My Son's First Bike!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Chief]

Hi Again everyone.

I sold my RM about a year ago and bought a 4 wheel thing. It accomodates me and my family much better right now. Younger kids.

I am able to take the kids out with me now, at night, daytime, snow, etc. I consider it temporary but worth it for the family time.

My son is more interested in baseball, my daughter just got off training wheels, my son wanted a QD but I said he had to learn how to ride first. My daughter wants to ride and probably will but she is still pretty young. I thought a small bike would be good to have on hand with both of them coming up.

Tonight we bought a 2003 XR50 from the neighbors who bought it new. I know it is kinda babied and has not been ridden that hard. Almost new but a few dings.

Joey wasn't showing much enthusiasm so the neighbor said take it home and let him try it. I did the usual, stood in front and let him ride towards me, told him to let go of the throttle, practice braking.

He got cocky with it pretty quick and when I saw him turning and heading straight for the pool I knew it was crashtime. He hit an upright post and the pump. :( He got a small scratch on the back of his leg, the front wheel was caught up in the hoses. I lifted the bike off him and checked him out. He was OK but had tears in his eyes. I told him it wasn't his fault (I knew it was mine) and that it was pretty common to forget to let go of the throttle. I thought it was hopeless there for a minute until he said he wanted to ride more. He just kept looping around the house with me close by in first gear. He's a little clumsy but doing well for his first time. After awhile I put it in second for him and explained that he had to take it easy. The engine was getting wound pretty high. Well first lap he was off to the races and I told him to take it easy which he did. I noticed he really likes to fly up the driveway which is uphill and pretty long. He kept saying 'one more lap' but took about 20 until his hands were blistered.

As we pulled it into the garage I said 'this is yours' he said he loved it and it was cool and he liked the acceleration so I think he may take to it. Maybe not like I did when I was a kid, but I just want it to be there for him. Hopefully next year my daughter will take it up. He looks just a little big on it but I can't see him on anything bigger at least until he gets comfortable.

Just wanted to share my joy and also regret for his crash. I know I could have prevented it in a number of ways. (Guilt).

Thanks for reading my rambling post but some of you folks know what it's like to see your kid do something new.

Moments like tonight are some of the greatest rewards life has to offer in the too busy life we lead. I'm hoping it's another excuse to spend time with them doing something we all enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good to be back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for reading the ramble!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)

Joe Chief

 

[Papakeith]

congrats to you and your son.
Now that your boy seems to be squared away, we really need to have some sort of intervention for you about that four wheel mount of yours :)

 

[twoofeach]

Chief,

My boy did the same thing...only he slammed into a jungle gym. It wasn't pretty. He had a quad but after riding the bike, he's riden the quad for maybe half an hour...that was two years ago this October. I have been using the little quad to give my 2 year old rides.

 

[Mark W]

I hear ya

I bought my son (who was 8 last year) his first bike, a KLX110 and bought myself my first bike, a KDX220R. Took my time teaching him how to ride safely and he has listened very well. We rode many times last year and this year he moved on to a KX65 which he really is enjoying.

Time with the kids doing anything sure beats a family therapist later. The time I spend riding in the dirt with my son are the best.

Mark

 

[Chief]

congrats to you and your son.
Now that your boy seems to be squared away, we really need to have some sort of intervention for you about that four wheel mount of yours :)

Hey Keith, you know you're not the first to comment on that. I take a beating usually :) My plan is to keep the car :rotfl: and buy another bike once the kids get faster than me. Then again maybe I'm just in DENIAL :laugh:

Thanks for the message of hope Twoofeach, perhaps mine will take to the bikes as well. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Sounds like your son is a natural and you started him off right Mark. He must be making big progress to be on the KX already. I can't wait to get out and ride with my guy!!!!

Chief

 

[ellandoh]

sweet deal man..................the thing i use on my nephews is

"you have to know how to fall off properly before you can be fast"
everyday i get asked " how much does ricky carmichael fall off " , my answer, " at least once or twice a day" :) the youngest is extremely cocky and washed the front end out and blackened 2 fingernails on a parked car :yikes:

i started them out on an electric pocket rocket, modified it to look like a dirt bike......works well and is cheap training in case they didnt like it

 

[Patman]

The first ride crash, I remember my son doing his is a big way. I thought it was all over, he'd never want to get on a bike again and the boss was going to kill me. He was 4 1/2 and couldn't get the bicycle thing down so I was supposed to hold out on the PW50 until he could stay on 2 wheels. Well mom was shopping se we gave it a shot. 10 minutes of paddling with his feet and he was feet up! I was pumped as he really started showing some skill (must be all those races we watched on TV). Well he was going faster and faster and was getting closer and closer to a wood picket fence. Next lap he went right in to it :yikes: He flew and bounced off the fence and hit the ground. The bike was stuck in the fence and he got up and was walking around with his head down as I got to him. The whole time I'm running over I'm thinking "Bad plan you idiot!". Well I expect tears but when I try to pull the helmet off he's telling me "No! No! I want to do it again! That was like on the cartoons!" Short story we did not do it again be he kept riding for a bit and then I moved him to his bicycle which he took right off on. Oh and mom had happened to come home right after the crash so I told him "Don't tell mommy about the cartoon crash OK." Well of course the first thing he tells her when she asks about his ride is?..... Yup.

