Getting/Keeping my kid interested in bikes

[KTM Mike]

I never thought i would face this problem - but my 9 year old just simply does not seem to like dirt bikes! To be honest, I think i made some mistakes early on (no...I was not the pushy little league dad yelling at him) So I am seeking the advice of others who may have already been down this path. Here is some back ground on what has taken place.

First - I am 100% totally obsessed with bikes (street and off road)- it is a huge part of who I am (and likely part of the problem...I have to much vested in my kid liking them to!)

Both my boys are somewhat timid - certainly not agressive. If you could call it that...the younger is the more aggressive one. Both are extremely good students - the youngest at 3rd grade easily does the 5th graders work.

My 9 yr old is a second child, his older brother now age 11 1/2. they started on bikes very very young - big brother at 3 1/2, little guy at 11 months old started riding in a sidecar...racked up nearly 40,000 miles in it up till about 2 years ago. Both boys ride with me on my VFR occasionaly do overnight trips together each summer.

Oldest got his first bike, a JR 50 age 5. really did not seem to click with him - although we always felt he did just fine - but he seemed rather afraid of the bike. He gave up rather quick... first mistake...we said "ok" how about a 4 wheeler at age 8.

Young one inherited the JR50 at age 6. Did super early on. Seemed to be an absolute natural on the bike. Very short time later (a few months) clearly the JR was not up to the task...got him a LEM LX2. Again..he did extremely well. Short while later he did his first (and only...mom just could not stand to see him race) race...got 7th place overall from 3 motos. He seemed pumped. We then did a fair bit of trail riding...kid did great...then one day his first real major get off - no injuries...but he took a big hit.

We backed off on the riding for quite a while...the next season came around on the LEM...his still did OK but it did seem his interest was not there.... he was outgrowing the LEM, got him a 1999 Polini X3 Standard about 1 year ago. Last summer he rode very little...he never asked to ride, when we would suggest a ride, no interest, we pratcially had to drag him out on it. Every time he did get out on it he really did seem to have a good time...smiles and grins, hard on the gas (kid seems to love riding WFO!) We have a super place to ride right at home (40 acres with woods and field trails). Last summer he had one decent get off...nothing much of one...all because he was charging harder and harder into a hard pack corner.. But last summer at most he went through 7 to 10 tanks full of gas on the bike.

So now the riding season is upon us...we talk to him about it...he seems no interest - says it just is not his thing...like say knitting would be for me. We convince him to ride ...again he gets right on it...seems to have a great time...I see him gasing it...enjoying WFO again...he even pulls up to the garage and asks me to join him on my bike (unfortunately it was down for repairs), i blast around with him on a quad for a bit. After the fact...he says..was not fun at all. Just aint his thing...

So i starting thinking...that Polini is a little screamer...its a MX bike - peaky little thing...narrow power band etc....little 10" tires and some what twitchy handling... certainly not a perfect mellow trail bike. Heck...if an adult were asking about a first bike, I would not point them to a RM125....perhaps that was part of the issue - the bike is a bit intimidating perhaps...

So here is what I am thinking about...I have a line on a 2000 (maybe 2001 not sure) Yamaha TT-R90 for a decent price (or so I think...is $900 a good price?) Its a trail bike - mellow power...bigger tires etc... We deliberatly back way off on encouraging the riding....occasionally "insist" on a few laps around the field as a family affair (all 4 of us out for a ride) ...occasional rides in the local trails...i spend more time riding two up with him on my KTM (not so sure how thats gonna work) to show him some of the fun we can have. He has agreed that perhaps this would be good. He seemed to perk up a bit and said "so its just a trail bike?", and liked the idea of more two up riding. He however reiterate...."dirt bikes just are not my thing"... We plan on the whole family coming along on most all of my enduro races this year, so he will continue to be exposed to bikes in that context as well.

So - any comments??? suggestions???? Have i just spoiled my kid with getting him what ever bike he needs such that he does not appreciate it? did he get scared with that big get off??? Do I just need to accept that dirt bikes just are not his thing...and move on to find some other common ground (not so easy for me to accept however...not much else exists for me as far as activities I have a passion for).

thanks for your thoughts!

(BTW - regardless of the outcome....looks like i will have a 1999 Polini X3 standard for sale...great shape...very little use :ugg:

 

[ACS]

I thought a bit before I would comment o this one but basically "He isnt having any fun.". You are pushing too hard and he feels it.

