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We bought the Honda CRF100F new for our 13-year-old son to learn trail riding. We chose this model because we prefer Honda's durability and the bike had good features.
The bike was well-powered and scaled for our son. We had him sit on one at the store to be sure that the height was appropriate, and the Honda dealership sales representative was kind enough to let us lay it down to be sure he could lift it himself. It was a little heavy for him, but he quickly learned to lift it properly and keep it balanced. This is a very good-sized bike for a youth or a smaller adult about 5 1/2 feet tall.
The electric start was another feature that drew us to this model. We felt that our son would get less frustrated if he didn't have to kick the bike over to start it in addition to handling the choke and holding the brakes. We did have to repair the starter once when it was damaged, but otherwise it worked well and continuously. It was definitely helpful.
I was also very pleased with the braking system. The bike had excellent stopping ability and it certainly played a role in keeping my son safe while he learned.
The bike was amazingly durable. My son rode it on both groomed and wilderness trails for nearly three years, despite the fact that he was much too tall for it near the end. The bike always had plenty of power and held up well to many, many jumps, drops, falls and minor collisions. We only had to perform minor, usually cosmetic repairs; the structure and the engine rarely needed work.
We never had any trouble with the transmission whatsoever, unlike several of our friends who had other makes and models. The bike takes off very easily in first and will actually also take off in second, though with some laboring. Learning to know when to upshift, downshift and clutch on the bike was also helpful when my son was later learning to drive a car with manual transmission.
This motorcycle was an excellent learner bike for our son. It was easy to ride, durable and fun for him. We still have it and it still runs. I'd fully expect it to keep running for quite some time and we've talked about gifting it to a nephew or niece.
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