Motorcycle Safety & Driveability: going to a 250 from a 125, apples and oranges, talking dirt

Question
Hi Pat!

Thanks for taking my question. Our son (141/2 105 lbs.)has been riding for about 6 years. He currently rides a Kawasaki FX125.

He's a pretty good rider from what I hear (I don't ride)and he wants to try racing. We are going to get him involved with racing lessons and classes this fall to get him started.

The question is this...Should we bump him up into a 250 now or let him start learning racing techniques on his 125. He also has a 100. I'm not sure if a new 250 would be a wise decision to start racing with verses learing on his 100 or 125 then bumping up into a 250 once he has some racing lessons and actual races under his belt. I am assuming that riding tracks and jumps with friends, even if your very good is a whole different animal from racing.

Your thoughts would really be appreciated.

Thanks for your time.

Russ


Answer
I assume you're talking dirt bikes. I have no experience with them, but I can try to help.

Valentino Rossi, arguably the greatest roadracer in the world, started on a 125, and didn't move up to 250 until he mastered the 125. From there, he stayed on the 250 until he mastered that, then moved up to the 500 class. Now he's on top of the world in Moto GP (1000).

In amateur roadracing, it is general wisdom that you'll learn quicker and be a better rider if you start small and work your way up. When a rider is limited by the machine's limits, it forces them to develop physical skills to ride quicker, rather than just rely on having lots of power, which can mask poor riding skills.

However, my experience is with roadracing and not motocross. It may be apples and oranges. If I were going to try motocross, I'd start with the smallest class and work at it for at least a year or two until I was certain that there was no way I could go any faster on that bike. At that point, I'd bump up and try a larger class.

Hope that helps.

Pat