So you know there will be more crashes and not all will end with a happy face. I've found it really helpful that unless they are seriously hurt that convincing them to get back on a ride a little more is the best way to keep them from being afraid. Usually they forget about the minor injuries after a few minutes and don't want to stop. So don't feel guilty, life is a learning experience and a few scratches and scrapes with some tears is a lot better now since you are spending time together then what could happen later if you had not spent time with your kids.

 

[LWillmann]

My son and I had a similar experience about a year ago.

He was 5 and up to that point, he had NEVER ridden a motorcycle, and would NOT let us remove the training wheels from his bicycle. I bought him one of those Electric Pocket Rockets at Wal-mart ($200 or so). I charged it for him, put his helmet on him and let him ride it. I made it 6 feet before falling over with it. I got him right back on it and it was no time before he was loving it. Just 15 minutes later, I took the training wheels off the bicycle and he's never looked back. After that, he rode it ever chance he got. When I would ride a bike around the neighborhood, he'd be on his pocket rocket. In the last year, he's outgrown his electric bike, so Saturday I bought him his first gas powered bike.

Got him a 2002 LEM LX2 Racer for $600.
Got him an HJC MX helmet and some Fox Tracker boots and Fox gloves. It was all I had money for, and the same amount of equipment that I have.

I let him ride it yesterday, and he LOVES it!

He got squirrelly a couple of times and almost lost it, but he saved it and kept on going. I got out there on my KTM 125 with him and me kinda raced in the grass. He had a lot of fun, and so did I.

Now to get us the rest of the gear!

 

[Jasle]

you might try www.cobratalk.com and www.ktmtalk.com lots of kids ride the cobra's and ktm 50's so there is a lot of gear to go around inexpensivley. if you shoot me a message offline with sizes I'll see what we can do we know lots of youth riders. Not to bust but what you have right now is not enough for you but especially not enough for him especially when learning. you will need knee pads and elbow pads and a chest protector is crucial. I put a post up a while ago about the importance of safety gear and how it saved my son's life. we split a chest protector in 3 and he's 9 and was only riding a 65. The lx2R has 12+ HP so you need to make sure you practice braking with both brakes so he can haul it down if he gets going.

we have become very interested in a new product from rockgardn great padding but it costs $100. Might seem like much but one ruptured kidney and a concussion cost me $12000 and that was with tons of safety gear.

http://rockgardn.easystorecreator.com/Browse_dept_items.asp/categ_id/1/parent_ids/0/Name/Body_Armor

 

[Patman]

Dr. D taught the kids riding class at DW a few years back and his big focus was braking. He pointed out not to just use the front brake but both brakes for more effective stopping and control. It was some good info even for the adults that were there.

Heck even I need lots of "bubble wrap" too!

 

[LWillmann]

Yesterday I bought him some pants, jersey, knee/shin pads, and goggles.

Only things left for now are a chest protector (the shop is holding one for me) and elbow pads.

We're not racing. We're just cruising in the back yard right now. This is not to say that we don't need the gear, just that we're trying to be smart about it.

The gear isn't cheap, so I'm having to do it a little at a time.

I have my boots, helmet and gloves. The rest will come after I get him squared away.

 

[Okiewan]

Congrats!

 

[Chief]

Thank You Okiewan

Got a little update,

We hit the trail today for the first time. Took my little girl on the QQQQ and my son on his bike. He still doesn't shift, I put it in first for the rough stuff and second for the smoother stuff.

We went on one of our usual mountain bike routes we call 'The Survival Ride'. :) Most kids are near crying with exhaustion after their first time on this trail, but quickly shape up afterwards.

He kept a decent pace but not too fast. About the same as he does on bicycle. With those little wheels I won't ever push him. He was dabbing a lot which I thought was ok too. Bailed through a few mudholes without incident. He doesn't seem to be overly enthusiastic and I realize this may or may not change. All I can do is keep asking if he wants to ride, so far he keeps saying yes.

We get home and it's dark. My 6 yr old daughter wants to ride her bicycle but I propose the XR and she goes nuts!!! She rides it about as well as her bicycle, she just got off training wheels about a month ago. The bike fits her a lot better than my son. She just has to lean slightly to touch one foot. It feels heavy for her and there is no throttle control yet, She is still young but I have a feeling she will be learning fast now too. Just went up and down the driveway with me holding her sweatshirt in first.

I guess I'm surprised that it fits her so well and she did pretty good considering her 'motor' ;) skills are in the heart of developing.

Now I'm wondering if I'm going to be into 2 bikes at once for them. With a little time I'll know for sure!!!

Chief

 

[Jasle]

Yesterday I bought him some pants, jersey, knee/shin pads, and goggles.

Only things left for now are a chest protector (the shop is holding one for me) and elbow pads.

We're not racing. We're just cruising in the back yard right now. This is not to say that we don't need the gear, just that we're trying to be smart about it.

The gear isn't cheap, so I'm having to do it a little at a time.

I have my boots, helmet and gloves. The rest will come after I get him squared away.

dont for get about that E lectronic Bay place. some great deals to be had on gear there.