Here is my problem. My daughter, now 12 going on 16, believes she has outgrown her LT80 since all her friends now have blasters. This in not a problem for many kids. My son transitioned to a blaster at age 9 and never had a problem. But he is a natural and now rides his TRX250R better than me at age 15.

Daughter on the other hand, though I love her, is an airhead and frankly scares me . She is always paying more attention to what everybody else is doing instead of where she is riding. She rides to be social.

Personally, I just soon leave on the LT80 for another year or two, but can see her point in that riding as a group becomes limited for her. Plus there are several little kids in our camp on LT80's now which makes her embarrased to be seen on it. She only makes about half the trips to the dunes that my son and I do (maybe 4 a year), when she does, she spends most of the time on the golf cart around camp. So she doesn't ride a whole lot.

If you were in my situation would you get something bigger? If so, what? I would rather avoid a quad with a clutch until she gets used to a bigger machine. I guess what I am asking is there a decent quad somewhere between the LT80 and blaster? I would also like to find something marketable so I don't get beat up on resale as I see this a being a temporary quad for transition.

Sorry to be so long but would appreciate any advice or insight.

'Bob

my daughter went from an lt 80 to a 250ex. I almost went with a breeze, but she really likes her honda.

What about letting her ride your sons old blaster? If not Polaris makes some automatic quads if your worried about the clutch issue.

I too was thinking about the 250EX. They are just a little more than I would like to spend for a quad that will not get ridden that much. The breeze appeals in size but they are not that popular so reselling may be hard. I've long since sold my son's old blaster. The Polaris is not a bad suggestion-what I don't like is that they are big and heavy.

The blaster is probably the best choice in terms of size and cost (I could probably get one for close to what I can sell her 2000 LT80 for). I just think the clutch and powerband may be a little more that she is ready for. My son's had a lot of mods, maybe a stock blaster might be tame enough.

Thanks for the suggestions.

if she's only riding to be social then tell her to get on one of these.

There is also a throttle limiter so ya can limit how much throttle she gives, that way she could get use to the power band and you can let off on the throttle limiter until she is comfortable with the bike, other wise a 250ex would be great, the yamaha breezes arent really popular and they dont seem to have enough suspension for the size of them its kind of like a bigger lt80

You might try to find her a used polaris trailblazer 250..automatic, probably pick one up for about $2K range. If she only rides it for a couple years, you shouldn't really lose much when you re sell it.

I see your struggles.....it is a tough call though. The blaster is probably the next best step, and as Shocker said, use the govern'ator' until she gets used to the power. Why try to resale. If you do that, it may take a grand or two in a couple of years down the line to step up, where as, a blaster, it will take a turn or two on the governer screw to step up.

Just moved my boy up from an LT80 to a 250EX. Worked great.

I would probably have to agree with RCD Ryan... the blaster is most likely the next best step.

I'm in the Blaster/250EX camp...I think the Polaris is going to be a bit heavy, and the Breeze, although it sounds perfect for your situation, will be a PITA to sell when the time comes.

A used 250ex would be great, my bro has one and it's awesome.

Stepped up my daughter to a 300ex from an LT80 last year. Took one ride to get her used to using the clutch and shifting. Now she wants a 400.

My daughter rides my 400EX when Julie wants to go on a ride. Julie doesn't like the clutch. Conor will want to learn to ride the 400 next season.

I say honda 250ex, it has reverse and electric start. a friend put an electric start on an lt230 for his daughter. you can do the same thing to a 250X and you can get those cheap. don't forget about the lt160

ALSO THINK ABOUT THE 2 STROKE TO 2 STROKE, OR THE 2 STROKE TO 4 STROKE SITCHIATION TOO....

Hey Rudebob, PM my buddy RIPSTER, he just bought a quad for his daughter and is basically in the same situation, he bought an off brand quad, but basically identical to Honda, and the price was really cheap, he was looking at like 200sx quads, but ended up buying a new one for basically the same price, drop him a line, I am sure he can help you out.