Color Me Jealous: Honda Unveils Race Bike for Lil' Tikes
Honda and Moriwaki Engineering have unveiled a race-prepped bike intended for the youth-oriented USGPRU road racing series, and frankly, I'm a little jealous. After all, my childhood was spent exploring the neighborhood on two non-motorized wheels, and despite some casual minibike dabbling it wasn't until much later that I formally became part of the motorcycling crowd.
Lucky kids will be competing on the purpose-built, $11,699 MD250H road racer you see here (which, incidentally, is priced just above Honda's 2008 CBR1000RR). The pint-sized cycle features a twin spar aluminum-frame, single radial-mount front disc brake, Pro-Link single-shock rear suspension, lightweight wheels and tires, and works-style welded aluminum fuel tank. Blank-slate bodywork is ready for graphics (or Harry Potter stickers), and the 249cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder is based on Honda's CRF250X engine.
Honda is offering a $110,000 contingency program for would-be kid racers, and I can already hear the screams echoing through suburbia: "I wanna go faaast!"
Photo © HondaClick to enlarge
Comments
Mixed on this. I think being up and about is better than being a couch potato, but i still think kids should propel themselves with their own legs rather than relying upon a motor. This of course comes from a cyclist first, motorcyclist second guy.
Scottie,
I hear ya… on the one hand, it would’ve been cool to get an early start on riding, but on the other, I would have:
1. Probably gotten a lot lazier (not that motorized riding isn’t athletic, but it is a lot easier to twist the wrist than to pump the legs.)
2. Possibly broken a few bones along the way.
3. Not appreciated the journey as much. I used to occasionally cycle up a local mountain with my buddies, and there was no greater feeling than earning the 40 mph ride back down the hill… like that was safe
I’ve still got the 18 speed Univega I rode in high school just before I got my license, but it’s embarrassingly underused.
Basem
Basem…I think that’s a blast. If it inspires a few people to go road racing in a safe organized place, so much the better. I started at 16 and sometimes I wish I’d started even sooner. Moriwaki has a long history with Honda (they made some very trick parts for VTR’s…none of which I could I afford). I bet it’s fun to ride!
The kids who are good enough to be competitive would probably be cycling too. To train for roadracing.
Hmmm… I guess it’s an attempt at getting some more grass-roots involvement in roadracing. Although, $12K for a race prepped bike is probably more than what many young guns and their parental sponsors can afford.
The move to four-strokes might have the unattended side effect of pricing itself out of the grass-roots youth level. I know a lot of budding roadracers who got their start on YSR50 minibikes than moved into the 125GP two-strokes like a Honda RS125.
You could get a used RS125 for a few grand + another couple K for spares. The truly fast kids would even be competitive.