle.

Are you suggesting that a 16-year-old is legally allowed to drive an electric scooter? If yes, can you suggest a few?

[deep_bang]

Originally Posted by Hypno0784

Are you suggesting that a 16-year-old is legally allowed to drive an electric scooter? If yes, can you suggest a few?

These are some of them:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/.../103933546.cms

However, do also go through this thread:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...d-commute.html (Atumobile e-bike for a 16 year old to commute in?)

The summary is that, while decent 2 wheelers which are the so called non-rto vehicles, are too expensive at around 60k+, they are also mostly knocked down and reassembled Chinese kits. So it just means you are paying a lot for just 2 years of usage after which these seem to be too slow for practical usage.

[subincb]

If your son is 16 or below buy Kawasaki kx65 or kx85 if you can afford with proper gear and train him in offroad tracks. He will enjoy it more than anything. If it's private tracks and not roads as i know license is not an issue. And kx85 even you can ride. The bike can't be used on roads so not a problem. You will need a pickup truck to transport it if you don't have large property which can be used as dirt track. Check YouTube for kids riding these. My niece started riding pw50 or pw80 at age 7.

[TM_Turbo]

Originally Posted by subincb

If your son is 16 or below buy Kawasaki kx65 or kx85 if you can afford with proper gear and train him in offroad tracks. He will enjoy it more than anything. If it's private tracks and not roads as i know license is not an issue. And kx85 even you can ride. The bike can't be used on roads so not a problem. You will need a pickup truck to transport it if you don't have large property which can be used as dirt track. Check YouTube for kids riding these. My niece started riding pw50 or pw80 at age 7.

Its clearly way out of my budget Subincb, thanks for your suggestion. I was not aware that Kawasaki has got such small bikes

[Pitz]

Originally Posted by TM_Turbo

I had promised him to gift him a small bike (which he was very keen from long time). As my son's birthday approaches I am contemplating gifting him a 50cc bike,

Try the Kawasaki Elektrode range of cycle bikes for children. They're starter cycle bikes for dirt track riding/ racing.