As I stated early in this thread, my oldest son is 10 almost 11 and has rode our 300ex all summer. I used to think he was tall for his age, but after seeing kids playing football against him at our Boys Club, I'd say he is average in height. (about 5'-0", 100lbs) I kid you not, there were some 10 year olds that played agaist him that are 5'-10", 263lbs!!! Lets see them on a 50 or 90.
My son has always, from what I've seen, rode within his limits. Very level headed and in control. Don't get me wrong, he has crashed the 300, but so have I. (I didn't get up nearly as fast as he did) He is responsible enough that I have had him keep an eye on a new, adult rider when riding with us. I can trust him to follow up our riding group with out constant fear of him doing something stupid, and at the same time, know he can help ANY of the people in our group get through tough places.
Now my youngest son is a little different. While he rides very well for a 8 year old, he has made the hair on my back stand on end. He is almost opposite of Dragginbutts son. He is fearless when riding, and very cautious doing anything else. He is going through a growth spurt right now, that and I'm really getting tired of working on his LT80 all the time, trying to make it run quicker and faster to keep up with his abilty, that I'm compentating moving him up to something bigger and better. It seems that for the money, it really doesn't make since to dump much more money into his LT. In less than a year, he's going to be all knees and elbows on it anyways.


I believe that every kids safty should be the top concern when riding. I don't believe that the government could ever set a FAIR law about age / cc limit. How could they? There are always cases either way. Just because someone reaches a certain age does not in no way shape or form, make them mature. There are alot of people that should not be riding. At the same time, there are alot more that should not be driving, drinking, smoking, getting married, etc...... Threre are also alot of muture young people that can handle the esponsibilty of riding. I could handle the drinking at a very young age.....I don't drink, dang proud of it, never was a problem for me. Smoking was the same way. So why punish the whole when only the few need to be punished? If people would actually be responsible in life, these things would never be an issue. But because some people are not responsible, everone seems to have to face the punishment. Enough of me I'm out of here!!

 

When I started this thread I just wanted to see what age other kids started riding. My daughter is 4 years old and she is better than my 2 sons who are 8 and 9. My daughter has picked up on everything quickly but she is not put on and just let go. She rides under supervision and has all the saftey gear. I still feel that I am not doing anything wrong by letting her ride at her age even though the laws say different. According to the law my boys would be stuck on a 50 that looks like a clown car. I have one boy that is almost 100 pounds and the other is over 4 feet tall, they are to big to learn anything on a 50. I actually did a research paper in college on youth deaths on atvs and found that every one happened on a full size machine. Sorry to get on the soap box but the other problem I have is I can buy a dirt bike for my kids, they have no age restriction., why not a quad if I feel that they are old enough. Back when the age restriction was started there were very few small quads. Now the market is flooded with them. Feel that the law needs to be changed because the times have changed. Sorry about the length but needed to vent I guess. Thanks again and ride safe because our kids learn from us.

 

I'm no expert. But I havn't seen a kid under 6 years old that is ready for the responsibility of riding a quad. Others may have, or they are squinting a little bit because they don't want to wait for their children to be at a legal age.

What I do see is: Temper tantrums, defiance and acting out from anger and restriction, dents in cars, garage doors and sometimes parents legs, and all to frequently parents standing in the emergency room waiting area.

Its NEVER wrong and there is NOTHING bad about putting to young of a kid on a ATV until they get hurt or killed. THEN the same old song of "I wish I would have listened" starts to play. Sadly, you can't take it back. There is no re-wind.

If there had not been a huge increase in youth showing up in emergency rooms across the country - there would not have been the laws and restrictions that we have today. I agree that the majority of serious accidents and fatalities come from youth on to large of quad for their size.
Proper fit and ability to operate and reach the controls are primary factors in these incidents.

Maybe its becuase of the ATV accidents I've been close to - I've had to carry a neighbor boy in his casket, sit with my best friend with his son in surgery and do everything I could to not say "I told you so" to another Safety Instructor when his kid wrapped it into a tree just blocks from my house, with a helmet on and died - that I take a more conservative position. Another friend nearly lost his son from a dirt bike accident. He will never walk without support. I will never forget what he said to me - "there is nothing in the world that is worth this". His son lived. But he's lost his business becuase the insurance ran out, the money ran out and he had to home care his son. It was more than his wife could bare. She went back to her family. Nothing in the world is worth this. Those words will haunt me forever.

