Super Mini Enduro

The glaring missing segment I see in the off-road industry is the lack of a good, competition bike for enduro/off-road that fits a young teenager or smaller woman rider. In motocross the 85cc class and supermini class are where you see huge gains in a riders progression. The bikes come off the showroom with decent enough suspension and power for a competitive motocross rider to progress as they continue to grow bigger. They are purpose built for exactly that though, motocross. The off-road world has been left with either forcing a kid to ride their high revving two stroke through the woods as they learn to navigate the terrain and obstacles all while a lot of time still growing into the seat height of the bike, making it difficult to touch when they get into a predicament, or alternatively, they’re subject to riding an outdated air cooled bike that can be sluggish, under sprung and cheap build construction often times makes them heavy. So until one of the OEMs steps up and builds a bike for this market segment, we are put in a position where we have to create our own Super Mini Enduro.

Helping a buddy out getting the right bike for his daughter we’ve landed on the following solution. She was previously riding a TTR125 and now that she has the hang of the clutch, this (pictured above) KX100 is the replacement ride. The KX100 was a market place find and somewhat leads to supporting my claim that the market is missing out. The previous owner outfitted this bike with a large tank, skid plate, pipe guard and some wrap around bark busters. There is also a mount on the head tube and top of the bar clamps that show the bike was once equipped with a stabilizer as well. Now a lot of this stuff you would see people buy and add to their bikes even on an enduro or cross country model, but what it does show is demand. To continue this direction on the bike however we also need to look at the performance. The bike does run well for what its built for, but lacks the low and mid range that becomes so critical in the more technical off-road space.

Doing my best Benny Bloss impression on the little bike.

So just as with all the bolt-ons the bike already came with, we turn to the aftermarket and I ordered in a flywheel weight from Steahly Off Road. With a few weight options to choose from we decided to go right in the middle with the 10oz option. The flywheel weight came with the weight itself as well as a new nut to secure it to the crank and flywheel. After reading the instructions, the install went quick and easy. simply pull off the left hand cover, inspect for moisture or oil that may show if there are any other problems arising and once verified to be in good shape, simply remove the flywheel nut, spin the Steahly flywheel weight into the flywheel the same way you would use a puller, then put the new provided nut on, torque, install cover and test.

This made a very noticeable difference in low end performance. A back to back comparison of popping the clutch and keeping the bike alive was proof enough that we made a step in the right direction. In stock form when initiating a wheelie it takes a lot of clutch and throttle regulation to try to get the front wheel into the air and from there the next challenge is trying to even keep the bike alive. After the flywheel weight was installed, it not only became easier to start the wheelie, but the bike no longer wanted to die out as you stayed on the throttle. We then decided to take the bike out of the driveway and onto the trails for a real world test. For background information I’m 150lbs and am probably a little big for this test (although with my 30” inseam I did like being able to touch for a change), but that didn’t stop me from wanting to ride. The bike can now carry itself over obstacles much more efficiently and takes less rider/clutch input on slow moving maneuvers. In 5 miles of tight trees and rocky trails up and down sandstone draws I can attest to only one bike stall, and I do believe that was rider error.

The Flywheel weight made a very noticeable improvement on the bike being able to lift during clutch ups and was much easier to keep the engine alive when clutching at mid or lower RPMs.

What do I take away from this little off-road modified KX100? I believe the market needs a dedicated kids off-road bike. Just as a full size XC model comes with a larger tank, different gearing, more linear power curve, more sidewall on a rear tire and at minimum some flag hand guards, there should be a supermini version as well. If there is something to gain from the KX100 however, it would be a higher horsepower engine to supply a little more torque. My solution to an absolutely dominate 14-16 year old or a wife bike class would be something close to the ergonomics of the supermini chassis with a 19” front rim and a 16” rear rim, but maybe a purpose built swing arm that allows for a little more room to run a taller, fatter tire spec’d for off-road, a larger fuel tank to be able to ride with bigger bikes on group rides, a kick stand, flag hand guards and top it off with a 125 with a 6 speed. This would give someone like the KTM group or Beta and others another run of production for their 125cc engines and that could potentially bring the cost down where a bike like this could come to market at a reasonable price.

I’m probably just a little too big for this bike, but I could say the opposite for the full sized bikes. It was nice however to realize the control and maneuverability I had when I outweighed the bike. This must be how some of my friends feel throwing their bikes around.

How do you think a bike like this would do? Would you build something different? Is there enough demand? Does the encroaching electric bike segment fill this void with the ability to regulate power with the touch of a button? Am I making a mountain out of a molehill because I’m short?