The BreakDown: Getting your little, (real little ones) riding

[CBRtist]

The parent struggle is REAL Mike. Worse for moms that ride who are primary parents though (who are few if non-existent). I had to, at the time, wait for my husband to get bumped to "I" before I could even start track. Then our pit stop was handing off the kid while he went out late.

Later, the guy I dated was staff, so we never knew what he'd be assigned, so in addition to track/travel expenses, I would hire a nanny to watch her all weekend while we were at the track $$$. Yes love and track makes you do crazy expensive things!

FF to last year where I was solo and hit almost every track up and down the east coast with her... but she was 8 by then. Sometimes I had help, sometimes not, but I always had a backup plan in place should something have happened to me.

I've often toyed with the idea of pimping one of my teachers from my business with me to offer sitting services out of my RV for the less fortunate, but the legal paperwork that would involve and the ratio of children permitted to be watched at one time gave me a headache.

Sometimes it gets frustrating to see people getting to leave their precious packages at home while they have all the fast and fun. But 5 years later and I'm still managing to make it out there even though it's not always the most relaxing time. Point is, and especially at his age, if you have the option to leave him at home... take full advantage!!!

And would your wife mind watching one more? Lol

 

[Mike:p]

The parent struggle is REAL Mike. Worse for moms that ride who are primary parents though (who are few if non-existent). I had to, at the time, wait for my husband to get bumped to "I" before I could even start track. Then our pit stop was handing off the kid while he went out late.

Later, the guy I dated was staff, so we never knew what he'd be assigned, so in addition to track/travel expenses, I would hire a nanny to watch her all weekend while we were at the track $$$. Yes love and track makes you do crazy expensive things!

FF to last year where I was solo and hit almost every track up and down the east coast with her... but she was 8 by then. Sometimes I had help, sometimes not, but I always had a backup plan in place should something have happened to me.

I've often toyed with the idea of pimping one of my teachers from my business with me to offer sitting services out of my RV for the less fortunate, but the legal paperwork that would involve and the ratio of children permitted to be watched at one time gave me a headache.

Sometimes it gets frustrating to see people getting to leave their precious packages at home while they have all the fast and fun. But 5 years later and I'm still managing to make it out there even though it's not always the most relaxing time. Point is, and especially at his age, if you have the option to leave him at home... take full advantage!!!

And would your wife mind watching one more? Lol

I would think not we have 9 weeks to go before the twins get here.

 

[Mike:p]

It’s time to bring back one of my favorite threads!
My Alexander will be turning 3 this January and he is showing a lot of interest in dirt bikes. My neighbor’s kid rides around on a clapped out pw50. I have taken him over to see it and have let him sit on the bike while it’s running. He loves reving the engine, but a gas powered dirt bike is too big of a step in my mind.
He is very confident on his balance bike, unfortunately he hardly rides it anymore. I think he’s bored with it. So we are going to get him a regular bicycle this Christmas. If he does well on that I would like to get him an electric bike or something similar in the summer.
So I guess my question is what should I get him? I want a good quality bike that will last, especially since I hope I can get one or both of my twins into riding. I will be totally broke, but happy.
Any suggestions or advice for or against about what I’m thinking will be appreciated

 

[D-Zum]

Bicycle now...yes absolutely.

Electric motorcycle...no clue. Don't know much about them, but cruising around Amazon, I'm not seeing anything worth the investment.
One of these might be OK https://www.amazon.com/Razor-McGrat...sr=8-8&keywords=kids+electric+motorcycle&th=1

But the cost just doesn't seem worth it to me...you can buy a used CRF 50 for that kind of cash..or a used PW50 if you find one.

I got Alex his TTR50 for his 5th birthday, and even then it required training wheels. He's 7 now, and barely strong enough to pick his bike up when it falls over.

Your enthusiasm Mike, GREAT! Love it...In my opinion, you're rushing it even considering a motorcycle before 5. It will all come in time if it's meant to be.
And what you're estimating this costs for a kid to ride....at least double it. Then you'll be in the ball park.

You want to put your 3 year old in to something fun... put him in soccer. It runs them around, socializes them, and wears them out.

Try now to rush things...they grow up fast enough.

 

[CBRtist]

I think every child is different, given their availability to a track, seat time, what the of learner they are, etc. I'm a teacher for little ones so I see a variety of learners.

That being said, we put Ria on her first gas powered bike when she turned 3 on trainees. Prior to that she had been raised at the track and had wheeled around on toy variations of a "motorcycle". We don't have any areas in Delaware for her to have dirt bike experience so we just kept it to the paddock at local tracks. She went mostly from paddock to NJ Mini GP. There was a period when she was 4 that we found a remote track and ran her through scary stuff just because we felt she needed to have that experience.

I say start him on a 50. In the garage. IN neutral so he gets the feel of the bike/throttle. He'll check out after about um... 2 mins. It's ok. when he's feeling it again, run him through whatever his attention span will allow. Introduce controls individually and slowly. Personally I think it is REALLY important to understand what type of learner your kid is before you start teaching/relaying information to them. We tend to have high expectations in regards to progress with them and this sport, and they all learn at a different pace (psst... and that's ok!!!)

You come from MSF, so I'm sure you don't need to be told how to instruct him in a safe and responsible manner. I look forward to his progress

 

[tdelegram]

I would recommend a strider bike for little ones it teaches them the balance component without training wheels:
https://www.btosports.com/p/strider-sport-ktm-no-pedal-balance-bike

And ktm makes one.

 

[Mike:p]

I would recommend a strider bike for little ones it teaches them the balance component without training wheels:
https://www.btosports.com/p/strider-sport-ktm-no-pedal-balance-bike

And ktm makes one.

Thanks but he a strider bike. I called it a balance bike up above so I understand the confusion. I should have called it a strider. He has had it since last January and he is ready to move up from that now.

 

[Jason DeBoer]

Mine just started last year doing mini-moto. They had an absolute blast and ended up 2nd and 3rd in the beginner class (more due to attending every race vs winning). I picked up a mini so its a whole family event. Definately makes them more interested when we go to the big tracks because they are slowly seeing/understanding what is going on. I can't wait till we can all go out on the big track together.