Find a local kid who likes to ride, might be older or younger, get them together and then disapear, go hide and let them have FUN. Dont insist, dont say anything, dont ask for feedback, dont push, the friend will. If hes having FUN he will be on the bike all the time. The TTR is a good idea but you might have to face it he just might like TV video games whatever.

He might be a great basketball player, a fantastic piano player. Who knows what he likes until he finds it. As a kid I was bike / car crazy yet both parents hated them and the car was function thats all. My mother still worries about me out on the bike. The boy and I are bike nuts (keeps me poor :whiner: ) but I will die if he wants a road bike at 17.


I really think that as your older one gave up you are probably just pushing the younger one too hard (You kinda say that anyway).

Remember they are individuals. I tell myself that all the time but he just WONT do what I want him to do........... ;) We are all guilty off it just be a bit gentler.

Good Luck PM me if you want

 

[KTM Mike]

ACS

Thanks for the support. You are right - i did push to hard to early on and did not let their interest develop naturally. Ironically our oldest is (very recently) begining to show a bit more interest - a few of his friends at school are now at least talking big about riding quads etc (I think one of his buddies memorizes dirt bike and quad magazines - he and I have GREAT conversations!)

Our youngest is indeed a good piano player, and spends TOO much time in front of a computer - we want the kids to have balance including "physicially active" pursuits. I think I will pick up that TTR (tonight in fact). I have since talked it over more with the kid - when i explained how it differs from his Polini (ie race oriented vs trail/play bike oriented) he seemed quite relieved...like it took off some pressure. I think that points out that some of the "pressure" he was feeling was about always going fast and racing etc... if the bike isnt a "race" bike...no real likeihood of racing. I hope the racing I do doesnt feed back into pressure on him though . time will tell.

Thanks again....any and all further comments appreciated!

(BTW - see the classifieds section for a nice Polini X3 for sale!)

 

[minifig-phil]

Hi

I feel for you. This is something that I have been fearing for a long time. I just got married and we’re planning to have kids in a couple of years. I want my kids (boys or girls) to be into bikes. I already bought a mini bike how’s that for optimism? I’ve been getting myself prepared for this just incase. So this is just what I’ve been thinking.

My parents never bought me a bike when I was young. I had to save up for my bike from a paper route. At 14 I bought a xr80 and a year later traded it in for a yz80. At 2 years of riding I was able to beat all my friends that have been riding for 5-7 years. I started racing schoolboy mx at 15 and had to stop a year later because I was way too short to ride a 125. I kind of got out of bikes and raced karts for a year then at 18 started straight into roadracing 3 years later won a national championship in Canada and had a racing career that spanned almost 10 years winning 4 other Canadian championships and almost (finished 2nd) in an American championship. I got very burned out from all the work, time and money that I quite and never even looked at a bike until this year (5 years later). I’ll tell you the fire is back burning hotter than ever. I bought my wife a bike that seems to really enjoy coming out riding with me.
Having friends that are interested is a very big key to staying interested that’s what I had and not feeling like I have to ride. You may not feel like you are pushing your kid but he might think that he has to do it so you’ll feel proud of him. Maybe if you just keep the bike in your garage and not mention it anymore he’ll begin to show interest especially if his big brother is starting to ride again and he doesn’t feel he has to.
You don’t have to be riding when your 5 years old to be really good when your older. If you have talent like your youngest sounds like he has it take no time at all to be a champion if he wants to.

 

[Brian]

My parents have never had problems to get me on abike, it's my life! I had my first bike at 4, and we used to go riding all the time, every weekend, sometimes my sister and mom would come too. Since we got an RV, my dad seems to enjoy it quite a bit more, and we go riding less and less, maybe once every two months now :( When we do go, my dad and I have a great time, but he just never seems to want to go? If it was up to me, I'd ride every day after school like I hear all the stories about how he could walk across the street and go riding whenever he wanted, and did almost everyday, he just seems to have lost some interest now :(

 

[KTM Mike]

minifig - I went through same sort of buy your own thing when I was a kid to. (though my dad did give me my first bike...a real clapped out Kaw 90) I remember vidily the day i bought my next bike though...worked my tail off for it for year... a brand new 1977 Kawasaki KE175 - $788...give me a minute and i will remember the VIN number and the name of the salesperson that sold it to me! But i do think it meant more that it was all my doing...my money etc. (boy am i gonna sound like a hypocrit in a minute!) Anyhow...you are eager getting the bike before the kid is even born yet...but dont repeat my mistake and push to early!

