Dirt bikes

This past Sunday, VCHSS Round 9, Martinsville, VA. 3 hours of monsoons, lightning and fog. Pure hell. 2nd place 40+ B

(photos courtesy of Mike Jackson)
http://www.speedofarrival.com/2018/08/blue-ridge-ii-2nd-best-in-worst.html

 

Oh yeah, love the mud, the muck and the messy races.

 

I hate them, but for some reason I always seem to do well in them.

 

So, little dude (he’s eight) finally said “hey, I want a bike!” The next day, he had an XR50 with training wheels. His mom didn’t have time to rescind her approval.

Other than being smooth on the throttle and looking where he wants to go, what should I be telling him to improve his riding? Or rather, what basic dirt techniques should I instill in him? Any books to read? What sayeth the dirty dirt bikers on the beeb’?

 

Can he ride a bicycle without training wheels? That's step one, and where I'd start. My 7 y/o just started without them on a bicycle. Working on the 5 y/o.

 

We have been having some luck with putting the bike in second gear and using the throttle limiting screw to set top speed. Less jumpy and smoother than first gear. I was helping a buddy last night work on his bike trailer and his just turned 4 year old came riding up, stopped, jumped off, and put the bike on the kickstand. I need to stop being a deadbeat and work with my kid a little more I guess.

 

Pull those training wheels and toss em in the trash. Kid will for sure fall down a few more times initially, but will pick it up quickly and won't need them. I've seen so many kids fight training wheels, they feel the physics of the bike below them, only to have it abruptly stop because they keep slamming the training wheel into the ground.

 

Agreed, ditch the traning wheels.
Get him a impact rig if he doesn't have one, they adjust size so it'll fit for a long time. Mines had his since he was 4 and he's 6 now. We never did the training wheel thing, straight from the strider the to pw50.

 

Kiddo has plenty of speed on his strider and rides his pedal bike without wheels. I just wanted to get him familiar with the controls starting out.

Plenty of good gear is on the way, so, sorted on that aspect. My main concern is technique since I grew up on street bikes. Other than in slow, out fast - I really don’t know what to tell him in order to make him a safe rider on the dirt.

 

An XR50 isn't a race bike, so "in slow - out fast" isn't too much of an issue. Once he moves up to actual trail riding (not recommended on the XR), then you can start to work on technique. I think that right now, knowing that he's eight years old, it's understanding the controls and bike dynamics instead of actual fast riding techniques.

Trail techniques come into play when you move from the little wheel bikes into a 19" front/16" rear bike like an XR100 or TTR125.

 

Anyone around philly PA who wants to ride? Looking for people to do some trail riding moto etc in the area.

 

Englishtown has weekly open practices. About an hour from ya.

 

Yeah I know. I usually end up going to NJ Field of dreams. Was more looking to get a group together to ride. I suck at motocross (still enjoy it tho) but would like to find people to hit up some trail riding. Not a fan of riding alone

 

Come to Ohio. We'll drag you through some trees.

 

Come up to Wolverine in September where we promise not to drag your ass through the woods.

We’ll just leave you there.

 

In other news, it’s an ORV permit-free weekend in Michigan.

 

WTF ?

 

The Sheriff’s department indicated that the vehicle would remain in place until today. So yeah, someone “done goofed.”

 

You should be able to get over that fucker using the "double punch" technique...

 

I’d have ridden right up the hood on that thing ala trials style, if I had different tires on the bike, and were a real asshole.