does your kid know what to do if throttle sticks?

[tri-mx'er]

Hi all,
My 6 year old had quite a scare this weekend (so did I). We went trail riding in a new area, and I as usual I had given the kids a good talking about being safe, especially over jumps and around blind turns. Well, a little while into the ride my little guy went up a nice little hill that had some small jumps on it thet you couldn't see what was behind them. I was behind him and yelled at him to slow down, but as usual he couldn't hear me. There was other kids and adults in front, we were bringing up the rear. He made it up the hill fine, and on top was a nice sandy jeep trail that luckily was pretty straight and simple.
A few hundred yards later I though I heard a voice, and was trying to figure out what it was. His older brother was quite a ways in front of him, so I figured he couldn't be yellling at him to stop roosting him (his older brother is known to mess with him). I sensed he had a stuck throttle and rode up next to him. Poor little guy did indeed have a stuck throttle and was really in a panic. I hollered for him to hold the kill button. I could see that he was trying, but he wouldn't hold it until it stopped, and of course the bike would accelerate again as soon as he released it. He was also braking, he would have been really flying if he wasn't. I could see that he was thinking about just running it off the road and into the bushes, but that wouldn't have been good. I reached down and grabbed his bars, and got my hand on the button. This didn't last long, and we both went down.
Thankfully, no one was hurt. His bike was entangled with mine and revving to the moon. I threw him away from it and killed his bike. Boy, he was scared and pissed!!
When we gathered ourselves together and realized no one was hurt, I started looking at his bike to see what happened. The throttle slide released itself after the bike died, and I couldn't get it to stick again, but I couldn't let him ride it back to the truck without knowing what had happened. I got out some tools and went through his carb, throttle, and cable. I found nothing out of the ordinary, and concluded that a grain of sand must have made it past the filter and wedged itself in the slide.
I didn't really expect to find anything wrong, as i am particularly anal about bike maintenance and safety. This really was a fluke. I thought about what I should have done, and although we had discussed this before, we had never really done a stuck throttle drill.
I am ashamed of myself that the little guy didn't know exactly what to do. I didn't know what exactly to do either for that matter. Maybe I should have told him to bail off, but I know I didn't yell to brake harder. His Husky would have bogged down very slow if he would have braked very hard, and would have stopped if he had held the kill button until it quit.
Hind sight is 20-20, and the only thing I could think to do is to have the kids to practice for this, and make absolutely sure they understand what to do if it ever happens again. Thats the reason for the long post. Just wanted to share my experience so maybe someone else won't have such a scare. We were very lucky.
Rich

 

[pyrofreak]

The throttle stuck on my '90 YZ80 while my sisters bf was riding it. He was showing off and wheelied down a hill. When he let off the throttle the bike didnt slow down, and he was in 3rd or 4th, and he went 15ft down the hill and missed my sister brand new sunfire by inches and dumped the bike about 2 feet before a large junk pile by the barn. He held the kill switch from underneath the side of the bike. He bnruised his ribs pretty bad, and broke the clutch lever. He's paying for the lever but he's not gonna be riding my bike too much more, and thats was HIS choice. He has ridden alot before, but even HE panicked. He admitting that he didnt even think of grabbing the clutch and braking.

 

[tri-mx'er]

I was just looking through the minibike forum for the first time in over a year, and was chuckling to myself about how the same questions are being asked. I was very surprised to see my son's stuck throttle story on the front page! I had to read it again, and take my own advice! Its time for another drill with the kids, and myself for that matter. I don't know if I would be able to remain calm if the 450's throttle ever stuck.

I was at the track a while back, and one of my older boy's friend's KTM65 had the throttle stick while approaching the biggest jump on the track, one that only 250's and a couple 125's clear. the little guy went 2/3 of the way, and had a pretty good crash. Luckily he wasnt hurt. He has told his dad to sell his bike, and has no plans of riding again. Its sad, he's such a nice little boy, and was one of the lucky ones who was in it for the fun with the whole family riding bikes.

BTW, my little guy doesnt have the Husky anymore, he has the KX65 now. But he doesnt have a lot of interest in riding anymore. I really think his bad experience with the throttle has a lot to do with this. That and a couple good little crashes have him a little gun shy.

Rich