Minibikepro.com

Getting started on your minibike
Over and over we get asked the same question – “I’ve been thinking about getting into the minibike scene and am wondering how to get started”. Like most things in life it is usually necessary to crawl before you run, so we’ll start with the basics.

Selecting your ride
The 2000 – 2003 Honda XR/CRF50 or it's replacement the 2004 CRF50 (same bike as XR/CRF50 just a name change to CRF), is the most popular bike amongst the minibike enthusiasts. Also worth considering are the original Honda Z50 Off-Road and the Jincheng Dirt Monkey. We recommend the Honda XR/CRF50 for a number of reasons; first up most performance parts are made for the XR/CRF50, secondly it runs 10” wheels giving you a massive choice of proper motocross tyres, and thirdly it looks like it’s bigger CRF brothers! For some people the XR/CRF50 is just too small but this does not happen very often as there are many innovative ways to build an XR/CRF50 to suit some pretty big people. Nevertheless if you fall into the mid-size category there are some great machines made by the big four manufacturers. These are the Kawasaki KLX110 / Suzuki DRZ110, the Honda XR70 and the Yamaha TTR90.

Making a child sized bike fit an adult rider
One of the most important elements about riding a minibike is to build a ride that is comfortable. This is largely based upon the right combination of controls that you choose. This might be better described as “contact points”. Contact points include your hands, feet, backside and other area of your body depending on your riding style.

The most important control item to begin with is the handlebars. The stock bike comes with tiny bars that bang your knees when you ride.

This setup is way too low for any adult sized riders and the first upgrade is to change the bar, handlebar clamp and throttle to suit adult sized riders.

ACT11 - MINIBIKEPRO.COM - BAR, CLAMP and THROTTLE COMBO DEAL!!!

The choice of handlebars is endless as most BMX style bars will fit the Fast 50’s bar clamp, we sell the bars that we have found to work best in our experience. Having the correct handlebar height is really important if you are jumping or riding whoops etc. The next important thing to think about is the throttle, as the standard throttle is designed for a child’s hand, it is also designed to work with the narrower gauge handlebar that comes as standard on the XR/CRF50.

Footpegs are another crucial contact point and usually the next mod after clamps and bars. The stock pegs are fine for junior’s small feet but adult feet will benefit greatly from a larger platform. This is partly due to the fact that adult riders must wear trainers or walking boots in order to use the rear brake and shifter, full size moto boots are just too big to allow this. The narrow stock pegs tend to dig into the rider’s feet as the soles of these types of shoes tend to be softer than a traditional moto boot. The billet and stainless steel pegs have twice the surface area of the stockers and provide the rider with a lot more grip at this important contact point.

XCT03 - BILLET FOOTPEGS

Lastly, the stock seat height is very low and many riders can benefit from the installation of a seat with taller foam, this includes both trail riding and Mini-MX. In addition to this you will need to change the stock seat cover over to a tall foam gripper seat cover, this extra grip keeps your backside in place and helps you grip the bike with your knees when you are standing up. ACT10 - XR/CRF50 High Seat Foam

Making your minibike adult proof
Obviously minibikes were not designed for adult rider, so unless you are Mini Me you are going to be too heavy for the standard suspension. There are a couple or options to consider when dialing your suspension in; the least expensive route is to just replace the stock springs (fork and shock) with heavy duty alternatives. Many opt to replace the entire fork and shock with units that are designed for adult minibike riders. If your budget will allow it this will provide you with the highest level of performance potential.

Upgrading your minibike’s suspension is one of the most important things you should do to prolonging the life of the bike's frame and to maintain correct frame and suspension geometry. Many find out the hard way that when they bottom out the stock suspension hard enough, the next inch of travel may come from your fork tubes bending forward! The chopper style looks great on a Harley however, chopper style minis just don't handle well in the dirt! Even if this doesn't happen to you, the stock suspension is so weak that after a bit of hard adult riding it WILL blowout. There are a few options for upgrading your XR/CRF50 SUSPENSION. The most budget orientated upgrade is toreplace the stock springs with heavy duty springs for an adult's weight. The amount of suspension travel remains the same but is much stiffer so as to avoid harsh bottoming out of the suspension.

ASS02 - XR/CRF50 FORK SPRINGS

ASS05 - XR/CRF50 REAR iSHOCKS

The next stage of improving suspension on your minibike is to replace the complete rear shock with a unit that gives you increased rear wheel travel and the ability to control the speed at which the suspension compresses and rebounds - this helps you fine tune the handling characteristics of your bike from track to track and also to suit your riding style. Another great advantage of replacing your stock shock with an iShock for example is that ride height is increased giving you more room on your minibike. Once you have sorted out the rear suspension it's time to think about the forks up front. As mentioned above, the most basic option is to upgrade the soft "kids weight" springs with a stiffer version. We recommend replacing the stock Honda fork bushes with our heavy duty bushes. The stock Honda bushes were not designed to work with heavy duty springs and are "sloppy" due to the tolerances that they are manufactured to. The heavy duty bushed fill up the whole upper fork tube and are made from Nylatron - a much harder wearing, high tech plastic than the standard bushes.

XSS09 - XR/CRF50 FORK BUSHES

The next stage to improving the standard XR/CRF50 front end is to replace the stock steel fork legs with 1" taller heavy duty chromoly fork legs. There are 4 main advantages to using the heavy duty fork legs:

1. Way stronger than the mild steel Honda stock fork legs.
2. 1" taller - this helps to match the overall ride geometry if you have lifted the back end with a replacement shock.
3. Slightly larger diameter helps keep the front end snug and slop free when used with the heavy duty fork bushes.
4. Honda fork legs cost £110 to replace - heavy duty, precision machined and 1" taller fork legs only cost
£95 - NO CONTEST!!

if you are looking for even more performance then you can completely replace the front forks with a full on hydraulic suspension fork. Check out the Fast50s Speedfork for the ultimate true XR/CRF50 fork.

Lastly, don't forget to install a quality skid/glide plate under your new pride and joy so that your cases will live to play another day. The stockers will set you back over £75 PER SIDE and even more if you choose to have your mechanic change them out for you. In addition to taking a hit to the wallet, down-time sucks! Spend the approximately £55 on a quality skid plate. It is cheap and insurance and it will save you plenty of headaches!

ACH06 - XR/CRF50 SKIDPLATE

Speed and Power
Now that you have your trick mini feeling nice and comfortable, you are probably craving more power so that you can clear the triples or blast through the whoops section? You are, aren't you?! Sounds like it is time for a little motor tuning! Motor tuning can run the spectrum from mild to wild. There are many stages of engine tuning for your minibike and these are a few of them:

STAGE 1	STAGE 2	STAGE 3	OPTIONS

FAST50S SPEEDPIPE. Exhaust pipe and air filter. The best bolt on power upgrade for the 50cc engine by far. Some pipes increase power in different areas. The Fast50s Speed pipe is all about mid-range power, just where you want the grunt for exciting corners and getting over the jumps. The air filter helps increase air flow to match your performance pipe. MORE INFO	MBP 85cc FULL POWER KIT. Larger bore cylinder and piston, bigger carb and a performance camshaft will add plenty of power to your standard engine while utilising the stock Honda cylinder head. MORE INFO	MBP 110cc BIG VALVE KIT. Same as Stage 2 with the addition of a longer stroke crank and a bigger valved head for massive grunt on your minibike. MORE INFO	TAKAGAWA RACING IGNITION. Replace the stock ignition with a lightweight racing version to really make it rev like a full size crosser. MORE INFO