Kids and dirtbikes, any advice or insight?

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Charlie don't surf
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Re: Kids and dirtbikes, any advice or insight?

Post by Charlie don't surf »

Attack of the YZ490!!!! :lol: when I was being recruited to run Northgate Motorcycles in Pittsburgh they treaded me to my first GNCC race experience in WV (hated it). Since I was flown in I had no race bike, but the owner if the shop loaded up 5 fresh tuned CRF450's plus gear- after gearing up I was offered a KX500, or a busted ass worn out, broken rear brake pedal, bald tire KTM 300EXC. Guess which one I did one lap on :lol:

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Re: Kids and dirtbikes, any advice or insight?

Post by Winger »

Awesome thread....i picked up a 70 for my daughter (6) last winter. No riding it this year as I just don't think she is ready, but she sits on it and plays when we are working in the garage. She has already grown from then to now.

I think I will practice with her by pushing the bike first and letting here learn how to stop it with the brakes and simulating the kill switch before we actually turn it on.

Got to get her a pair of boots yet, but got the other basics. Now I have to find a good place to ride it. flipwills11 found the perfect place to start.

Definitely doing great in first gear...i will try that idea too when we get there.

I had to buy this motorcycle and then tell the wife :lol:

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Re: Kids and dirtbikes, any advice or insight?

Post by longboardnj »

Charlie don't surf wrote:Attack of the YZ490!!!! :lol: when I was being recruited to run Northgate Motorcycles in Pittsburgh they treaded me to my first GNCC race experience in WV (hated it). Since I was flown in I had no race bike, but the owner if the shop loaded up 5 fresh tuned CRF450's plus gear- after gearing up I was offered a KX500, or a busted ass worn out, broken rear brake pedal, bald tire KTM 300EXC. Guess which one I did one lap on :lol:
how was the kx500? did it start easy? how was that power valve motor i hear its like a tractor motor not a 2stroke(no snap to powerband) ? i always liked the kx500 cause 1988 to (i think) 2003 was the same bike.. i thought about racing gncc with a quad,so i went to the track before the race.it was so rocky the people taking care of the track had broken parts and flat tires.. i was like forget this im not paying alot of cash to race and killing my quad ..

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Re: Kids and dirtbikes, any advice or insight?

Post by PBR Allstar »

I accidentally had a CR500 for a little while, non PV. It was violent at the very least. I say accidentally because I was racing 500cc winged outlaw karts at the time and the CR & KX were the engines of choice. I saw a local ad for a '91 cr 500 for a price I couldn't refuse, I was just going to part it for the engine, when I got the bike it looked like it had been ridden maybe 5 or 6 times. I just couldn't let myself tear it apart. Coincidentally I took it to the track a couple times which ended up like this: get there early in the morning, make two laps, get scared, change shorts. After lunch, two laps, get scared, change shorts. Before leaving, half lap, splatter myself overshooting a small jump. The other outing with the bike was to pismo dunes with a paddle tire. I think I rode the bike a mile the whole weekend, just plain frightening. The funny thing about it being like a tractor, is that it was, in slow corners on the track you could litterally feel the rear tire slip with every stroke, and then if you didn't short shift it and let it get up on the pipe it felt like getting hit in the back with a train!

Recently I did some barter work and wound up with a very nice, fresh motored RM250 'zuki, I'm going to use the engine in a UAS style wedge go kart, but figured I better have a spin on the bike first make sure the clutch, tranny, etc. was good. I took it out to a dirt road outside of town and coincidentally I short shifted the top gears after 3rd gear almost got really messy with the front wheel an honest 18" off the ground (I was up on the bars in 1st and 2nd, but figured a 250??? no enough poop to do anything stupid after 2nd, WRONG!!!)


As far as getting your children into bikes, that's awesome! I struggle with my son with karting and bmx, seems video games nowadays have a draw I cannot understand (we don't have them in our house, but everyone else does), back when I was a kid, if you game me something with wheels and an engine, I was gone when the sun came up, and either back when it broke or the sun went down!

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Re: Kids and dirtbikes, any advice or insight?

Post by slotcarrod »

This is my kid Cody Littau with one of his sponsors!

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Cody Littau
His 2 smoke, that currently needs a rebuild! :cry:

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Re: Kids and dirtbikes, any advice or insight?

