I got my 6 year old son a CRF 50 this week. I took him out for his first ride today. I was nervous as heck. He had been riding his bicycle without training wheels for about a year and a half. I still wondered if he might need them just to get use to the controls for awhile, but I figured I would try him out without them.  I turned the throttle screw down pretty low and put him in first gear. After helping him take off twice, I could no longer keep up with him. My goal for today was just to get him to take off and go straight then stop and put his feet down. He more than exceeded my expectations! Turned the throtle up for him  twice. He was taking off, turning, stopping, and even going down and climbing some pretty steep hills. Even managed to cross a few shallow creeks. Only went down a few times, and it was mainly  when he buried his front tire and his momentum had stopped.He was fearless. He basically taught himself. I could not be a more proud dad right now! Its a day him and I will never forget.

Edited by bowtie_racer, 04 March 2012 - 08:42 PM.

Awesome job bowtie_racer!!!! Motocross is by far the best family sport to get involved in with the family. Tons of quality time to spend together and a great way to gain trust with your children that will pay off in the future (teen years). Post up a video when you get a chance. It only gets scarier from here as they gain speed and start jumping. Keep up the good work

Yet another success story. Pedal bicycles make wonderful teaching tools. Pretty soon, you won't be able to keep up with him on your own motorcycle.

WARNING you may want to turn down your sound. It was a really windy day and the audio is terrible. Not a great video, I used my phone.


http://s665.photobuc...VIDEO0002-1.mp4

Edited by bowtie_racer, 05 March 2012 - 08:38 AM.

That's cool bowtie.. Who's field is that? That looks like a prime dirt bike track making field right there!!! I have some orange collapsable cones for my son from soccer. When we don't go to the track there is a field on base that we practice at. I take those orange cones with me and set up some corner drills, brake/stop drills for him as well as working starts. They are cheap to pick up at sports authority, or off of Amazon. Give him something to work towards and to be able to start to use brake and throttle transitions. It will help alot when you get him out to the MX track later this year. He is looking good though. Big open fields are great for learning. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK...

Good times.  9yrs ago I was doing that with my oldest, and 6 ago with my youngest.  Now we all ride together.  Well I actually chase them.  Both of my kids lack of fear, and hours that already exceed mine on a bike.  Make them both pretty good riders.  Have fun.  Things only get better.

elpato, on 05 March 2012 - 11:44 PM, said:

Its a friend of a friends. He has around 150 acres of land with hills, trails, and wide open area.I feel pretty lucky to have 2 people who live pretty close by that have given my son and I the opportunity to ride on their land. I'm not sure if hes gonna want to race. I will let him decide. I would just be happy with a riding partner for life.

bowtie_racer, on 06 March 2012 - 06:42 AM, said:

Oh yeah let him decide if he wants to race or not, but definately get him to a track that specifically has a mini track for the kids. They have such a great time hanging out and playing with one another. Some days my boy spends more time playing in the dirt or climbing trees, or riding bikes than actually riding. I race pitbikes now as we race the same mini track as my son. It is so much fun to be able to go out and ride with him. We get some good battles going. Since he got on his Pro Senior I have had to step it up a notch so he doesn't leave me in the dust. Good time for sure

my boy is 4 and I'm itching to get him his first bike ..
wife asked what was more dangerous 4 wheeler or 2 wheels .. told her both are but 4 wheels if rolls usually follows the rider, bike you fall off and about it ..

so she is for it just finding the right bike/deal .. have a daughter 6 too .. may need 2 !

nice thread guys

onekawboy, on 15 March 2012 - 10:44 PM, said:

Man I know what you are talking about onekawboy. He made me cry when he was three and asked for a dirtbike. Bet your ass he got one as well (see sig below)!!!! Before I left on deployment (back 09/10) I sold his KDX50 with training wheels. When I got back he wanted a quad. He was still really small for his age so I got him a cheap china quad. My theory there was I wasn't going to spend big bucks on a Japanese Brand if he didn't like it. Sure enough after about five months he wanted another dirt bike. I kept an eye out and jumped on a KTM mini adventure that I found. He now races a KTM Pro Senior.

