How do you tell if the bike is too much?

[HajiWasAPunk]

Bare with me here....

My son (10 years old, 85 lbs) started riding about 3 months ago on a CRF80. We went to a couple of riding classes and he quickly had the itch to race. After 2 weeks of racing he finished 1st, 2nd, 2nd, and 3rd in the 4 motos he rode in. He was bottoming out the suspension badly on the bike and complaining that the throttle was pinned and it still wouldn't go fast enough. So I upgraded him to a CR85. We took a couple of weeks off of racing for him to get used to the 2-stroke and the extra power.

After a couple of weeks and some more riding classes, he looked good on it. Not terribly fast in the corners but like he was in control of the bike.

Then he had a bad crash where the bike was sideways going over a jump and we wound up at Urgent Care getting his collar bone x-rayed. It was negative but he had bent the handle bars. 5 days later he was running around like a normal kid again. We rode at our practice track and went to another riding class and he again looked real comfortable. So we signed him up to race on a non points night (thinking it would be less crowded etc).

Well, he got in the race and some kind of fire kicked into him, he was running in 5th place out of about 15 riders. But then he tried to pass another rider on a turn that has a small jump in it and wound up sideways in the air again. He bent the front rim, knocked himself silly. Nothing broken again but he's still sore 4 days later. Is this a typical "learning" process or have I moved him to quickly to the bike? My thought is to get him a private lesson a couple of times to get this jumping sideways thing worked out but I was wondering if anyone else had any similar experiences?

 

[gwcrim]

At age 10 an 85 isn't necessarily too much. But your son's only been riding for 3 months. An 85 MX bike is one heck of a handful even for some adults. I'd say your son is light on riding experience. You may be running the risk that he'll get hurt badly and/or scared to the point that he loses interest in riding. I'd say he needs lots and lots and lots of practice.

 

[HajiWasAPunk]

Thanks gwcrim. That's exactly what I'm worried about. He's certainly not experienced, but other kids that aren't experienced also seem to go slower?

With regards to practice, we try to ride 3-4 times a week and go to class 2-4 times a month. Plus I'm scheduling him a couple of private lessons. But I guess its a catch-22, you need experience to ride better but you have to ride to get the experience? In the meantime should I tell him to slow down? I've been trying to teach him to ride "fast smart". It would seem contradictory to have him go to race class but then tell him to slow down?

But if we wind up in urgent care again, Mom may put an end to this :bang:

 

[tyesai]

Don't have him race for awhile untill he gets some seat time on the bike. Sounds like he is competitive and just getting in over his head.

 

[83MX80]

yup i agree with the above post. he is riding over his head for only riding a bike for 3 months. hell, i started on an 83 yamaha MX80 4 speed 4stroke...... and it was SLOW. but it was my bike ever. sold that and decided to get a quad been riding that for 4 years. now i have an 82 KDX175 and yes it has scared the **** outta me a couple times. but i've deal with it as it comes. and its my first 2 stroke. now the friggin thing needs a new top end :bang:. but thats what u gotta expect for only paying 800 CDN for a bike. :nod:. but i'll get her all fixed up this winter, needs gas tank crack fixed, and wheel bearing replaced, and now the top end. and i've never got the KDX off the ground yet. now my quad on the other hand...... well lets just say its a ute quad and it likes to fishtail but doesnt like hills. and i can and do ride it hard because i KNOW what it'll do. but on the KDX i dont know what it'll do yet. :) we'll have to find out soon. :)

 

[AssistSuper]

I think that's the difference between kids racing and adults.

When you're 10 years old and you break a bone, you get a few days out of school and it mainly just sucks cause you can't ride.

When you're an adult, you break a bone, you can't work and make any money, can't do other responsibilities for a while, and so on.

So I think regardless a kid is going to ride a lot more aggressive than you're average weekend warrior like most of us are.

This is a good question...I really wish I had an answer to it. How the heck do you get a 10 year old to want to tone it down? It sounds like once he gets the experience he's going to tear up the track.

