just looking for comments on getting my son a bike to learn on. I waslooking at the 2 bikes above. Not sure if he would be happy with the less powerful 4 stroke or the 2 stroke suzuki....

Well the suzy 2-stroke isn't exaclty powerful. I'd guess that they are both pretty close in the hp department. ISn't the jr80 an automatic with shift. I know the xR80 is a hand clutch. Seems it would be easier to just start him out on the clutch right away. They learn super fast!

My son has ridden both. The jr80 is a manual clutch also. This is a very old rm80 motor and it is quite a bit faster than the xr80.

john: for the very first bike i think the xr80 would be a better choice. the jr80/ds80 is a manual clutch (like the xr) and the motor is a bit faster but i would think your son would grow out of the jr faster than the xr (due to the jr's smaller size). plus, the smooth power delivery of the xr will be easier for junior to handle. have you thought about the xr100? the bike is a bit taller than the 80's but it has larger wheels (19/16),as opposed to the 14/17 combo on the ds/xr80, which will handle the terrain better. the 100 would also be a bike that he could grow into and maybe keep longer than 6 months to a year. (i have no idea how big your son is but i know that i would have saved my dad a bunch of money if i my first bike would have been a xr100 instead of buying the 80 and then six months later selling it because I needed a larger bike) another thought, if your son is planning on riding motorcross or getting a two-stroke mxer in the future it might be better for him to go ahead and get used to the two stroke power of the jr80.

will

My son had the JR80 and was learning fast. The bike is quite zippy, has 5 speed with clutch, and is pretty reliable. The XR80 is much bigger/heavier and suits a bigger more experienced rider.

The JR80 is a great little bike for a beginner, my boy was on tip toes when he started on it.

Yeah my friend had the same arguement going everyone told him go for the XR but the JR was a much better deal money wise I told him there was nothin wrong with the little JR. He bought it (the JR80) and his kid is as happy as Larry and its been very reliable. It has to be cause he's no mechanic.