Thanks for the responses. Tree Farmer brings up a very good point. Here's a little more information about what took place after the wreck.

The kid come and told me what had happened and said the quad was wrecked but not too badly damaged. I went to survey the damage and I kind of lost my temper. I first got after the kid that wrecked it and then I got after my 22 year old Sister in law who was the adult along on the ride. I asked her where she was at, at the time and how in the heck did he manage to wreck on a flat dirt road? It wasn't until later that I found out she had stopped to allow one of the other kids along for the ride to take a potty break in the bushes. The others went around a bend in the road and that's when the kid began to show off and crashed.
After I sorted out the facts and calmed down a little bit, I appologized to my sister in law.
By now the kid that wrecked had been chewed out by me and his Grandfather ( Come to find out, after the fact, he had wrecked his Grandpa's quad about a year earlier pulling a similar stunt. ) The kid and his Grandparents were staying in another cabin about 6 miles from ours and after they left and I calmed down I drove to their cabin and I appologized to the kid for the way I had reacted and I told him almost exactly what TREE FARMER said in his post. I told him that I was sorry for getting angry and that my machine could always be replaced but he couldn't and I shouldn't have been so selfish and only thought of myself and my machine. I made sure he was alright. I do feel partly responsible and that's why I decided to eat approximately half of the repairs. The reason I got so upset about the wreck was because I was planning on putting my Foreman up for sale this week and buying a brand new ATV. I've realized now that I don't " need " a new machine and that I should be thankful that no one was hurt seriously or killed.

I've learned a few things from this incident-
1. Accidents happen, no matter how hard we try to prevent them.
2. Think, before I react.
3. Boys will be boys.
4. Never let someone ride my machine unless I'm present, don't count on someone else to supervise my equipment.
5. Get all of the facts before making a judgement.
6. Always wear a helmet.
7. Never be afraid to admit that your wrong, appologize if necessary.

 

i allowed to borrow my new 99 foreman 450es for one ride. the gentleman was in his 50's and a responsible person. i jokingly said you break it you bought it.....when he brings the bike home he parks it in my shed and dosen't say anything. a few days later i go to get something and i think i must have a low back tire. a closer inspection reveals that in the rear the bike is 2 inches lower on one side. bent frame,rack. he evidently cliped a tree with the back corner of the rack and tweaked the frame. i had to go confrnt him and at first he said he didn't notice anything wrong. well long story short i finally got him to pay for damages and sold the bike at a loss.
moral; when asked to borrow i say, "i once had a bad experience on a loner and i don't do it anymore."

 

LOL TRX300EXX!! My sentiments exactly.

It would be one thing if the wreck would have been an honest mistake. But pulling a stunt like that on someone elses machine, he deserves whatever comes to him (be it broken bones, repair bill, or both).

You can screw around with your own stuff all you want, but when you're using someone elses stuff, you treat it like gold.

 

yeah i know how you feel man!!! NEVER EVER BRING YOUR QUAD OUT AT YOUR PARTIES EITHER!! I let a friend of mine ride my 450s at one of my parties, this girl knew nothing of how to ride, and she flies at about 35 into a telephone pole!! luckily for me, the only damabe was a bent a-arm, bent front bumper, mauled plastic, bent front rack. after that i never let anyone ride my 450s. Now no one can ride my 400ex. Never ever let anyone who dosen't own a quad themselves ride your own.. big mistake..

 

Big bummer. I used to tell my teenage son and his friends you break it you fix it. Well that didn't work. So I use that to my advantage. No one takes one of my quads unless they are going riding with me. The good news is metal and plastic can be replaced...

 

The neighborhood kids always want to ride my kids Eton 90. I ALWAYS tell them NO. I know they think I am mean, but I don't care. First off, I don't know these kids or their parents, & Second, I don't want them to damage my quad.

I learned a similiar lesson years ago when my room mate wrecked my race bike, a Suzuki GSXr-750.

I needed a new rear tire, he voluteered to take it to where he worked at the local motorcycle shop & have one put on.

Later that night, I get a phone call from this guys aunt saying he had been in a wreck. He was showing off doing wheelies up & down a four lane road, when he hit a car.

As I am driving to the hosipital, I was mad as HELL, I thought what was he doing on the road. The 'zuki wasn't street legal. When I got to his room ready to chew his *** out, I saw him laying there with many broken bones. The anger went away, & all I could think about was my roomate & friend. Our toys can be replaced but people can't.

My 'zuki totaled. My racing days were over. I was out about $12,000 back in 1989, that was a lot of money.

 

Lent an ATV to a freind to go camping well some others showed up took mine while they were sleeping and totalled it! they guy was also a friend of mine . he did not think I would care, he spiral broke his ankle in 3 places, he limps to this day. He could not pay for it, his mother offered , but I refused. I politely say NOPE when people ask to use my ATV.

 

You all have made me scared to invite my friends but im always a jerk once they come over and my dad gets mad cuz he says "You invite them to ride and then you don't even let them have fun." And I just want my friend to watch me do stunts and follow me around and lose to me in races. (God I have no guts) but I have fun. But when I let my friends ride they always are within my site or behind me. However, there have been accidents with first timers about half the time. I let someone ride my TRX125 (a couple years back) and he luckily took my helmet. He forgot which side the brakes were on and went through the fence; a couple broken ribs and some scars. the ATV couldnt make turns so I had to fix that. Then I let my friend follow my Recon in the TRX125 and he rammed me in the back, breaking my rear light. Also, 2 guys took my trx125 (a couple years back again when I didnt have my Recon). they rode together and lost control of the quad flipping it back. All these accidents were done by first day riders and seemed like responsible people.

The worst thing is when Im away and others ride my quad without me present. THEY HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO RIDE AND KILL THE ENGINE IM SURE OF IT. And my farmer tells me what they do and I GET SO ANGRY but Im helpless. Is there anyway I can do a couple tricks to my ATV so only I (or people I teach how) to run it. The only idea Ive got is turn off the engine, but then idiots would just try starting it for 10 minutes. Plus the 300ex isnt the easiest thing to start especially for someone who doesnt know anything about quads and they ruin it trying to start it.

I know I've swayed off the topic, but I just say that its YOUR QUAD and LET ONLY YOUR FRIENDS RIDE IT THAT YOUR WITH.

 

Whats the Phrase: Neither a lender nor borrower be? I learned this lesson by being on the other side of the fence. I did not yet have a quad and an aquaintance let me borrow his Polaris sport. Well its night and I go climbing up a hill that I should not have(always happens that way) anyhow, I almost made it, but didnt. So Im backing down and unfortunately his tail light was not working so I could not see behind me very well. Just at the base of the hill I catch a branch that kinda grabbed my bars to the right, causing me to tip over to the left. Now, there was no damage to the quad, it was very low speed, but It made me sick to think that I COULD HAVE done some damage to someone elses machine. Thats when I said that Im not going to borrow anybodies quad, nor is anyone gong to be borrowing mine...

RoostKing...

 

My dad used to let my freind ride our old YFM225 and our 300ex.HE had a qaud a numboer of years ago so he knew what he was doing.Well one day I am showing off a little doing wheelie's and so he tries it hit a rock and flips the ex.He is alright but the ex has a broke right front fender.I take the blame for it but now my freind can't ride any of our atv's anymore.