Looking to buy a 50cc dirt bike for your kids but concerned that it won’t go fast enough? Worry no more, because there’s plenty of speed here.
A 50cc dirt bike will reach speeds of between 23 and 39 miles per hour, or 37km and 62km per hour which is very fast for a child who’s aged between 5 and 8 years old. While this is the maximum speed for Yamaha, KTM and Honda models, it’s rare that children do reach these faster speeds and you’ll typically find them cruising around at 15 to 20 miles per hour quite happily.
With most manufacturers, you can actually set a hard limit on the throttle so kid’s can’t go too fast. Additionally, you may wish to lock them into 2nd gear which also reduces the throttle responsiveness compared to 1st gear.
Children and 50cc Dirt Bikes
It’s quite normal to be concerned about the speed that your child will travel on their dirt bike. Very likely that this is their first dirt bike and you want them to have a great experience at such a tender age.
These dirt bikes can inflict some real and genuine harm, so buying some protective gear is necessary. Don’t simply kit them out with some cheap gear and instead spend up on quality stuff that will save them in the event of an accident.
Now, the safest speed for kids is more around the 15 to 20 mile per hour range. This is where you’ll find them most confident and aren’t likely to be pushing the top speeds anytime soon.
Should you be worried about them trying to upskill before they’re ready, then you can certainly sit down with them first and talk about the issues. While there’s a 3rd gear on these kids dirt bikes, you don’t need to show them how to use it and instead just lock their bike in the 2nd gear.
The Most Dangerous Part
You know, most parents do get concerned about the top speed of their children’s 50cc dirt bike, yet aren’t so educated about the most dangerous part. Of course, there will be some hurt when coming off at these higher speeds, but this isn’t the issue.
The most dangerous part is an aggressive throttle that gets locked on. Children don’t realize that, in order to stop riding, they simply need to stop using their throttle and their dirt bike naturally slows down and eventually comes to a stop. It’s really that easy.
So before you go out riding, you should take a long enough time to explain to them exactly what this means. They should ease the throttle on gently and then gradually build up from there. Any anytime, they can simply release the throttle by twisting their wrist.
Fortunately, some kids bikes come with throttle limiters. This is certainly the case with the TTR-50.
Best 50cc Bikes with High Top Speeds
Frontaer has done the research online to show you which bikes would be the best picks for your children. These essentially are:
- KTM 50SX (You may wish to consider the SX Mini Model too)
- Yamaha PeeWee 50 (in the used market only, as they have been discontinued by Yamaha)
- Honda CRF50F
- Kawasaki KFX50
- Husqvarna TC50
- Suzuki DRZ-50 (Slow but great first-timers bike)
You’ll find more information on our buying guide for kids dirt bikes ranked by ages. This is very important if your child is about to have a birthday and is between sizes.
Note: You shouldn’t pick a bike based on its top speed but more-so on reputation and reliability. Of this list, the KTM 50SX has the fastest 50cc speed on the planet, but that comes at a higher cost to the parent.
Purchasing New vs Used
So if you’re ready to make a purchase, should you get one used or new? Generally, this depends on your budget, how often your child will ride, and how fast they are growing up.
Generally speaking, most parents simply buy a used dirt bike that isn’t too beaten up. This is because kids grow up fast and they’ll generally go through a few dirt bikes between the ages of 5 and their teenage years.
Consider also that you’ll need to buy them some protection gear and this needs to be factored into your budget. You won’t need to pay for registration or insurance, though you may need to buy a race licence which comes with insurance if you want to get them into the MX scene. These are relatively affordable and subsidised by brand sponsors.
Certainly we wouldn’t recommend the Chinese dirt bikes too much as these can be unreliable and can spoil a great day out with the family. You can generally buy these for the same price as a used but well serviced KTM or Yamaha. Given the choice, we’d always trust the established brands where parts availability is paramount.
In Summary
50cc dirt bikes don’t go that fast, and at-best they can do 39 miles per hour. This is hardly progressive for us adults, but there’s plenty of speed for kids to have fun.
While parents can be apprehensive about getting their kids into this sport, it isn’t the top speed that one needs to worry about. It’s simply the throttle response which you can tune down, as well as ensuring they are kitted up with some great dirt bike protective gear.
Ease them slowly into the sport and you’ll find they’ll enjoy it for years. Kids are responsible and aren’t trying to be speed demons in the first 4 minutes of riding.