There comes a moment in every grom’s riding journey when the training wheels, literal or metaphorical, come off, and the world suddenly feels a whole lot bigger. For Jax, that moment has finally rolled in. After graduating from his auto 50s, electric and petrol alike, and spending the last couple of years testing more bikes than most adults do in a lifetime, he’s now ready for the next rite of passage: a 50 with gears. No clutch to worry about, no complicated coordination, just three gears. And if there’s any bike that represents this universal childhood step, it’s the legendary Yamaha TT-R50.

The Yamaha TT-R50 has been the faithful gateway to big-bike life for what feels like forever. Entire families have cycled through them, older siblings pass them down, cousins borrow them on holidays, neighbours fix them up for the next kid in line. They’re the blue workhorse of childhood, thrashed mercilessly, crashed often, barely washed, yet somehow always ready to fire up for another lap. Sure, it’s dated. But it’s bulletproof, it’s familiar, and it’s still the most common first “real” bike in Australia for a reason.

What makes the 2025 Yamaha TT-R50 perfect for Jax at this stage is that it steps him up without overwhelming him. It lets kids learn gears the easy way, developing timing and mechanical understanding before they have to think about a clutch.

In this first instalment, Jax will tell us exactly what it’s like to ride a geared bike for the very first time, how the TT-R50 fits a young rider in 2025, and whether Yamaha’s mini blue legend still earns its place as the ultimate childhood stepping stone. Then, in our follow-up article, we’ll take you behind the scenes on what it’s really like teaching your kid to use gears… and whether our sanity survives the process.

Why is it so good?

The 2025 Yamaha TT-R50 is powered by a 49cc air-cooled, 4-stroke SOHC two-valve engine. It runs a 36.0 x 48.6 mm bore and stroke with a 9.5:1 compression ratio and uses a wet-sump lubrication system. Fuel is delivered through a VM11 carburettor, and ignition is handled by a CDI system. The bike starts via an electric starter now and carries a 3.1-litre fuel tank. Power is fed through a constant-mesh 3-speed transmission and final drive is via chain.

The TT-R50 is built around a steel tube backbone frame. Up front, it uses telescopic forks with 96 mm of suspension travel, while the rear runs a swingarm setup offering 71 mm of travel. Both the front and rear brakes are drum units.

The bike rolls on 10-inch tube-type tyres at both ends. It has a seat height of 555 mm, a wheelbase of 925 mm, and 135 mm of ground clearance. With all fluids onboard, the 2025 Yamaha TT-R50 has a wet weight of 57 kg.

Rite of passage

Jax is around the 25-something-kilo mark, and roughly 125cm tall. In other words, prime TT-R50 size. He’s ridden everything from PW50s to CRF50s, YCFs and enough electric bikes to power a small suburb, so he had plenty to compare it to.

Throttle feel
Working with kids is tricky to get feedback out of but as Jax is my son, he opens up a bit more. “The throttle isn’t jerky,” he said straight away. His YCF snaps hard off the bottom, and he noticed immediately that the TT-R50 felt smoother. “It doesn’t make my hands go fuzzy,” was his exact wording. The power comes on in a steady, predictable way, which made it easier for him to hold a line without sudden surges of acceleration.

Power and gearing
He told us the motor “goes really fast,” but what stood out most was how quickly he understood the gearing.

When we asked him what he did on the hills, he said, “Change down into first gear,” and he was right. The gears are well spaced, and he used them exactly how Yamaha intended. For most of the ride he selected second, even taking off in second because the spread is wide enough for it to pull away cleanly without bogging.

“When we go fast on the fire road, I just put it in third,” he said proudly after one of the straights. For steeper climbs he clicked into first and had no trouble driving up with very little run up. “It just went up,” he said, surprised that he didn’t have to fight for momentum like he sometimes does on the PW50.

The only thing he struggled with was getting his foot under the shifter. His toes are too small to hook the lever properly. “My foot keeps slipping off,” he told us, a bit frustrated at first. Eventually he figured out how to use his heel to lift the lever. “I can do it with my heel,” he said, showing off his new technique. We will cover this more in the next feature about teaching kids to use gears.

Suspension stability
The suspension caught his attention too. Compared to the PW50, he noticed immediately how much smoother the rear felt. “It didn’t bounce me off,” he said after flying down the long driveway with rolling bumps everywhere. The rear linkage style setup kept him planted, and he never once felt like he was getting bucked or deflected.

Starting the bike
He quickly got into a routine: key on, button pressed, ride away. “That’s easy,” he said the first time he started it by himself. Later in the day he learned that sometimes he needed a little throttle. “Now I do the throttle too,” he told us, as if he had just unlocked a cheat code.

Picking it up
When he tipped it over and we arrived to check on him, he had already picked it up. “It’s not heavy,” he said. “Kind of easy.” The low weight meant he could sort himself out without relying on us to rescue him.

Braking
Learning the rear brake pedal took a little concentration at first, but he adapted quickly. “I used the back brake lots,” he said. The drum brakes work fine for his speed, though he did mention, “Discs on the YCF do better skids.” Not wrong.

Other observations
He also pointed out, “I didn’t need the choke,” which made the process simpler for him. And throughout the entire test, the TT-R50 never overheated, stalled or flamed out. “It never stopped,” he said almost incredulously, as if a petrol bike behaving itself all day was a novelty after living with a fleet of electric machines.

THE TAKEAWAY FROM DAY ONE

For Jax’s size and experience, the TT-R50 fit him well. The air-cooled engine is straightforward, the gearbox was easy to understand- and he adapted to shifting far quicker than expected. The suspension kept him planted on rough farm tracks, nothing deflected weirdly, and he stayed confident even at speed. This first day was about letting him ride it naturally, and it ticked every box for a first-geared-bike experience.

The next instalment will dig deeper into the teaching kids to use gears side of things, what worked, what didn’t, and how to keep your sanity intact while they learn.

2025 Yamaha TT-R50 Specifications

Engine & Drivetrain

  • Engine Type: Air-cooled, 4-stroke, SOHC, 2-valve
  • Displacement: 49 cc
  • Bore x Stroke: 36.0 x 48.6 mm
  • Compression Ratio: 9.5:1
  • Lubrication System: Wet sump
  • Starter System: Electric
  • Fuel Tank Capacity: 3.1 L
  • Final Transmission: Chain
  • Transmission: Constant mesh 3-speed

Suspension

  • Front Suspension: Telescopic forks, 96 mm travel
  • Rear Suspension: Swingarm, 71 mm travel

Brakes & Tyres

  • Front Brake: Drum
  • Rear Brake: Drum
  • Front Tyre: 2.50-10 4PR (tube type)
  • Rear Tyre: 2.50-10 4PR (tube type)

Dimensions & Weight

  • Seat Height: 555 mm
  • Wheelbase: 925 mm
  • Ground Clearance: 135 mm
  • Wet Weight: 57 kg

Price and contacts

  • RRP: $2499
  • Browser: yamaha-motor.com.au
  • Warranty: 6 months