And the irony is that I work to help youth 12-15 get through the ATV Certification here in Minnesota so they can ride larger than 90cc quads. Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing the right thing.

 

What do you boys think about something like this for an in-between Powerwheels and a real quad? They vary by make (this is the only US site I can find and they don't give much info), but it's around 150 lbs and top speeds range from about 7-10 mph. I guess I'm curious because electric vehicle usually have good torque, unlike the kawasuki 50 and I saw one of these new (somewhere) for about $5-600 if my memory is correct. So it's a lot cheaper too! Thoughts?


Squirt's ATV

 

its really ugly.... but if your child is say 3 years old it would work i guess

 

I think I got the response I was looking for here... you see I personally think there needs to be some adjustment mechanism built into the "Guidelines" that allows for children to progress to more powerful and different size machines. Maybe the manufacturers are listening too, as I think there is a gap here that needs to be filled somehow... anyway, I would like to invite you to comment on the guidelines thread elsewhere on this forum... and get involved in any way you can when if comes to voicing your opinions. This is truly the squeaky wheel syndrome at work, and unless local, state and federal authorities are made aware that the guidelines we now are faced with are not meeting our needs, they are not going to pay any attention to it..... You need to get involved. I agree that we are the most overburdened and over regulated sport out there, and that there needs to be a consistent manner in which rules are enforced... but we will be plagued with them unless we all band together and effect the changes...

 

My son got his 01 LT50 for his 4th birthday. He just turned 7 a few weeks ago and he now races his 03 DRR 50 and rides an 04 Predator 90 for fun.

 

I know I may get alot of flack about the age my kid started riding but at the age of 1 he got a battery powered atv that lasted 6 months. He ran that thing in to the dirt fast. So at the age of 19 months i got him kfx50. Just after he turned 2 he waas riding it with no restrictions on it. He follows me all over on it. Now that he just turned 3 he is out skilled it and just rides it with no mercey. He also rides a crf 50 with training wheels and rides it on our local track. We just had his first atv race in guymon,ok about 4 weeks ago and he did really well for competing against kids twice his age with faster atvs. He learns really quick. I even let him lead at times when we go to the river to ride. For the non believers out there as to where my kid was able to ride at such a young age I can show video of him from 19 months till present day. Skill wise I think my boy can ride a kfx80 with the use of a screw stop but he cant reach the pegs yet. So if buy his 4th b-day he is big enough he will have a kfx 80. Dirt bikes and atvs is all my boy is about. I think that he lives and breaths it. i cant get him to do anything else nor will he play with anything else but atv and dirt bike toys. More power to the people that let there kids ride as soon as the kids can with responsiblity.

 

Granted your child is atypical.. most would not fall in this category. When considering other forms of motor sports, I have to wonder what the big deal is... Take your average professional race car driver... many started driving quarter midgets when they were 4. Granted, the environment is very controlled, the cars are not real fast, and everyone is going in the same direction with full roll cages over their heads etc... still, the exposure is the key... Just make sure it is something <U>they </U>want to do, and not something <U>you</U> want them to do. And please monitor their progression closely.

 

Fastnature & cruddymutt,

If I read your post 1 week ago, I would have gone vertical (like many). Starting a kid at 16 months and letting him drive with no mercy sounds crazy. That would set anyone questioning what is going on in your family. A few days ago, I was watching TV at 11:20 PM (which is rare) and seen a little clip of a national motocross rider in my area. The kid is age 4 and he's won every race since spring. Yes, age 4 and made the national sports channel. During his interview portion, he said he too was riding at age 2 (of what he can remember). The video clip also showed him take jumps, corners and do things that I wouldn't even want to try. My son at 10 doesn't have 1/2 of that kid's skills. Within the first 1 minute of watching, one would immediately tell this kid is a "Wayne Gretzky on a atv". A natural on a motocross. A the end of the clip, I also asked myself "why didn't they show this clip on the 6:30 PM news?". The reason is... Many kids would see this kid and immediately want to race motocross bikes as well. They'd be jumping up/down begging their parents to get them a motocross bike. If you have a "Wayne Gretzky on a atv" and it too is his passion in life, support him as far as you can. Who knows, he might make it on our national Sports Channel as well... Perhaps one day....

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