My dealer here in oklahoma new i was the one riding my 400 and he still sold it to us and im 13 also

 

This post got me curious, so I went and looked up my state's(Massachusetts) ATV laws. Turns out I break the law just about every day!

Try these.........

Age Restrictions
[*]No person under 14 years of age shall operate a recreation vehicle, except as provided below: [*]A person who is 12 or 13 years of age may operate if directly supervised by a person 18 years of age or older. [*]A person, who is 10 or 11 years of age, may operate if directly supervised by a person 18 years old or older and the vehicle is operated on land upon which the operator lives. [*]A person under 14 years of age may operate in a sanctioned race, rally, or organized event, which has been approved by the appropriate local authority. [*]Under no circumstances, may a person operate who is less than 10 years of age. [*]No person under the age of 16 and ½ years of age shall operate a recreation vehicle across a public way.

You can read the whole page here


I never knew any of that, and if I'm going to be honest about it, none of it is going to change anything I do. My 6 yr old is still going to ride, I'm still going to let my 13 yr old take off with his cousins, I'm still going to take my 9 and 12 yr olds trail riding and to the pits.

Whatever happened to letting people use their common sense to guide what they do? It's called natural selection.........it exists for a reason, why tamper with it by making laws to keep stupid people alive? Do we really need the stupid people? What exactly do they contribute to society besides serving as bad examples, and let's be honest, they can do that best by dying the way they lived, stupidly.

 

ur dealer must suck. im 14 and ride a grizz and i was with my dad wen he bought it for me and they let me ride the griz into the trailer. and i go riding every week and the trails that i ride at are right next to the yamah/kawasaki dealer and they see me riding all the time. heck, they even know me already. the people at ur dealer must be a pain in the @$$.

 

Don't blame the dealers. The manufactures insist that the dealers follow the guidelines for sales to minors to limiit liability. At least this way does make a way for many of us in many states to let our kids ride legally.

Actually, the dealers that are open about selling to underage riders are pretty stupid. They not only risk loosing their dealership but in this lawsuit happy world I would not be surprised to see someone who insisted on an oversize ride for their kid go back to the same dealer and sue them if there was ever any accident on the ATV.

Jaybee

 

Sorry folks, a lot of mis-information being passed around here... Let me try and set some of it right....

CPSC guidelines are not law.... they are voluntary requirements, however, a dealer CAN lose his franchise if they do not follow them. It is part of the deal they have to agree to when they get a franchise. So don't be mad at them if they deny a request. It is their livelyhood at stake.
The guidelines were a result of the 3 wheel debacle of a few decades ago. They were killers...

Each state has the right to design their own programs, or to not have one at all. The fact is that many states ARE using the CPSC guidelines as a starting point for their programs.. and by the way, the programs are usually in response to safety concerns.. which are almost always caused by not following commmon sense... (Two up riding, too young kid on too powerfull machine, excessive speed etc)

Now I am not ragging on parrents that DO keep a close and watchfull eye on their children's riding, but there are many.. far too many parents that do not exercise good judgement. And that is why the rules were created in the first place.

Any way, you really have to do your research to find out what teh local AUthorities are going to be enforcing. I don't know about your local area, but I can confirm that the areas I ride in frequently, DO enforce the local laws, and in some places, ATV's are getting confiscated if they catch you.

NOw I can't say what is right or wrong for each kid out there... I agree with Spike that proper fitting the child to the machine is first and foremost the safest way to go... but I also caution parents that they NOT consider buying a larger machine with the intent that the child can grow into it... That is a disaster waiting to happen. Besides, these mini atv's hold up very well in resale value, and for teh most part, if it is not totally thrashed, will usually pull a sales price within a couple hundred bucks of what you paid for it. So I have to think your kid's safety is more important that a couple hundred bucks. Heck you spend more for an emergency room visit.

ALso I want to caution mom and dad that these things are in no way be considered toys, or baby sitters. There are certain responsibilities that go with them. Like parental supervision. That means not in the house doing laundry.. it means active participation and monitoring. Anything less, and we get into that neglect realm.. which by the way IS being used to prosecute parents if the authorites find out a child was injured and mom and dad were not around...

Lastly, many of us have tried several ways to get parents and enthusasts involved in calling for a review and modification of the CPSC guidelines. Relative to that, is getting involved with local authorities to help draft or modify the state's programs.. and interject some common sense approaches like formalized programs that allow a child to demonstrate riding ability that allows them to move up in class of machine. This one point would make it so much easier to upgrade. It allso would imply a form of "License" and training program. Some will disagree, but it would have a deep impact on injury statistics if everyone was required to obtain professional training...

