Thanks, Aaron. You've got this down pat. I could learn allot from you. I'll send you my address through a pm.

I uploaded a picture of the Yamaha I found in my album. Tell me what you think, if you don't mind. It's a little bigger than I hoped but, I can't beat the price...lol.

 

Got that address and responded to your PM....will drop some stickers in the mail in the next couple days.....enjoy that Kazuma....its a nice looking quad.

 

Heck Ive got fuel filters on my Hondas and KTM.

My little dude(about 17 years ago when he was 4) Fell in the mud after riding on 2 wheels for about 2 weeks... Wouldnt ride for about a month...

 

I wish I got my kids on 2 wheels at 4. lol The only paved surfaces we have [for riding bikes] is the road. My 6 year old likes his bike. My 4 year old is lazy and pedaling requires work. Needless to say, they can both run lines on a sloop but, don't ride bikes very well.

My 4 year old told me he wants to ride his "4 wheeler" later today.

Progress...

 

I wouldnt let my boys ride a dirt bike until they could ride a bicycle without training wheels. Oldest son asked me to take them off his bicycle when he was about 3.5. i couldnt believe it... he could balance.. youngest son was a week or 2 before turning 4. At the time I wasnt into quads at all... but did have a little minibuggy I made for them..Here is a pic of it with my oldest g/s in it..My youngest son loved this thing..

 

I've been lax in the bike department. I too could ride w/o training wheels at 3-1/2. I should have pushed it more. They are both soccer players and quite good. They can run for the length of a game without being winded and are very coordinated. I always said that they wouldn't get anything motorized until they could pedal. We did have an battery powered gator for my oldest when he was not quite 2. [my wife got it because she had to go back to work and felt guilty] He had a tricycle that he pedaled and I gave in...lol.

I won't rush them. They'll get it when they get it. As long as they get exercise, I'm happy. I just gave in to a Wii this Christmas. I was grumbling about fat kids with game controllers then I saw my kids boxing and playing tennis on the Wii. Sweating their little asses off. Being an older parent, and the gap in generations, has its moments. I bring enough "old school" to balance it out, I guess.

 

My boys had dad riding a dirt bike so there was a bit of motivation to ride a bicycle. My boys also played soccer, baseball, football, video games,etc...sort of seem like a blur now with them 24 and 22.

 

What a difference a day makes. I figured he just needed time. Now he wants to do wheelies...

This is Griffon at 4.

 

Very cool!! He looks happy to me..

 

Well, here's a story...

Yesterday, New Year's Eve, around 4PM, my older son is riding the Meerkat around the field. As he turned around and headed toward me, I could see the left front wheel didn't look right. I told him to stop and went and looked at it. The dust cap was missing and the castellated nut was missing. I took off the other side and the cotter pin was gone but, the nut hadn't moved much. Luckily the wheel stayed on. I found the dust cap in the grass but, no nut. I ran my nail magnet back and forth but found nothing.

I told my son to park it, we jumped in the truck and headed out to find a castellated nut...or something to replace it. We went to "Farm and Dog" [Central Tractor ..because they sell allot of overpriced, Chinese-made junk...lol] and they were closed for the holidays.

I went back down the road to Lowe's. Spent 10 minutes going through their bolt drawers. The nut measured to be [sort of] 1/2-20. But I figured it was more like 9/16ths. Roughly 14-15mm. The bin was empty, they don't sell anything past 1/2" in machine thread, even though they sell crappy machinery that would require it... They had a few castellated nuts but, nothing close to the size. Finally asked for help from some guy in a Lowe's vest who was standing idly by, scratching his ***. He told me it wasn't his department but he'd find someone who could help me and slowly walked off. Finally some fat kid waddles up and tells me, "if it ain't in the bins, we ain't got it..." [I'll say...] Meanwhile I'm carrying my 40lbs. 4 year old who decided he needed a nap. I didn't bother getting a cart because I thought, how long could it take? After 20 wasted minutes, we left.

I went over to The Home Depot...closed. Then, a stroke of genius. Auto parts stores. [genius comes slowly sometimes] I walk into Autozone thinking since, 60% of the cars in the area are Japanese lawnmowers, they must have metric...even a ny-loc nut in the size I need. Nope. The have little spinning racks and the largest size they have...1/2". I finally grabbed a bunch of washers and some cotters and went out. Since Napa was closed, as they run on old-fashioned banking hours, I thought maybe Advance Auto. They're just Auto Zone in a different suit.

By this time the kids are hungry so we go to BK and eat. Not my favorite but, what the hell, it's my job as a parent to feed my kids on occasion.

This morning I get up as normal. The basement is flooded again. The sump pump crapped out so I get a construction pump and drain it. Turns out the old pump is a goner. I ripped the float switch apart and rigged it into a receptacle box, mount it on the wall and plug in the pump. Works like a charm and I'll forget about replacing the pump before I finish typing this. The well pump for the house is acting up so I tend to that. Turns out the well point is probably clogged and it's 65 feet down...

So, after fooling around with all this water nonsense, [we live on a river just north of the bay and 20 minutes to the ocean...it's ALL water] I finally turn my attention to the Meerkat. I grab the washers and cotters and go to work. You know when you're in a hurry and going from place to place with no luck and you sometimes lose your train of thought? Well, for some reason I forgot that I KNEW the axles weren't 1/2" but bigger. I had grabbed 1/2" washers. Now I'm just pissed. I jump in the truck, pissing and moaning about Chinese quads and crappy retail outlets that steal business from Mom and Pop stores and decide what products I need without knowing...

As I'm heading up the road, I see the local cycle shop is open. I thought, oh good, I wanted to go there anyway...two birds with one stone. I hand him the nut and he says..."Chinese axle nut..." I asked him how he knew and he said, "Look at it...it's crap." I asked him if he had a "good one" and he said, "Nope." [so the Chinese won that round] He was actually nice and very helpful. Just didn't have the nut I needed. I keep heading up. I decide to stop in Advance Auto. They direct me to the "Nuts and bolts section" which just so happens to be the EXACT display that Advance Auto has. Since Central Tractor [Farm and Dog] was definitely closed, I had to do something. I decide to go down that aisle, "HELP" products, or whatever they are. In the middle of the display, in plain site, is a package of fine-thread, castellated nuts. Assorted sizes...$5.98 a package...I grabbed two.

Anyone need any castellated nuts? I have 2-3/8", 2-1/2" and 2-5/8"

I'll sell them at a discount...lol.

The benefit is, they're REAL nuts. The guy at the cycle shop was right. The nut that came off the kid's quad was a flimsy piece of crap. Maybe this worked out for the best...as long as I don't add up my time, fuel and the price of castellated nuts on a holiday.

Happy New Year!