Interestingly, neither of my boys liked the 2-stroke bikes. My boys tried numerous bikes out, including KX 65s, CR80/85 both standard and big-wheel versions, KX100s and the TTR-125s. We went through the full course of bikes, starting with XR50s (now called CRF50s), XR70s (still auto-clutch), XR 80 (first hand-clutch bikes), then did quite a bit of looking for the next step. I recently found a KDX 220 for my 12-year old (my boys are big and tall). Sounds like I am a few years ahead of you dealing with kids and bikes. My kid has crashed the 85 much harder than the Honda with no damage yet, other than a broken brake lever. Oh, and the triple-trees are constantly getting tweaked. The CRF is a decent trail bike for somebody that's really tentative, but that thing is gutless even with the power-up kit, and it's a pig for a kid to lift after a crash. Kids learn so fast, that it's easy to blow money on a bike that they surpass in ability in one season. If I had it to do over again I would probably have bought him a KX100, and found a way to limit the power at first by disabling the KIPS and/or either rigging up a rev limiter or a throttle limit. I think there is a lot of merit in the MX bikes because they're so light, are a good size, and the suspension is so much better.

The 85 weighs 70 lbs less and has almost double the hp. The CRF has 11 hp, weighs about 216, and has pretty bad suspension. He likes the CRF150 better for trails, and rides the 85 on the track. It really depends on how agressive your son is.

Stealy fly wheel