Stan - interesting to hear from the perspective of the "kid" on this topic...thanks - ironically the mirror image situation with a Dad that kinda dropped out of it though. Have you ever really asked him why he does not ride much anymore...or let him know how much you appreciate when he does ride with you? As a Dad though, i can tell you chances are he is working his tail off at work, has way to many things to do, is feeling stressed out and tired, and just doesnt feel he has the energy...but ...sometime pursuing a "passion" like this can help give you more energy - it does for me at least.

Now for the update - and to follow through on my comment about being a hypocrit (sp?) that TTR90 came home tonight. My kid was in the yard when I pulled in. He Eagerly climbed up in the truck...helped undo the tiedowns, and practically shoved me out of the way to sit on the bike! His first comment was "so, this is more of just a trail bike then huh?" I showed him the controls etc etc, he asked if he could start it...and sat there checking it out while it warmed up. I made sure a helmet was handy, offered it to him after a few minutes, and away he went! Up and down the driveway (fortunately its quite long!) then around and around and around and around.... the house...with a big grin on his face! He was thrilled with how much easier the power delivery was, how easy it was to just go slow on it. He never attempted second gear even - which is actually better I think. I was absolutly amazed and thrilled! It was hard to not start telling him how happy i was...but i just kinda watched from a distance, mowed the yard while he rode not really focusing (not that he could see at least!) on his riding. Eventually he pulled the bike in the garage, and walked up grining from ear to ear. I asked how was it he said "great!" Afterwards we went for along walk and he commented that he thought it would be great trail bike and for riding around the house etc. I think I did the right thing here...time will tell. I am gonna give the bike a once over this weekend...and park it in the garage...then fight the urge to try and get him to ride. Moral of the story...dont push to soon...and dont get the kid on a bike that is to intimidating early on! Now....about hop up parts for a TTR...oops...i gotta fight that urge!

 

[oldguy]

Mike it sounds like you hit the right path. I guess I would let it sit now til he asks to ride and not bring it up myself.

Stan I think Mike was right about your Dads waaining interest. Right now the economy has everyone on edge and who knows your dad may have concerns he doesn't want to hit you with. Be honest with him and ask, as long as you 2 keep the communication open I bet it will work out.

 

[Jasle]

We have done basically the same thing. Our 6 year old has been riding since 4. Asked him if he wanted to race about 9 months ago and he said yes. Basically as soon as we stared racing and got the Cobra he quit riding around the house on our track. Always maintains he likes to race and every weekend If I ask him if he wants to go race its YEAH!!!
Ask him if he wants to ride around the yard its nah. Got a PW50 for lil sis the 4 year old. Older brother wants to ride the peedub around all the time. So we ended up buying a xr50 for Big brother and the two of them ride all the time around the house. Besides...i love the xr50.Great for getting the mail and such. We are working on a kx60 because he has ridden my kdx200 a few times and is pretty good on the clutch. Mom even likes the xr so now we gotta get here something like a xr100 or ttr90.
Jason

 

[dog]

Commenting on the orginal post:
I have 3 kids, the oldest is a 10 year old who has been riding since he was 4 on a PW50. He is now up to a KX65 and we can do real trail rides together. We also have a track behind the house and I was frustrated when he was 7-8 years old and didn't want to ride. He had a new KTM50 at the time, and hardly rode it.

This year his interest has picked up a lot due to 3 reasons I can think of:
1. The main thing that changed was several of his friends got motorcycles. Now I will invite them over to ride and he goes out and rides with them a lot. It seemed to change his whole attitude about riding.
2. He is older and his bike is now capable of doing more serious trail riding with me. He loves exploring new places and riding in the mountains or desert.
3. I started watching the Supercross series with him and ordered a subscription to RacerX for his birthday. He follows the progress of the stars and looks up to guys like Pastrana, LaRocco, RC, and McGrath.

I can't really blame him for getting bored riding around the house. If I ride the track out back I get bored in 5 minutes as well!

I reccommend you try to find some friends for them to ride at home with, take them riding to new places you can explore together, and see if they like watching the races with you.

If all that fails, you might have to show your support for soccer or baseball :(

Like someone posted earlier, they are all different and you never know what they will do well at.

Good luck,
Let us know if anything works.

 

[ktmdad]

If the child loses interest, then don't push them about it. My 14yr use to love to ride. Now he hardly rides at all as he has found other interest.