Post by longboardnj »

PBR Allstar wrote:I accidentally had a CR500 for a little while, non PV. It was violent at the very least. I say accidentally because I was racing 500cc winged outlaw karts at the time and the CR & KX were the engines of choice. I saw a local ad for a '91 cr 500 for a price I couldn't refuse, I was just going to part it for the engine, when I got the bike it looked like it had been ridden maybe 5 or 6 times. I just couldn't let myself tear it apart. Coincidentally I took it to the track a couple times which ended up like this: get there early in the morning, make two laps, get scared, change shorts. After lunch, two laps, get scared, change shorts. Before leaving, half lap, splatter myself overshooting a small jump. The other outing with the bike was to pismo dunes with a paddle tire. I think I rode the bike a mile the whole weekend, just plain frightening. The funny thing about it being like a tractor, is that it was, in slow corners on the track you could litterally feel the rear tire slip with every stroke, and then if you didn't short shift it and let it get up on the pipe it felt like getting hit in the back with a train!

Recently I did some barter work and wound up with a very nice, fresh motored RM250 'zuki, I'm going to use the engine in a UAS style wedge go kart, but figured I better have a spin on the bike first make sure the clutch, tranny, etc. was good. I took it out to a dirt road outside of town and coincidentally I short shifted the top gears after 3rd gear almost got really messy with the front wheel an honest 18" off the ground (I was up on the bars in 1st and 2nd, but figured a 250??? no enough poop to do anything stupid after 2nd, WRONG!!!)


As far as getting your children into bikes, that's awesome! I struggle with my son with karting and bmx, seems video games nowadays have a draw I cannot understand (we don't have them in our house, but everyone else does), back when I was a kid, if you game me something with wheels and an engine, I was gone when the sun came up, and either back when it broke or the sun went down!
cr500s were one of my favs for a few reasons. they didnt have power valves ,always had steel frame and had 18" rear wheel. just too much bike,and they can be a pain to start. if they made cr500 a cr300 it would be the perfect bike for me. as for the suzukis i drove a rm125 a bit it was fun but the lt250s i drove were a ton of fun. just like you said floor it and get up on the bars cause the front is goin up. glad to see people still like 2strokes .
congrats on the sponsors rod very cool

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Re: Kids and dirtbikes, any advice or insight?

Post by THEYTOOKMYTHUMB »

My wife says she's still too young, but I think she's just about ready for a Big Dog.

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Re: Kids and dirtbikes, any advice or insight?

Post by Charlie don't surf »

Anyone here not seen this movie?

http://www.hulu.com/watch/79438

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Re: Kids and dirtbikes, any advice or insight?

Post by RC10resto »

That was required watching when I was in grade school :wink:

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Re: Kids and dirtbikes, any advice or insight?

Post by kaiser »

i've been toying with the idea of builing my boy a 3hp mini bike. he'll be 4 in july and can already ride a 2 wheeler with no training wheels.

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Re: Kids and dirtbikes, any advice or insight?

Post by slotcarrod »

Charlie don't surf wrote:Anyone here not seen this movie?

http://www.hulu.com/watch/79438
Oh Yes! On Any Sunday is one of the all time great motorcycle movies! Watched it the other day on Netflix! Jeff Ward was the little kid bustin the sweet wheely, cocked sideways lookin at the camera! :mrgreen:
Damn Steve McQueen was fast! :shock:

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Re: Kids and dirtbikes, any advice or insight?

Post by longboardnj »

slotcarrod wrote:
Charlie don't surf wrote:Anyone here not seen this movie?

http://www.hulu.com/watch/79438
Oh Yes! On Any Sunday is one of the all time great motorcycle movies! Watched it the other day on Netflix! Jeff Ward was the little kid bustin the sweet wheely, cocked sideways lookin at the camera! :mrgreen:
Damn Steve McQueen was fast! :shock:
i have not watched on any sunday after my dad passed away a few years ago . my parents house didnt have tv so we watched movies all the time. on any sunday was a fav for me and my dad and we watched it alot.. always think of this song and my dad when i think of on any sunday... crazy i played this vid and felt happy and very sad at the same time.. [youtube]74KjtPHHCWk[/youtube]

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