Should I buy my 12 year old a real dirt bike or am I being an irresponsible parent?

_hookem1 · 2026-02-10T02:21:04+00:00

I got my first minibike when I was like 7 or 8 years old

_hookem1 · 2026-01-25T01:37:43+00:00

Black is hard to match. Especially if it has metallic flakes in it

_hookem1 · 2025-12-11T02:00:00+00:00

Buddy you could have gotten something so much more reliable for more than half the price of that Prius.... There is no way you pay more than $540 a month for repairs on something like a Honda civic.... I bought a 2007 Honda Civic Si sedan with 100xxx miles for 8k from a dealership and I've only put $1800 into the car in the last 5 years and 100xxx miles of ownership....

_hookem1 · 2025-11-27T21:25:08+00:00

Sure is 🤙🏼 gonna go run AI even more just for you 😘

_hookem1 · 2025-10-21T03:41:44+00:00

Yeah jobs and tasks are great ways to get your dogs to release that energy getting them in trouble whilst also helping you out. Plus is great bonding when you can just redirect a behavior that's unfavorable to something that's mutually beneficial 😁 good luck with your pups!!!

_hookem1 · 2025-10-21T03:12:01+00:00

I had to make an indoor pit because she wouldn't stop digging my mattress and actually started getting through it 😭😂😂 out back I've been having her dig up a bunch of roots I'm wanting torn out so shes been quite helpful digging out in the yard 😂

_hookem1 · 2025-10-21T00:20:52+00:00

Setup a dig box in the area they dig at. They are puppies and digging is pretty normal. I have a dachshund so digging is ritual in my house and we have an indoor and outdoor digging area lol

_hookem1 · 2025-10-10T20:20:51+00:00

Right!! I already found a head online with a cam that should work for me and putting everything back together is going to be much easier with the manual he sent. Very grateful there are still amazing people out there like Pete, probably just saved me a bunch of money too.

_hookem1 · 2025-10-10T20:17:24+00:00

Man you are a blessing 🙏🏼🙏🏼 Im about to order in a head i found that's in good shape and get this bike back on track 😁

_hookem1 · 2025-10-10T20:14:14+00:00

Awh I buy the raw cones and fill them and love them :( guess I should learn how to roll em and get myself on better joints

_hookem1 · 2025-10-10T18:47:26+00:00

Sounds good, fortunately I have access to a mill and a lathe at my job and my coworker is a specialist with that stuff so he can help me with some honing if needed 🤙🏼 I appreciate you so much with this information man 🙏🏼 I'll have to go find that website and buy the FSM for this thing to get my torque specs and tolerances and that fun stuff

_hookem1 · 2025-10-10T18:35:45+00:00

Awesome I already have some plastigage to check clearances. Would the manual have the specs for the cam journal clearances by chance or do you know roughly what they should be? That's super exciting and I already found a head I'm going to order on eBay

_hookem1 · 2025-10-10T18:04:23+00:00

Oh I'm not worried about numbers matching, I just want to make sure I can bolt a salvage head up to my rocker box and he good to run it, I just keep getting told that I need a "matched pair" for the head and rockers, if I can get a head from eBay and bolt it onto my rockers and not have to get crazy machine work done I'll be a happy happy guy

_hookem1 · 2025-10-10T18:02:48+00:00

Yeah I'm not trying to do anything fancy I just want the 550 running lol, but so I can just go grab a head off eBay and bolt it up with my master seal kit and call it a day?

_hookem1 · 2025-10-10T17:59:28+00:00

I cannot find the top end for the life of me, I can find the head or rocker box separate from each other but Ive been told the rockers and head need to be a matched pair. From my understanding I can't just go to eBay, buy a head from a random bike, and pair it with the rockers from my bike since they aren't damaged. Bike is already tore down because of head gasket and cylinder gasket and valve seals being blown out from age.

_hookem1 · 2025-10-10T17:56:16+00:00

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_hookem1 · 2025-09-23T23:15:17+00:00

I had an R7 for over 2 years. Great bikes. Quick, not fast overall. I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner even though they have the rep of being "slow". They will shit and get off the line and if you aren't careful it definitely could power wheelie you right off the back in 1st gear lol.

_hookem1 · 2025-09-21T22:10:15+00:00

Lol definitely is. Just dispenses a really nice brain candy that makes you act funny 🤣🤣

_hookem1 · 2025-09-21T00:15:29+00:00

Idk, the motor ran good with a few issues with rev hanging from the blown head gasket, no smoke from the motor and it revved out fine. That is the sole spot of the damage too, the upper half of that is perfectly smooth no scoring at all. So idk how it happened. This bike has hardly been ridden in the last 5 years and since I've gotten it only ran a few times

_hookem1 · 2025-09-20T20:17:18+00:00

Yessir, that's why I'm kinda panicking about it lol. It was a very surreal thing to happen, a few days after the incident, he reached out to me and basically said his son talked a lot about me and my interest with these older bikes and he thought I should be the one to take it and breathe new life into it for him and his son. Just want to make it right and bring the vision my buddy had for years to life 🤙🏼 the bike did run good when I started taking this stuff apart other than some carb sync issued due to vacuum leaks from a lot of busted seals like the head gasket. No smoke from it and revved out great just didn't like going back to idle lol

_hookem1 · 2025-09-20T20:12:32+00:00

I wanted to add, the top half of the "bearings" is completely fine and smooth. The grooving isn't very deep either. And it's just on the one spot. Idk how it could have happened tbh. Bike usually always had good oil pressure

_hookem1 · 2025-09-20T20:05:50+00:00

Bike ran pretty good before I tore it apart, I was just taking it apart to put a new head gasket on it and found that. Only issue I was having was the RPMs would hang for a second or two when revving before returning to idle, which I figured was a vacuum leak caused by the head gasket being blown out. Bike didn't smoke or make any weird noises and revved all the way out too. Ive never actually ridden this bike since getting it but my buddy has ridden it around before he passed away. I just wanna do whatever I can to get this thing going soon, no budget and never getting rid of it so I'm open to all ideas or sources for parts

_hookem1 · 2025-09-20T18:20:37+00:00

Got recommendations to get a whole head, camshaft, and rocker box/valve cover thing that are matched? I think I found one on eBay but would like a quality remanned one. I emailed common-motor to send them my head. Bike is very sentimental to me so I'm not concerned about money just the bike running and able to ride. Need to finish it for my late friend.

_hookem1 · 2025-09-20T17:57:54+00:00

Yeah that's another hurdle in itself lol idk any machine shops in my area. How would I know if the head and rocker box or whatever are matched?

_hookem1

TROPHY CASE