 

[Dirt Rival]

That's to much for a rider that's only been doing the sport for 3 months. If you keep him on that bike he'll have a bad crash and say :| to riding. And if you take away his brand new bike he'll be :pissed: . So what I would do is keep the new bike for racing and keep his older one for practice.
Chat later more riding. :boss:

 

[HajiWasAPunk]

well, here's our current plan. In addition to the 2+hour riding class every Friday, we're getting a standing Monday private lesson for an hour and a half. He can miss Sat. due to injury, and then the following week is not a points night. So that will give him 3 more classes and 3 private lessons (where we'll only work on this problem of getting straight on jumps). Then I'll have to make a decision, has 3 weeks helped enough or not.

AssistSuper, funny you mention that. Me and one of the other dad's having a saying that came out of him just stating this in passing, but anytime we see a really fast rider we'll say "that sum beotch ain't even thinking about work Monday". :)

DirtRival, I'd be more inclined to have in race the old bike and practice on the new one? The racing is where he's really bringing it.

Here's a couple of pics http://www.photographybygladys.com/gallery/893706/22/40527244/Large

http://www.photographybygladys.com/gallery/893706/60/40564497/Large

 

[83MX80]

you dont want him hurt anymore right? so i'd sit him down and talk to him man to kid, and say "hey, either tone it down, or i'll take your bike away for a while." thats what i'd say. i have a friend thats 21-22 now he's got a disability, that he cant read and write that well. anyhoo he doesnt know the slow down. we had a big red 200 3 wheeler that he bought from us a while ago, and i swear within the month he was riding up Black Road (a long windy steep road) and he was riding with some friends, and i guess he was in 5th wide open coming into a switchback corners, and he went around the first corner fine and i guess he thought he was going too fast so he shifted down into 4th and didnt even turn the corner. and he went straight off the bank dropped down about 5 feet and was hitting trees on the way down. broke his shoulder and cracked his helmet. he bent the front forks in soooo much that the front rubber was hitting the exhaust and the tire wouldnt turn at all. i've ridden with him on this 3 wheeler. its nuts. i was behind him, cruising along and im watching him and there is a slight left hand corner, he again didnt turn went up the bank bounced on it a couple of times and he was back on the trail. i thought he was gone again. so please dont let your kid become the way my friend did. then he bought a can am 250 2 stroke. now his dad rides FAST but safely. his dad borrowed a can am 400 2 stroke for a while. and damn that thing was LOUD and fast but he rode responsiblely. he was fast on the straights but slowed down for the corners. personally if your kids riding is getting out of hand, like he wont slow down, then i'd threaten to take his bike away. cuz i know what it feels like to have keys taken away for a week and it sure told me.

 

[Matt R]

I would suggest that you have him not race for one year. Explain to him that you enjoy watching him race but he needs more seat time until he begins to race competitively. Then, take him trail riding and to training schools every chance you get. This will build a good foundation for him to grow on. It is good that you are looking out for his best interest and asking this question. Many other parents may just push their kids harder until something really bad happens.

Look at it from another view...
Let's say he just turned 16 yrs old and started to drive a car. You would not want him start racing in the Indy or Rally series. You need all the fundamentals first... like throttle control, brake control, anticipating the upcoming terrain, picking out good lines, etc. You don't just put him on a rocket and say good luck. That's an accident waiting to happen! Please put the racing thing on hold for awhile.

Best Regards

 

[tyesai]

Does his number plate tell anyone else something about him?

 

[Matt R]

Does his number plate tell anyone else something about him?

Well his plate says "1" but he just started 3 months ago. Isn't the #1 plate reserved for the person who won the championship from the previous year???

 

[HajiWasAPunk]

lol, his number plate should tell you that his bike his new, and his custom number plates haven't come in yet (he's normally number 56). So yeah, for $2 worth of electrical tape you too can be #1 :)



seriously though, thanks for the in sight and advice from everyone. I don't think we'll wait a year to race but I do want to make sure I'm not setting him to get hurt. I am glad though we've found a sport he's passionate about.