Good luck, and keep the wheels on the ground.

 

You make some really good points Dragginbutt. The only thing I could add is to tell parents to be VERY specific when instructing their kids. What not to do, what to do. When my son goes out riding with his cousins, they follow MY rules, mostly because all my brother ever tells his kids is "don't do anything stupid". In my opinion, that is just not good enough. When you're 13,14,15(which is the age range with my son and my nephews), stupid needs to be clearly defined!

And spot checks on whether they are riding safe helps also. I've done a few over the summer and have been very happy with what I've seen. I wait 5 minutes or so after they take off then follow and observe. You just can't get too comfortable and lax, because then they do too! If they know you might show up at any minute, it helps them remember to follow the rules.

And as much as it kills me to be in the pits and not ride, I always watch the younger one on my feet, not my quad as I'm not confident enough of his skills or judgement yet. On the trails is a little different as speed is regulated better. In the wide open areas though, I'm never more than 20 or 30 feet away.

It's a lot of work and not very much fun sometimes for me, but my kids are all in one piece and I plan on keeping them that way.

I'm done preaching now. It just drives me nuts to see a parent put a kid on a quad and assume they know what they should and shouldn't do, then are surprised and pissed when the kid gets hurt and want to sue everyone in sight.


It's just too bad "common sense" isn't all that common anymore, then some of the more ridiculous laws wouldn't have to exist.

 

Thx guys for all your help i really appreciate it and i will use common sense when riding lol. I just founda a new 05 kfx 400 for $5000 we didnt get it but we will later. The dealer asked who the quad was for and i said my dad!

 

Well I guess if you feel comfortable with misrepresenting yourself to the dealer... you are probably prepared to deal with the consequences of your actions if down the road, there is a problem with the authorities. Can't say there isn't an integrity issue here... but I understand what it is like being a kid. You be the judge.

Just understand that something DOES happen, not only are you liable for increased charges that can be levied for misrepresentation, but you are now making your parents liable for prosecution since they ultimately would be considered part of the plot...

Is it worth it?

You make the call.... but please take time to find out what they say locally is the law.... You might find that the State has no problem with it. In that case you should be golden.

 

...Ok did u have a bad experience or something? I am 13 5'11 and i can only ride a 90cc quad?! What u said was very nice and caring but if i said it was for me he wouldnt even sell it to me. I have riden my uncle's foreman with no problems and didnt get hurt i think i will be fine but thanks.

 

No not actually... What happened was I purchased an 80 CC machine from my youngest son who at the time was 7, and that is when all the problems started to happen. He like you is very big for his age, and a 50 cc would not have served him well. Also, at the time, Yamaha did not make a 50, so I bought the 80 thinking he would have no problem since it fit him well.

After trying to get professional training for him, and then being told that he could not ride it everywhere we went. (VA, WV, WI, IL) I began a fight much like the one you are starting. During my research, I found a lot of interesting statistics regarding injuries to children his age. One of the things I found was in 95% of the cases, either it involved a kid on a machine too big for them according to the CPSC, Too much speed (Which in most cases is why kids want to upgrade in the first place), and/or riding two up.

After reading litterllly hundreds of these stories, not only were my eyes opened, but my attitudes changed about the CPSC guidelines as well. I still feel that the program should involve methods to allow kids to upgrade based upon ability to demonstrate riding skills, however I will be the first one to say that I think you are over stepping with a 400 class machine at your age. And I feel confident that this opinion can be backed up with statistical information, not emotion.

Those of us that have been around for a while, will tell you that the ability to hold on and twist the throttle is only a small part of the whole picture. The ability to make rational decisions, control youthful urges etc and make split second decisions when in emergency conditions are somthing that can only be learned with time. Your reflexes are probably much faster than an adult's, but the adult rarely gets into the danger zone if they are thinking rationally.

Now I do not point this out to be picking on you... it is just a fact of life. At some point, as you get older, you will see the wisdom of that. As adults, and parents, we have a responsibility to see that not only you are able to have your fun, but also to make sure you do it safely. Until you are old enough to make those decisions, we have to be the adult and sometimes make decisions that are unpopular with our children.. but they are ones we have to make any way.

If after thinking about this for a while you still want to go bigger, I'd recommend nothing more than 250CC max. A Blaster is a potent machine to consider. But I'd have to recommend no to the 400.

The bottom line is that we know where you are coming from.. we have been there and done just about everything you can imagine other than a back flip.... so don't think we don't understand your dillema. But like I said... we can't in good conscience go along with your train of thought without pointing out the pitfalls associated with it.

(PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH YOUR PARENTS)