DB I think too many parents try to live thier lives through the kids, wether it be sports, Quads, or even school. I allways rember my dads way and try to follow his examples, so far so good. He never pushed us and only made us finish what we started but never pushed us into anything. The only way I ever disapointed him was by quitting and not sticking it out.

 

Well, you certainly were lucky to have a father like that.. and honor him by following his example. So many growing up these days don't have that luxury... and are missing something... .

 

DB, I agree with you whole-heartedly on you "long post". Well written and I think it reflexs how some of us posting here, feel[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Also, If I understand and remember currectly, WhoDatInDaMud's has posted in the past that, in Minnesota, if a child can demonstrate proper riding and the ability to ride a bigger then "reccommended" quad to a ATV instructor, he can receive a "certificate" or some other means, stating that child is authorized to be riding that quad. So, if this is true, Minnesota seems to be headed in the right direction(atleast on this topic)

 

I think mn has the right idea to bad the rest of the country couldn't follow suit, of course the goverment shouldn't have to, we as parents should be but obviously not enough of us are doing as mn does. Oh well no since in beating up this poor little pony again.

 

i wouldnt recommend gettin a mini. at the age of 10, i was riding a sp500 (im only 17), and it wasnt the best of ATV's for me as u can expect. yes i did roll it, and yea, it hurt when it landed on me once. i was riding some difficult trails on that thing too, i had to work my a$$ off to maneuver it. wasnt an easy task. i recommend gettin a smaller atv, such as a 250-300. my cousin is 8yrs old, and he rides a mojave, and he does great on it, not one prob. a 250-300 wont be too bad, and he wont outgrow it any time soon.

 

Hey don't feel bad NFL linebackers have trouble with those big old polaris's lol haha[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

LOL, I know my wife's 400L is a tank to ride[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] She loves it[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] I hate it. But hey, she's the one riding it for now. Too bad I let her ride my Z400, now she wants one too.

 

Well here goes.. another tyrade by the DB... I was saving this for a seperate thread, but I think it fits here quite well... First off, Yes, MN is very liberal in it's program.. they should be commended, and I believe people like Whodat were responsible for the level headed approach they are taking.

Now for the hammer... and forgive me if I offend some of my friends, because I know I will...so I'll say I am sorry up front and ask that you try and understand what I am saying here.

I am pretty tired of folks coming on here and saying my 8 year old rode this or that and handled it just fine. What we have said all along is that the physical ability to hang on and push the throttle has very little to do with whether a 9 year old is equipped to ride a full sized machine. If you survived your experience... so be it.. you got lucky.. We are not impressed with the "ability " to act stupid, or the decision of an adult that made it possible.

We have said all along that aside from physical ability, the MOST important trait is the ability to make Good rational decisions.. and frankly, I haven't seen a 9 year old who is capable of making these decisions when put in a life threatening situation. Oh sure, the kid may get away with it in one piece, but eventually it will catch up to him. The statistics bear this out time and again. One more kid hurt is one two many. We all agree with that I think.. but we are not all willing to practice what we preach.

I am just a guilty as the next guy. I put my then 7 year old on an 80 CC machine, knowing full well it was in violation of common sense... but I thought he could handle it. To look at my 9 year old now, you would agree with me.. but I ended up scaring the crap out of him due to my own ignorance, and now the machine is two years old, and I haven't managed to run a full tank of gas through it yet.

That is the reality of our actions as adults.

If that isn't enough, I have another subject to rail on as well.. I was on another forum today, and a dealer from NJ came online and was telling a 14 year old how to lie and cheat his way through the system so he could get a full sized 400 class ATV. What the heck kind of signals are we sending our kids? And a whole slew of "Adults" were saying the same thing... It really broke my patience...

This has to stop folks. We are taking kid's lives in our hands every time we offer advice... I am not sure I want to wake up some day thinking my advice was responsible for killing some kid.... If we are truly concerned about the safety of our children, we need to set the proper example. First and formost, we need to make sure that they are operated in a legal manner, and that we teach our children that they should comply with all the laws of our county.. not just the ones that are convenient for us...If your state allows something, so be it... the important thing is that they learn respect for our country, and it's laws. They don't always sit well with us.. they are not always convenient... but they must learn respect when they are young if we expect them to show respect when they are older...

OK, I am off my box...

DB

 

DB, I agree with you on what you posted. I hope my post above, about the 400L doesn't imply that I endorse Gopher's action of riding a "too large" atv. I don't. I didn't remark on it becuase, I have learned it doesn't matter, People like that will argue "they got away with it" and let the next kid do it, too. I look at the age and maturity of their post. I think we have added mature, respectful, common sense, to the thought process of buying a child/kid a quad.