I was wondering if any of you long time riders can give me some tips on riding better. My second time actually taking out my mojave, I was trail riding with buddies and doing stuff I really had no business doing at my experience level. Well after jumping tons of stuff and climbing tons of hills, my day was brought to and end by a hill climb gone bad. I am now laying in bed with 6 bones in my back broke, plus for a short time my left lung was partially collapsed, but its ok now. I hate this though, I am already itching to get back on my quad but it will be a while before I can I am sure. Anyways. Can you guys give me some tips as to how to go into jumps better, and how to climb hills better? I plan on replacing my handlebars with Renthal bars since they got bent, and my tires aren't the best so I was looking at Razr 2's in the front, and probably the original razr's in the back to help me control it better.

 

it will all come natural to u as u ride but when did this happen....one thing to reamber if it dont feel comfterble to u b4 u do it dont do it

 

it happened a week ago exactly last saturday, around this time actually.

 

wow that sucks was u wearing ur helment...u gotta tell us the story if u dont mind

 

Yeah, I had on my helmet, gloves, and knee/shin pads (mainly got these because of that damn kickstarter whacking my shin), the only thing I wasn't wearing and wish now that I had been was my chest protector. Anyways, I was trail riding with my buds and my buddy has a Suzuki quadsport 400 that seems much more nimble then my mojave, anyways he was in front i was behind him, and my buddy that has the same quad as me was behind me. So what happened: Suzuki guy was flying down the trail and i was right on his tail (10-15 ft back) and he comes to this hill and shoots right up, no problem. So I follow, but I don't think I stood up like I was supposed to, and when i got to the top there was a lip and my quad popped a wheelie then fell back, I held on till about half way back when I fell off, it fell on top of me, it rode me down the hill about 10 ft, then something caught it and made it roll off of me, and i slid about another 12 feet down the hill. My buddy behind me saw the whole thing and said I was convulsing when he got to me. I just remember laying there in a ton of pain, trying to get my helmet off. And the funny thing was, the only thing I was worried about was if my quad was ok. So after a while I got up and got back on my quad rode it out to the truck and sat there for a bit. Started feeling better and hoping that I only bruised my back i got back on and did some light trail riding, which felt better at first, but when i stopped it hurt worse. So then we loaded up and I went to the hospital. I had partially collapsed my left lung and broke the fins on my vertebrae in six different places. I got really lucky. And next time I ride I will always wear my chest protector.

 

wow u are really lucky u had mi trailblazer land ontop of me b4 and i didnt have mi helment on i was in mi front yard and there was a snow bank and i was onto of the snow and there was and icy patch and i could turn so i went strait and hit the bank and i tryed to keep my wheeler adn mi self from coming over and me coming off of it needless to say mi left knee was in pain for a few days and mi back was soar other than that i got wicked lucky and from the sounds of it u did also

 

I went from a mojave to a KFX400. Talk about a jump in power. (bought it in March, tons of snow still)

we were doing our perimeter run, in the snow. I was so used to my Mojave going around corners, even in the snow I didn't think about it. I was going around a corner, and just started to slide. Well, I slid right into a tree. I actually didn't even hit it that hard at all, but it was surprising more than anything. The only part that sucked is the angle I hit the tree at, it spun the tires/handle bar and I lunged into the handle bar with my stomach. Ouch!

Trailblazer is right. It all comes with time. It's hard to say though... You think you get used to it, and then you ride on a completely different terrain, and get surprised. My recomendation is to always take a semi-caution run in a trail first if you're unfamiliar with it. It's always better to be safe then sorry. Plus, the longer you're healthy, the more you can ride!!!

hope you heal up quickly so you can get out.

 

Thanks Dr. Randall. I did forget to do something though, there were two riders that were already up the hill yet just happened to notice what happened. I don't know their names, but I do want to say thank you to you guys, if you ever happen to read this. The guys stopped without knowing anything about me and stayed there until I was able to get up. That made me really feel like there is still hope left for the human race, and it hasn't gone down the crapper entirely. On the other hand there were 2 more guys that were sitting closer then the other 2 and just drinking a few beers that barely even raised an eye at me. So, you win some you lose some... Since I am so new, do you guys think it would be good for me to take one of those safety courses that I have heard about?

 

Yes. A safety course is always a great idea. They should be able to teach you things that you dont usually practice until you absolutely need to, such as hill turns when your atv cant make it up a hill. It is better to learn how to do stuff the right way early on so you dont build bad riding habits. Thats my opinion anyway. But overall just like trailblazer and DrRandall said, it just takes practice to get better. Try not to let your riding buddies talk you into doing things that you dont feel comfortable doing because even if you or your atv are capable, the moment you doubt your actions it can cause you to mess up when you are driving. Be confident and do your best to ride within your abilities. Try new things but just like riding a bike, you dont want to try to jump over a car the first day you learn to ride, you practice smaller ramps and work your way up.

 

you might as well sign up for one man. It is about 4 hrs long (I could be wrong), but they pay you to take it.

Depending on what you tell them...

First time rider- 100$
Experienced- 50$

This is Kawasaki, I'm not sure what the other people pay...but I'm sure it's around the same.
Your local dealer should have the number, the sites might even have them.