Kids and dirtbikes question
03-12-2004, 06:33 AM
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Kids and dirtbikes question
OK, here is the question of the week..... My son is 3 years old and rides a bicycle, rides electric 4 wheelers, etc very well. I bought him a Suzuki jr50 last week and installed big training wheels, bought him full motocross gear and took him out in the back yard. He knows how to start the bike, how to use the brakes and throtlle, and know how to shut it off. He proceeds to ride slowly around the yard with me by his side for a while. Soon enough he is riding around the yard cautiously and using the brakes, taking the bike out of gear and shutting it off. No problems, he rides until dark with no incidents.
Next day we go out in the yard again, he rides for a few hours and his speeds stat to increase. I have the throttle limiter all the way in with the stop nut removed but because he is so small it still moves pretty well. I tell him to slow down but he liks to do things like skid up to me, etc. He is really doing well and burning all over the place but steadily increases his speed until I have to stop him and reprimand him. All good.
Few days later I take him to my mom's house in the country because she has a big fenced in yard with an elevated drain field in the side yard. he does very well and burns a tank of gas but again he is increasing his speeds to the point that I have to stop him and make him slow down. Soon enough he has created a track around the house that results in him getting a good long run at the end of the drain field where he jumps the damn thing! He doesnt jump very high or far but he is only 3 !! I have to slow him down again. Shortly thereafter I tell him to stop the bike because he is riding too fast and he refuses..... I have to grab the handlebars as he tries to get by me and of course he busts ***. Nothing big just fell off the side. He gets up and brushes himself off and says that he will never do that again. He takes a break. He wants to ride again before we leave so I let him. Again he is starting to really haul *** and jump the drain field, to the point that the whole bike is flying in the air. I gain tell him to slow down and he does. He eventually makes a mistake and crosses the drain field in a perpendicular direction and hits the fence. It was pretty ugly. The bike actually stuck the front wheel under the fence. When I ran to him his first words were " I broke the fence!!" , sure enough he pulled it loose. He got a nice rasberry on his shoulder that he loves to show to people and tell about his big crash.
Today he wants to ride in the back yard again. OK, no problem, we get the bike out and he starts doing laps. Faster and faster until I tell him to slow down. He does. The out of the blue he hauls *** staright at me, turns at the last second and runs right in to a palm tree on the side yard. I couldnt believe it. Of course my wife and the nanny see the whole thing and start ****ting bricks. he hits, goes over the bars and lands on his head. It was pretty ugly. He got the wind knocked out him but otherwise was fine. In fact he wanted to keep riding so I put his helmet back on and turned him loose. I was afraid that if I made a big deal out of the crash he would be traumatized. He rode around for a few minutes and said that he was done. I gave him a full look over and he has a few scrapes but says he is not sore. He wants to ride more!!! I said no, and put the bike away because we were kinda questioning whether I am being stupid letting him ride at such a young age.
Question for the parents or experienced in this area.... Am I doing this wrong?? At what age did you let your kids ride?? Did they wreck alot? Did yiour wife get upset??
I raced motocross for years and have seen kids a year older than him at the track jumping little doubles!!!
Next day we go out in the yard again, he rides for a few hours and his speeds stat to increase. I have the throttle limiter all the way in with the stop nut removed but because he is so small it still moves pretty well. I tell him to slow down but he liks to do things like skid up to me, etc. He is really doing well and burning all over the place but steadily increases his speed until I have to stop him and reprimand him. All good.
Few days later I take him to my mom's house in the country because she has a big fenced in yard with an elevated drain field in the side yard. he does very well and burns a tank of gas but again he is increasing his speeds to the point that I have to stop him and make him slow down. Soon enough he has created a track around the house that results in him getting a good long run at the end of the drain field where he jumps the damn thing! He doesnt jump very high or far but he is only 3 !! I have to slow him down again. Shortly thereafter I tell him to stop the bike because he is riding too fast and he refuses..... I have to grab the handlebars as he tries to get by me and of course he busts ***. Nothing big just fell off the side. He gets up and brushes himself off and says that he will never do that again. He takes a break. He wants to ride again before we leave so I let him. Again he is starting to really haul *** and jump the drain field, to the point that the whole bike is flying in the air. I gain tell him to slow down and he does. He eventually makes a mistake and crosses the drain field in a perpendicular direction and hits the fence. It was pretty ugly. The bike actually stuck the front wheel under the fence. When I ran to him his first words were " I broke the fence!!" , sure enough he pulled it loose. He got a nice rasberry on his shoulder that he loves to show to people and tell about his big crash.
Today he wants to ride in the back yard again. OK, no problem, we get the bike out and he starts doing laps. Faster and faster until I tell him to slow down. He does. The out of the blue he hauls *** staright at me, turns at the last second and runs right in to a palm tree on the side yard. I couldnt believe it. Of course my wife and the nanny see the whole thing and start ****ting bricks. he hits, goes over the bars and lands on his head. It was pretty ugly. He got the wind knocked out him but otherwise was fine. In fact he wanted to keep riding so I put his helmet back on and turned him loose. I was afraid that if I made a big deal out of the crash he would be traumatized. He rode around for a few minutes and said that he was done. I gave him a full look over and he has a few scrapes but says he is not sore. He wants to ride more!!! I said no, and put the bike away because we were kinda questioning whether I am being stupid letting him ride at such a young age.
Question for the parents or experienced in this area.... Am I doing this wrong?? At what age did you let your kids ride?? Did they wreck alot? Did yiour wife get upset??
I raced motocross for years and have seen kids a year older than him at the track jumping little doubles!!!
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03-12-2004, 07:05 AM
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I'm having flashbacks! My son,Dano , (Nelems Marine) also got a JR50 Suzuki when he was 3---homemade training wheels and all.Soon after his 4th b'day we learned to jump terrace rows in the pasture and soon after he was sporting a broken collarbone!He was right back on it till he got it right(Dano was the only one NOT traumatized by the crash).Now he is 28 years old with a family & he races around in new Formulas &38ZR Donzis with Magicfloat.