My 8yr old is the other way around. When he first got a bike (age 4), he really never wanted to ride it. Then one day (age 5) he decides it's time to ride and he hasn't gotten back off yet.

There are times when the youngest will take a break from riding, but it's more to keep from getting burned out. It is his decision to go to the races, not mind.

Yes there are times when I have to poke him to practice, but he knows that if he doesn't practice, then he doesn't race. We can trail ride or just go to open practices at the tracks and have fun riding without the expense of racing.

 

[whyzee]

My 9 year old got his XR100 last year and has just loved the thing. Every time I go ride he wants to ride too. I have modified the bike 2" lower so there is not a whole lot of suspension, but he still jumps with it. I am trying to get him to ride the bike for another year (as I raise it back to stock) but he wants an 85 worse than anything. Everytime we go to the track, he tries to talk me into a 65 for a year then the 85, the kid has it all planed out. Ha! If he did not like to ride I would have to beat him or something drastic, J/K! I find it a lot of fun to get out and ride with him, as you surely do Mike, hope the TT keeps him riding!
Dave

 

[dell30rb]

My problem is that my parents hate riding. I got a pw80 when I was 11, rode that for a year, then got an xr80, then a cr80. Both of my parents hate riding, but I am hoping to get my dad into it. He's ridden my cr around the pits... and thats about it. My uncle is always trying to get my dad to ride his xr200, but he always refuses.
:(

I have never had a problem with not wanting to ride. I begged and begged for a bike for about 2 years, and when i finally got one, I rode at every opportunity... and still do!

I have absolutely no idea why your son does not to ride!! If he is intimadated by the bike, then get him a ttr90 or something.

 

[OnAnySunday]

I think dog got it right -w- his first point.
"several of his friends got motorcycles"
I mean, come on parents, i know we want to be the "cool best buddies mom and dad are with it riding dirtbikes -w- me" parents. But some kids just dont get into riding -w- mom and dad.
Theres just something about going riding with your freinds. A feeling of joy, a...............ahem, i think thats been said before. (excuse me.) :confused:
Admittedly, if my neighborhood freinds werent into dirt bikes, i probably wouldnt have gotten started at such an early age. (9 y.o.)
My dad would occasionally borrow a freinds bike and go riding -w- me.
It was fun of course, but not quite the same.
(couldnt get as CRAZY -w- the ol' man along....... )
Some kids just arent into it at all.
My 17 y.o. is one. :(
He had a ATC for a while, (loved riding it in the snow!) and would ride around on an old Odyssey we had for a year or 2.
But never a bike. Guess he considered bikes as "Dad's thing" and his intrests went in other directions.
He's a computer whiz kid!
And lately he's been into his mountainbike big time.
Rides it to school everyday, even in winter.
He's so dang fast on that thing......
We were at the local trails doing a bit of riding a while back, but it had rained and was pretty muddy. Went to load the bikes on the rack to go back home and Wally says "oh man, this stinks, i wanted to ride. mind if i ride home?"
It's about 5 miles from where i parked to our house.
By the time i loaded the bike, and drove home, his bike was already in the driveway, and he was inside -w- a drink watching t.v.!!!
Pretty bad when a kid on a bicycle can outrun my Bronco.... :p

 

[bluerider125]

Originally posted by OnAnySunday

Pretty bad when a kid on a bicycle can outrun my Bronco.... :p

that's me!! only im on a 20" BMX-er. :silly:

my sister has a ttr 90, and i think its harder to ride than my 125! i think its the small wheel thing, where they can get caught and thrown by rocks easily. sand sucks too. (on her bike, anyway!)

its good yur kid is back into riding, ill bet he was just so intimidated from the MXer.

 

[KTM Mike]

An update... based on the weekend we just had - buying the TTR was absolutely the way to go. He only rode it a couple times around the house over the last couple weeks - we did not push at all. Most of the time he seemed rather uninterested. I was kinda begining to accept the idea that bikes just was not his thing. Then Memorial day weekend was upon us. Our "tradition" the last few years has been a trip to the UP of Michigan for camping, canoeing and/or dirtbiking. So we headed north Friday afternoon.

My son had a blast. He rode a total of 58 miles with us over the three days. Would have done more if uh....well....dumb move on my part...I forgot to gas up my bike and ran out - sorta cut our first day of riding short. Plus the weather was a bit rainy and kept us off the bikes a bit to(maybe that was good so we did not push to much riding to fast).

