My 13 1/2 year old son wants a 450 four-wheeler…

The size of the 4-wheeler isn't that big a deal. It's more about their ability to operate a wheeler safely. A 250 can jack a kid up same as a 450 if they don't know what they're doing.

Compare the weights of the two and decide which one you would rather try to lift off of yourself if you dropped into a hidden abandoned beaver hole opening in tall grass and got pinned under it like I did. I was lucky and was able to get my leg free but the broken ribs took months to heal. The gas that was leaking out of the tank was running over my leg and had it been on the right side of the machine where the exhaust is located it could have been a hot fire.

I have a 13yr old - fairly big for his age. We have 450/500 nad 250 hondas. I let him ride the big ones in the pasture on flat ground supervised and with restrictions, but the 250 is a much better fit for him. The others are really too big for a 13 yr old to properly control.

Depends on the type of kid he is. At 13 I broke my color bone on a 110 3-wheeler. At 14 I broke my back on a 200 4-Wheeler. I had a 80 dirt bike that never hurt me bad. I pushed them all to the limits because I was a bit of a reckless boy that liked extreme things. If my dad had gotten me anything more powerful to learn on I would be dead or paralyzed.

Now if your son is not a daredevil and is cautious with power equipment then you may be okay with a 450. If it were me, I would get him something small to learn his limits on. A Honda Recon or an old Honda 300 would be great.

Today 450's are considered mid level power and all you really need to do anything in the realm of hunting, trail riding, and chores. If you want to go up to really aggressive 27"+ tires and do the mud riding thing then you need 500+ level power with other mods.

quote:

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utility terrain vehicle

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UTV =/= ATV

You must be my neighbor

Well at his age I'd go with the lightest bike that's easiest push off you.

My ten year old rides my 250 and he's 5 foot and 110 lbs.

It gets me around and it's light.

Smothering from being crushed is a real thing. Can his buddies get it off of him if he flips it.... and they will eventually.

I actually like the klx better for him as he can get that off him himself.

I agree with posters that it’s more about the kid than 4-wheeler. My grandkids started riding on their own at 6-7. A foreman and a rancher. But in a flat pasture where I cut a track into with bushhog. Lots of turns so they couldn’t go fast and kept grass high to slow them down if they went off track. Teaching them to shift up and down and when is hardest. I could watch from front porch and took it away for an hour or so if they broke any rules. They now get to ride outside pasture and in the woods as they earned my trust. But when they get to be 12-15 they actually need more supervision as my sons have filled them doing stupid teen chit. Busted bones and frames. Too much testosterone and too headstrong wanting to be the challenging buck. The young ones are easier So that’s my input.

Take him ride and make sure he’s capable of driving on his own, not saying you don’t. My OPINION is he’s more than old enough. At that age I had a 250r that I ended up damn near snapping in half and had already destroyed a 250sx. Got a foreman 500 when I was 15, not much had changed as far as how good at handling a bike I was. My mom just wanted me on something with 4 wheels.

It’s all on how long he’s been driving, I have a 9 yr old cousin that drives her dads 700 grizzly up and down the cane field roads by herself. My 8 year old isn’t far behind her, only she works a foot shift better and I tell her don’t go over 4th gear.