New dirt ride for the boy

[Dan Filetti]

As part of my motorcycle indoctrination program, I bought my son a used CRF80 for his 10th birthday.  This is an upgrade from the CRF50 he and his twin sister have been sharing/ [thrashing] for the past 2 years.

He had ridden such a bike, that his friend owns recently and fallen in lust with the additional power, and clutch action (that's my boy!!), so I guess I should not be so surprised with his immediate fluency with it, but still, I was.  He banged through the gears, working the brakes effectively, dropped a leg for stabilization in the corners and weighted the pegs like a natural.  I was both proud and impressed.

My wife is worried that it's too big for him, but visually it fits him much better than the 50 has been for a while now.  We've been having the safety discussions; look-ahead, throttle control, braking management and body position, which in my mind, is fairly proactive.  But we're still in that honeymoon-phase where he could get hurt and it'd be all-my-fault...

These are the risks we take as dads, I guess.

In the end, I admit it's fairly fun to see it unfold.  Anyway thought I'd share.

Dan

 

[Lotsokids]

That's very cool, Dan. I learned on a Honda 100 at about 8 or 9 years old. It was too big and heavy, but I made it work. I always wished for a smaller, more manageable bike.

Sounds like you did a good job getting the needed training in.

[racerman_27410]

that is so kewl!

My little nephew is now 7 and has been riding his CRF50 since he was 4.

I cant hardly keep up with him in the woods anymore.... he is just too low to the ground and can get around the trees faster than i can on a much taller bike.

its loads of fun chasing him though i am a little hesitant about him having a clutch bike.....See we have this giant sippy hole on our trail that he now gets too before me.... i might wind up getting covered in mud when he gets a clutch as i have already demonstrated the mud hole burnout/spray the following rider technique for him.   

KOokaloo!

[junkyardroad]

Very cool.  I also like riding with my son.  He started on  PW50 with training wheels the summer he turned 2. Now he is 10 also. His main scoot was moms ex XR100, and he handled it very well. Then kinda started griping about it and offered to do some yard work if moms CRF230 could be made available. Here he is on the Sevenmile Rim trail in Moab about a month ago.


Mom no longer has a dirtbike. (Unless she rides the 100)

Now he wants a friggin KTM. Those high grades buy a lot of latitude around here.