Point is which ever way you go as long as you guys are spending family time together and are supporting him with all the appropriate safety gear, then it is worth it. Jus make sure you let him progress at his own speed. Trust me it will be slow at first. I remember days when we went to the track (45 minutes) after spending an hour loading up the truck. All he did was end up playing in the dirt with his other friends. At that age they will be hard core riding one minute see something else and not want to ride. Just go with it. Later is when they will attack the track. Have fun and start looking now.

Sweet!  So the first thing you want to do is get him comfortable with the brakes, do this in an open space, place a cone 40 feet down the field and tell him to ride up to it smooth and stop with his wheel even to the cone. Teach him the difference between front and back brake and things that can happen when using either.  Once he becomes comfortable, teack him skidding with the rear barke and how to keep it upright in a skid.
After the brakes are mastered, put two cones about 30 feet apart and have him do figure 8's around them, this teaches him cornering in BOTH directions evenly and that is very important since everyone is better at turning one way or the other, this will make him good turning both ways.
Oh this brings back memories, unfortunately, my little guy is now 12 and has ridden for more than half his life and now schools me and many others every time we go to the track.

onekawboy, on 15 March 2012 - 10:44 PM, said:

Two bikes you can't go wrong with are a PW50 and a PW80, which is exactly the combo you need.  Don't bother with training wheels. My firm belief is no motorized bike until they can ride a pedal bike w/o training wheels, not only does this encourage development of pedal bike skills, it makes for a much better prepared motorcycle rider. When the little guy has out grown the 50, big sis will be ready for another bike anyway and the hand-me-down can carry on for perhaps one bike after that. In my case, little sister ended up growing out of a new bike every year for the past four years, I'm hoping for a little break now she's on a 125L. So buy used ones. Good luck, enjoy and take lots of photos/video.

Edited by Smacaroni, 16 March 2012 - 06:09 AM.

thanks guys !!

will see what happens in the next few weeks .. both kids are vertically challenged probably will try and at least get one bike .... and go from there

matt4x4, on 16 March 2012 - 04:44 AM, said:

Thanks for the ideas Matt! I'm gonna take him out again Sunday. Hasn't stopped asking to go again since his last time out. Hard to find time between helping coach his baseball team and my work schedule.

Edited by bowtie_racer, 16 March 2012 - 09:39 PM.

I cannot say enough good things about everyone that contributes to this site!   Please keep in mind that I am a newbie to the hobby/sport but do consider myself fairly well mechanically inclined.

I, too, have a boy (8 years old) that wanted to get into bikes and I was floored when the warden was comfortable with the idea.  Of course, I ran out and within a month found him a 2000 Kx65.  I know that this particular bike was not the greatest idea to introduce a young boy to but I was afraid that a 50 would bore him too quickly.  Either way, before giving to him I researched topic after topic here at TT regarding the bike and introducing kids to bikes.  I went ahead following threads regarding the Washer mod at the exhaust header and put it in after I took a quick spin on the bike.  WOW, did it make a great difference that really squashed some of my concerns.

Well, this past weekend I was cleaning the garage and the warden and I were talking about where to keep the bike so that he couldn't find it until we gave it to him.  I said, "Let's just give it to him now" to which she agreed.  I don't think she even finished saying OK before I was running inside to get my boy.  What a great feeling it was to see him so excited.

Now you have to remember that this bike was running perfectly prior to giving it to him.  Of couse, when I go to kick it over for him it won't start.  Finally after what seems like 50 kicks it gets going.  I forced him to take the first ride on the back with dear old Dad; such an unreal feeling.  Of course with all the "test riding" I did on the bike prior to giving it to him, we ran out of gas after about 500 yards.  We push it back and I don't have any premix.  I put some together with some gas that has been sitting TOO long and the problems continue and worsen.  What a DEFEATED feeling I had sitting there trying to kick the bike over with him bouncing off the walls.  Either way he is thrilled.  So I take off to get some new gas, premix and a new gas can so that we are ready for the next day.  I am hoping that the only problem is the old gas.  Regardless, I sit there all night reading and reading about possible sources of the problems and keep coming back to the carb.

