We generally prefer to get our backcountry adventures through human-powered means, but being true Alaskans we are not averse to firing up our mechanical friends on occasion. With our nine-year-old Littleflogger tagging along, we were looking for a way to safely introduce him to power toys, and the Razor Dirt Quad SX McGrath was just the ticket.
The Dirt Quad SX is a small electric quad inspired by pro racer Jeremy McGrath. It hits a max speed of about eight MPH, so you can sprint after your little speedracer even if – OK, when – s/he puts the hammer down. We first deployed the SX when winter was still hanging around, and it was great to watch the little guy start to appreciate the joys of spinning donuts in the street – under close supervision and with a helmet, of course!
The SX maintains its charge for half an hour to 45 minutes depending on usage, and it will support a child up to 120lbs. The seat is comfortable, steering is responsive, and the build quality overall is quite good. There are tube bumpers front and rear that double as handles, which is handy as there is no reverse gear. A twist throttle on the right smoothly delivers power, and a brake handle on the left reins it back in through a beefy rear disc. It charges overnight by plugging into a normal 2-prong power outlet.
The only thing we'd swap out would be the 12 inch tires, which at the recommended pressure don't provide the greatest traction on anything loose. On normal roads and hard pack offroads they're fine if you run them lower than recommended; we didn't throw a bead or anything, but knobbies would be a nice option. At the end of the day it's great to see kids getting some wheel time and learning to make the links between throttle, steering and braking without worrying about them being able to hurt themselves too much. They'll have plenty of time for that later!