My brother-in-law and I just purchased 2003 E-Ton Sierra's for our 7 year old sons for Christmas. They have a longer wheel base than the Viper and come with 2 headlights and front and rear racks - like a full sized utility quad. I was quite impressed with how they rode with my 200lbs on them. For $1599 I'm pretty happy.

I would like to have my son take a training course one day, but for now I want to train him myself to get him started. What topics should I cover? Is there a website that outlines what is covered in a true training course? What should I have him do to master the basics? He's never ridden before so I want him to learn good habbits from the beginning.

Thanks
Don

 

Try this site out for starters: ATV Safety

 

Definately look through that ATV SAFETY website that is posted.

You can make up your own little course for him to ride on. Make your own cones by getting anything that will work. I gallon milk jugs with a little sand or dirt in them work well. You can even paint them if you want. Remind him often that SAFETY is #1. Helmets, goggles, gloves, boots, long sleeve shirt and long pants. Keep speed down while learning. Teach him how to use his body weight while turning, i.e. lean into the turn. I would teach him some of these basic elements of riding, which you can easily set up using "cones". I'm sure there are more, but these would be good to start with.

Riding in a straight line, practice accelerating and breaking smoothly
Making "sweeping" or "big" Left and Right turns
Making "tight" Left and Right turns
Set up a "figure 8" course
Set up a serpentine course
have small minor objects to ride over, can start with just 2x4's to get used to the "bump"
Find some minor hills to go up and down

One you show him and have him ride and master these, you can have a little fun with the same exercises, while teaching him how to think and to make decisions. For example, set up a course where he is riding straight towards you. Have cones set up for both a LEFT and RIGHT turn. When he get to a certain point, give him a signal to make either a LEFT turn, RIGHT turn, or STOP. He then has to think about it and do the correct one. You can set up a course for him to ride and place objects throughout that he will have to avoid. You can also make up whatever other type of games you can think of for him. I'm sure you'll come up with some good stuff.

Bottom line is for BOTH of you to have fun while teaching. It is really fun and I'm sure you will both have a blast. Not sure what size the Sierra is, but if you get mom (or dad) to take a ride through the course, kids get a kick out of that.

Good luck and I hope I gave you enough to get started and you can take it from there.

 

Great suggestions! Thanks a lot! I'm sure we are going to have plenty of fun doing this.

Don

 

Yes you will have fun. It'll let him have a good time and want to continue doing it. He'll think mom and dad are cool.

Good Luck

 

dszydel

Not sure of you are still reading this thread........
Just wondering how much fun you are having yet?????????? Hope it's going well. Also, what size quads did you buy? Is the Sierra a 90?? Do you know the difference between the Sierra and the Viper, I didn't know E-Ton had 2 models?

Have Fun

 

Teh Sierra is a 150 or 125. Can't remember which. ABout the same as a Breeze Yamaha.

 

The Yukon is the 150cc machine.The Sierra is a 90cc but looks like an older design,not as racy looking as the viper.Viper has manual choke and rear hydraulic disk.I'm sure there's lots of other things.

 

teh ATV Safety institue may not let your son ride that quad in their safety class... they are really strict about the CPSC guidelines, and they say that your 7 yo should be on a 50.

You may need to borrow a 50 or they may be able to supply a quad for the class.

Bryce

 

Thanks for all the information, guys! The Sierra model is a 90cc 2 stroke. We haven't started training yet since this is a Christmas present for him. I'll have it sitting on the patio with a red bow on it and tell him to look out the patio door when we wakes up. I wasn't impressed with the 50's I looked at and they look like they would be too small for him next year. The Viper is a Raptor clone with the same engine as the Sierra. It also has wide tires in the rear and narrow ones in the front. The Sierra has a longer wheel base and the same size tires all the way around.

Don