Has he counted the rear sprocket yet? he says stock 36. . .
Ken, its good your trying to keep kids safe. but your OP
"17-18x40-16x36 gears if you are using stock crank and techno circuit pipe" is miss leading, if this kid does that, he wont have the acceleration he wants and might be turned off even more. . .
while 17-18x40-16x36 is good gearing, its not for "off the line and
decent 25-30mph cruising maybe a little faster"