Context: One of my best friends was killed on his bike about 18 months ago. He left behind a wife and three kids. His oldest, a boy, was getting into riding off-road on his TTR125 having been through a CRF50 and a small wheel TTR125. He'd pretty much grown out of the TTR and I managed to sell all the bikes for him. My son took on my late friend's KTM 200 EXC and has been taking the lad out on various local off-road tracks. Having sold the second TTR at the tail end of last year, we've been looking for a replacement for him.
Angus is a quite a big lad for a 15(?) year old and so far we've narrowed it down to two potential bikes, one being a 2010 KTM 250 SXF (4-stroke) and the other a 2009 KTM SX 125 (2-stroke). Neither of these are particularly local to us but the 125 is a bit more accessible. My son's main concern is that Angus might find the 250 a bit difficult to pick up when he drops it and is tending towards the 125 which will also be easier and cheaper for him to maintain and will probably share some parts with his 200. I'm thinking about the 250 because it's a 4-stroke, potentially more reliable and with a slightly softer power delivery for a relative novice.
I should perhaps point out that Angus is a pretty fearless and accomplished mountain biker and skier and was getting to grips with the TTR but he was getting too big for it and its lack of grunt was leading to it getting bogged down on some of the really muddy tracks they were using.
Dirt bikes are really not my thing so I'm looking for advice here. Given the choice, which one would you pick for the lad?
TIA
Angus is a quite a big lad for a 15(?) year old and so far we've narrowed it down to two potential bikes, one being a 2010 KTM 250 SXF (4-stroke) and the other a 2009 KTM SX 125 (2-stroke). Neither of these are particularly local to us but the 125 is a bit more accessible. My son's main concern is that Angus might find the 250 a bit difficult to pick up when he drops it and is tending towards the 125 which will also be easier and cheaper for him to maintain and will probably share some parts with his 200. I'm thinking about the 250 because it's a 4-stroke, potentially more reliable and with a slightly softer power delivery for a relative novice.
I should perhaps point out that Angus is a pretty fearless and accomplished mountain biker and skier and was getting to grips with the TTR but he was getting too big for it and its lack of grunt was leading to it getting bogged down on some of the really muddy tracks they were using.
Dirt bikes are really not my thing so I'm looking for advice here. Given the choice, which one would you pick for the lad?
TIA