 

[HajiWasAPunk]

the story continues....

so tonight was his first private lesson at one of the local mx tracks. I know there's plenty of speed things we can work on, but I talked to the instructor about the crash problems he's having. He watched him ride about 5 laps and noticed several things...
1. His accelaration on the face of the jumps is causing a big part of the spinout and whip (and also going nose up, though that hasn't yet caused a crash).
2. He's not staying with his legs extended through the jump.
3. He's not on the gas when he lands, especially if the bike as whipped at all.

The remedy, well we need several sessions to get this down, but: 1. He set up a flag about 20feet in front of one table top and had him go slow and accelerate from that point holding the throttle constant as he went off the jump. Then, once down, he moved the flag back another 20feet.
2. Made him go slow and stay in position, explaining how this would ultimately allow him to go faster, but don't worry about speed until the foundation is down.
3. He actually picked a jump that the result of landing this way was worse, forcing the issue of throttle on the landing to make a smooth landing.

I knew he couldn't (or atleast shouldn't race for a while) but I'm proud to say that after the lesson my son agreed that he shouldn't race again until these things were down! We'll see if its weeks or months but he's healthy and we're making progress! ;)

 

[Jasle]

Dude let him race!!!! They can get hurt doing anything. A friend was at a baseball game where a kid was killed by a ball hitting him in the chest. By brother fractured a vertebrae in his neck playing football. You can't put them in a bubble
If he likes riding let him do it. at 10 an 85 is not too much. After the first major wreck they will learn to appreciate not crashing. Our 9 year old races his 85 and has broken his collar bone and lacerated his kidney. He has tamed the jumping because he knows the outcome. The key is to make sure you get the things he needs to keep him safe. Chest protector, kidney protector, neck roll, QUALITY helmet, boots, gloves, knee pads/braces, mouthpiece, elbow pads. This combined with the lessons and your WAY better off than 99% of the racers. Most of the guys we have coming in(we only do 85cc's and below) never had training of any sort and they darn sure don't have enough safety gear. But if he's up for the competition let him race. Most of the dads pray for their kid to jump and have the drive to race. Teach him the basics ,which it sounds like your doing, and let him ride!!!! besides at race time its a lot more intimidating when ther are 30 other riders at the line.

 

[HajiWasAPunk]

Thanks for the support Jasle. I'm stoked that he wants to race, but I had to put a small hold on it when he was hitting every jump out of control. The lessons and riding class have helped a ton. He's now had four hour and a half lessons and been to riding class every Friday for 3 hours (I do the class too) and has made some huge strides. Yesterday's lesson was the first one where I think his instructor was geniunely happy with the progress he made. He's clearing 2 of the tables that are 30 and 40 feet long and looks in complete control (ie the bike isn't whipping, his body position is real good).

Of course the first thing he says to me is "now when can I race next"! I think we're getting close, I just want to see a couple of weeks of him consistenly hitting and clearing the jumps while under control.

As for safety gear, he wears kneepads, pants, boots, gloves, helmet, goggles. I wouldn't think of letting him ride with any less. How did your boy lacerate his kidney?

 

[HajiWasAPunk]

Sorry to turn this into my own blog, but if it helps someone else (and/or their kid) then maybe its worth it.

So it's been 7 weeks since his last crash. Every week we've taken an hour and half lesson on Tuesdays and a 3 hour class on Friday's (the Friday class is a group lesson). His instructor has given the green light that he's comfortable with him racing again (not that he's through teaching him, but he's now controlling the bike like he's supposed to and not adding sensless risk). I can see a drastic improvement in his riding position and the out of control riding has ceased. Also, it's helped me a ton too, both in my riding and being able to coach him.

So this Saturday will be our first race back in the 85 beginner class! I guess my moral to all of this would be, if you're switching from trail bikes to motocross, add 2-3 hundred (or whatever you can) to it and get some experienced instruction. I don't think you'll be sorry. Wish us luck!