Fast forward to the next day and we are off to a local field so that he can figure this thing out.  Get the bike off the trailer and guess what, it won't fire.  OHHH AM I PISSED AT MYSELF!  I can fuming and I can see he is disappointed and frustrated.  I told him about the carb and that we can fix it no problem but will have to head home to do it.  I never want to see that look in his eyes again.  I said forget it, I WILL get this thing going.  Finally, it kicks over!!!!  I go to put it in 1st and it dies.  Again and again this happens, to the point that I am going to scream.  Finally I said screw it and set the idle screw just about as high as it will go just so he can get some riding in.  Off it goes!!!!!  I get it all warmed up and bring it back to him and he shoots me this huge smile like I just saved the world.  Right then and there I felt like Superman.

We get him all geared up and I explain that he might get frustrated trying to learn the clutch.  He tries it once and it stalls.  He tries it twice and it stalls again.  I reassure him that he will be able to get it and not to get frustrated.  He looks at me and says, "Dad, you said the clutch and the throttle work like a see-saw right?"

"Yes it does," I say.

"Ok, then can I try something then?" he said.

"Sure", I say.

He kicks it over and next thing I know I am wiping roost off my face and chest because he pinned it and took off.  I am literally jumping up and down with excitement pumping my fist making sure he doesn't dump it.  All the while I can hear him screaming, "THIS IS AWESOME!!!"

So he rides for a little and all the problems persist.  I am still pissed at myself but thought this would be a good time to teach him to work on the bike with me.  We get home and the warden has other plans.  Fast forward to today.  Again I have been searching and searching the site on how to clean and adjust the carb.  Well I can't wait for him to get home to work on it so I have some coffee and get to work.  Pull it apart.  The floats were set super high and fuel was pouring out the overflow.  As well it needed to be rejetted back to the stock position.  I get it all buttoned up, and double check the plug.  All good to go, so with some apprehension but also hope I try to kick it over.  Second kick and she starts ripping!!  Now follow that with some victory laps and I am waiting for the boy to come home.

THANK YOU to each and every contributor to this site!!!!  As I learn I will try to add anything that I might feel necessary or appropriate but do appreciate everyone associated.

Awesome story golfpromt!!!! Glad to hear it all worked out for you and you got your guy up and running. That was a good read and made my morning. Keep up the good work and stay on top of the maintenance. Starting on a 65 you are lucky to have bypassed all the 50 headaches. Keep us posted and get a video up so when can see your youngster riding. Also remember the next most important thing is keeping the "warden" happy. Keep up the good work.

Very cool.  I remember both of my boys 1st ride.  They have rode a kfx50 4wheeler since each was 4.  Once they rode their pedal bikes (like your son) I let them get on the pw50 I had bought and was sitting in the garage.  They were 6 and 5 when the started on the pw50.  Nothing like those 1st time fears (for the parents).

First time? I swear my gf would bite her fingers off each time my daughter rides for the first couple times in a season.

Smacaroni, on 29 March 2012 - 10:34 AM, said:

True that Smacs... My wife goes banana's when my son rides. And man if he crashes look out!!!! He ate it once going up a steep hill (on the gas to soon leaving a nice snake up the hill from his tire spinning. He never let off the gas!!!) and he was up and fine, but she is running towards him freaked out which in turn freaked him out. I just walk up and ask are you ok? What hurts? Look him over only to find out he is only freaked out cause she is freaked out and he is worried he hurt his bike. Makes me laugh, we pick up the bike give it a quick look over and he is back flinging dirt and I have to give my wife the same ole' he will only freak out if you freak out speach as he is flying by in the air. Yet she still comes to the track, knowing damn well what is going on... It's a love hate relationship she has with us riding. She loves to hate it!!!!

The gf rides, but she's our only daughter, and thanks to fibroids and the surgery to correct that, there's no way we're getting another one. Not that I want another one, don't get me wrong, daughters are the best, but I'd prefer to work on perfecting this one. Quality over quantity. So far, so good.