question about my kid's riding

[mx547]

my twelve year-old daughter has been racing mx since she was six. my six year-old daughter has had a bike for about a year and a half but shows no interest whatsoever in riding it and has adamantly refused to try. today she said that she wants a four-wheeler. i've never been a four-wheeler person and i still don't particularly like them. my question is this:

should i refuse to get her a four-wheeler and hope someday she becomes interested in bikes?

or get the four-wheeler and hope it leads to wanting to ride bikes?

or get the four-wheeler and resign myself to having an atv kid?

 

[Yogurt]

Ooo.. that's a though one. I personally started out on a 60cc Mini Yamaha quad. That was when I was 6 years old. It eventually lead me to getting a Yamaha BW 80 when I was 9. I've owned 4 other bikes since then, and I'm only 19. I personally dislike quads as well, and will never give up two-wheels. Sometimes you never know what your missing until you don't have it no more. You don't want to pressure your kids into a hobby they don't enjoy. Just find something they do enjoy, and support it. I'd say get her the 4-wheeler. Eventually she'll realize she can't do everything on it everyone else in the family is doing and maybe, hopefully she'll be back on two wheels in a year or two. Just my .02cents, good luck!

 

[Michelle]

Jay, if you really want to encourage her, you know the answer. She may end up being an atv kid, but at least she'd be out there doing it and feeling part of it. She may just be testing the waters to tell you what she really wants, so I wouldn't rush into buying it for her.

One of the kids we ride with is on an LT80. She wants two wheels, but when we ask her if she'd ride certain trails with us, the answer is "no". She was busy telling me last time that they were selling her quad & getting her a bike, so I asked her again, would you ride that trail. "No" was her reply, so I told her that her parents won't be buying her a bike. She's thinking she can keep her quad & get a bike (which would be the ideal solution), but as she's the youngest of three kids, that won't be happening. We may see her on two wheels one day, but not yet. Her parents would rather her ride everywhere with us than give up. She does enjoy herself when she gets to ride a bike, but just isn't prepared to ride everywhere - she's starting to feel she's missing out (she's not).

Seriously though, do see how this stage progresses with your daughter & if in a month she's still keen to ride (with trainer wheels), give it a go. Or give it a go anyway & see what happens. If you point blank refuse, I'd guess that she'd definitely never end up on two wheels.
Good luck & don't forget to post pics of her on her four wheels :)

 

[70 marlin]

Get a quad the correct size, and then have her take all the safety courses! Then ride tighter trails that the quad is a pain in the as* to do. Let her get tired of dragging it around trees. Have her sister on a small four stroke just the little ones size. They'll trade off when she's tired enough.

 

[CaptainObvious]

I agree with the above; just get her interested in riding, ATV or dirtbike. It doesn't matter what she's on, rather, that she is out with the family. You just might find that over time she gets the bike bug, an incurable disease.

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Get her a small ATV.

I started Danny on a TRX90 but switched him to a bike when he started pushing it. I think the ATVs are OK as long as they are going slow, but when they start leaving the ground they get much more dangerous.

 

[Jeff Gilbert]

Jay, Tigger got the idea she wanted a 4-wheeler so much that she was willing to trade her bike for one. One afternoon we hooked up at a friends private land to do a little riding and cooking out, they had a couple of small 4-wheelers there as well as their bikes. Both were the eton brand, one was a 50 & the other a 90. Tigger spent about 15 minutes on each before she discovered that they didn't handle quick turns like a bike did. As she swerved to avoid a pond, the quad come up on 2 wheels which she luckily rode out, but immediately parked it, got back on her bike and said "I don't want a 4-wheeler anymore!"

 

[XRpredator]

I started Pred2 on a quad (YFM80), then last spring he got a TTR90. He will ride that TTR any chance he gets, but we had a little problem when he broke the lower chain guard mount off the bottom of the engine case. While we were waiting for parts, we went for a ride with the 4-wheelers, and he was damn near in tears over the fact that the 4-wheeler was not his motorcycle! Heck, he kept putting his feet down and scaring himself!

Needless to say, Pred2 is a mo'sickle guy only nowadays :)

 

[Erick82]

I would tell her to be glad she has a bike and ride it and If she doesn't want to ride it then tell her you will sell it and she will have nothing.

If she pushes the issue have one of you buddies puck it up and act like you are selling it, then wait acouple of weeks she will be begging for a bike.

Of course I don't have kids.

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Originally posted by Erick82
Of course I don't have kids.

Please don't!  (j/k)

I have found NOT to bluff kids unless you are willing to follow through with the bluff.  If the bike leaves, it needs to leave for good.

Besides, I also have one that isn't interested in riding...and he's the best rider of the group.  His thing is soccer and he only rides 5 - 10 times per year.  I figure that's one less bike I have to work on each week.

That little turkey rode for the first time since DirtWeek 2 weeks ago and it was his first time on a full size bike.  I still had a tough time getting by him.  If he rode any more I wouldn't get to keep being the king of the house!

 

[XRpredator]

Believe me, the bluffing doesn't work. The first time out on his new bike, it took off on him a bit and he just about ate my cousin's tailgate. He was ready to quit right there, so I said "you want me to take it back?"

"YES!!!" :whiner:

talk about backpedalling . . . :silly:

 

[MXGirl230]

My brother started on a KX60, moved up to a CR80 and suddenly decided to go quad on us. So, my mom and dad went out and got him a quad. After going on several trail rides on TIGHT trails. He eventually got sick of having to ride it. He got tired of getting stuck, not being able to race the fair races with us (they don't allow quads anymore), there aren't really any tracks that allow smaller quads to race. So finally he went back to a bike, he's on a CR125 now and loves it. My mom did the same thing. She has been on bikes her entire life..suddenly one day she decides she wants a quad. She had it for like 4 months. She hated it because the trails are too tight. So she went back to her bike.
I would say get her the quad, and hopefully she'll realize that they aren't nearly as much fun and go back to the bike. If she sticks with the quad, at least she is still riding something. Better than not riding anything at all.
-Tracie