The area we went to has tons of nice two track trails - miles and miles of them - plus a nice single track loop (non stop whoops) that I pounded on for a good 45 miles or so Saturday morning. Any how - Mark just loved the riding. Had NO problems dealing with the sand that always caused so many crashes in the past. He dropped the bike once - of all things where he chose to drive through the big mud puddle instead of going around. I was absolutely amazed when at one point we happend to stop at an intersection of two two tracks where the single track also happend to cross. We asked him which way he wanted to go...and he pointed to the single track with a big grin on his face! So we went down it for a short distance and turned around - over his protest as he wanted to do more. He even asked again later about doing some single track with me. Today we did 28 miles in one ride - he kept asking to keep going while big brother was starving asking to stop to eat. I was amazed. In talking to Mark tonight he to feels he had a blast, the crash was no biggie (in the past he would have only remembered the crash and forgotten all the fun riding). Before bed time he jabbered on and on about riding and gee how could we have gotten across that one water crossing (we had to turn back on a couple trails due to some rather high water areas) etc etc.

I am absolutely thrilled with how this went this weekend. I never would of imagined it going so well. So thanks every one for the supportive and helpful comments. I appreciated them all. the lesson learned on my part - just because you want your kid to grow up to be daddys little motocross star - does not mean he has to ride a MX bike that is built for speed and is a bit intimidating. Take a look at your kid - if he/she is not agressive enough to put a bike like his polini to good use - dont waste your $ on it - get the nice mellow trail bike first! (now if your kid is aggressive enough...I do have that Polini for sale still (have not really gotten around to advertising it yet)

Thanks again everyone!

 

[oldguy]

Mike hang on to the polinni. I have a feeling in a few weeks it just might come out of the garage for a couple laps. Sounds like the spark has rekindled now just let it go at his pace and have a ball:)

 

[ACS]

Good to know its worked out well

 

[02yz85]

ktm mike: glad everything worked out well, i can relate, i have 3 boys, 9,11 & 14. my 9 yr old rides a ttr90 too, thats the bike he liked, a little small but thats what he wanted, i also bought it for $900. only one tank of gas has been through it.
i wouldnt put any money into the ttr 90; just wait till he outgrows it, it seems like he just likes to cruise, just like my boy. my 11 yr old likes wot. he rides a yz 85, big differance in bikes. when he outgrows the ttr 90, and if he still likes to cruise, then i would by the ttr 125, if hes tall, then the ttr 125 bigwheel. thats a nice bike, the bike is far more better made than the 90. then you can put money into this 4 stroke if you like, they offer alot of aftermarket parts for this bike. anyway ride safe and God bless over your family.

 

[minifig-phil]

Wow thats great!!
I think oldguy is right hang on to that Polini (for a little while anyway).
I wish I had a Dad like you when I was growing up.

Please keep us informed on how things go. I think we can all learn.

 

[sharp7277]

KTM mike, im having the same problem with my 8 year old nephew. Since he was a baby I use to give him rides on my old XR 250 and he loved it. We would spend hours out in the field. I bought him his first 50 about a year ago and really seemed into it. I took our bikes down to florida to visit some family and do some riding. They have a new Honda foreman 450 es that he was tearing all over the yard on it and wasnt even looking at his 50 so I immediately thought he wanted a bigger bike. I figured if he could handle that four wheeler then he could handle a 80 dirt bike. So to surprise him I bought a 97' RM 80 that I got a good deal on that was just about brand new. As soon as I started it he jumped. I couldnt even get him on the bike to try because he sees me riding it and thinks its way to fast. Well, I told him just to get on it and go and I would help him get started (after some good instructions). I let him go after he got started and he cracked the throttle way too much and pulled a wheelie and crashed into the woods. After that I cant even get him to sit on the bike and he seems less interested in riding all together. I think hes worried that ill talk him into getting on it again and he doesnt want to. I guess I just forgot how fast those little motocross bikes are. He went from bugging me to ride eveyday to avoiding me becasue he doesnt want me to ask him.

 

[Jasle]

had a similar problem with my 6 year old first time we got the Cobra. Ended up putting a lot of slack in the throttle cable and told him I put a limiter in it. He would then ride it and ove the couse of a few days i took the slack out. Now he's asking for a 60 kit.
Also My daughter would not ride the Pw because she thought it was too fast. I told here I would put the limiter back in. I drilled out the hole in the limiter and then showed her I was putting it back in. She would then ride it. Don't know if you could do something similar?
Jason