The really sad thing is that each year, more children are injured on bicycles than on ATV's.... but I do not hear anyone screaming... But that is another rant...

 

True, In a us accident report study for boys ages 8-15, it listed football as the number one reported accident at 20%. Basketball was second at 19.9%, Bicycles were third. ATV's didn't even make up there own catagory. Scooters were the lowest at 3%. ATV's made it into the "Other" catagory which comprised 37% but contained a total of 301 other activities. Atv's couldn't even make up 1% on there own. Pedestrian accidents made up 3.2% (falling on the sidewalk, etc) I guess tthat means you are more at risk to injury by walking down the sidewalk than riding an atv. hmmmm. This was a national study for the entire us. Obviously atving still doesn't comprise as many active users as bike riding, but that trend seems to be changing fast. I'm sure those number will be different as more and more people get involved in the sport. Still, it's a long way from the number injured due to football, basketball and bike riding. You'll never completly prevent accidents, but you can do everything you can to minimize them. Get Educated and be responsible. I think most people in here know that already.

 

Surprizingly, even though the sport's growth has been described as explosive by many, the actual numbers of injuries in many categories has DROPPED! in the past couple of years. Whether that is due to design improvements, or not is questionable. Many in the know cite training and public awareness as being the leading factor in the numbers decline. That is great news.. but we have a long way to go. One injured child is one too many... if it could have been prevented by increased vigilence and a little more common sense.

 

Unfortunately, you will always have those parents that use these quads as a baby sitter and don't even bother to watch their kids. They just strap them on and send them on there way and go back in the garage or house and do whatever. not much you can do about that. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] I was thinking of another possible idea for kid quads. I notices that on the electrics, when to take your foot or hand off of the power button, that the brakes apply...or more accurate, the motor stops the vehicle. Maybe there is a way that when electricity is stopped on a kids quad, the brakes are somhow applied to stop the quad. so as if you hit the remote kill switch and power is interupted to the quad, something applies the brakes. a relay switch or something and the brakes can be electricly applied or something along those lines. That wiould be nice rather than the quad rolling to a stop. I'm sure some one could develope the concept. Then when you remotly restarted the quad, an electric pulse or relay would release the brakes back to manual operation. What do you think?

 

On mine, the engine "brakes" come on when I hit the kill switch.

 

I am not sure this is an official feature on my son's raptor 80, but I can attest that if he takes the hand off the throttle, it stops on it's own quickly and without brake application. This is true on down hill operations as well. I've checked the brakes for signs of dragging.. not an issue. It just stops all by itself. This has saved my son a couple times when he got in over his head and froze. Luckily, he remembered to take his hand off the throttle. The bike took care of the rest. Or was devine intervention at work.. We will never know...

 

Sweet, then maybe my neighbors does as well. I've never checked. That is good to hear.

 

here's my $.02... First off, these bikes are not babysitters and are not operated without very close supervison and very strict rules.

Regarding the quad for a 4 yr old...my 9 yr old is graduating from his 80 Raptor this desert season to the 250ex. He has been riding since he was 2-1/2. Yes, that was 2 years, 6 months old. He started out on an old 84 Suzuki quad. Hubby ran behind him with the kill switch hooked to his belt loop (that was entertainment the next season..hehehe). He only rode about 50-100 feet at a time but that was fine, that is all we wanted, just some seat time. Over the next few seasons (Oct to April) he started riding circles around camp, riding in the small dunes, etc. and then in 2002, we bought him the 80. He is a natural. We don't let him out of our sight. He has mastered the 80, meaning he uses his whole body to manipulate that bike. When he goes to the 250, we'll choke it down and he will start all over with ground rules to riding rules.

Now, I have a 4yr old too. He could care less about riding when he was 2 so we didn't push at all. We would bring the bike to camp and never say a word. Last season, he wanted to ride so we put him on the '84 one day and he loved it. We were having problems with the old bike (brakes, running smoothly, etc) so we sold it and bought the 50 KFX. Now, this bike is a world of difference! The suspension is awesome compared to that old, beat-up bike. He couldn't wait to ride at the end of summer and we finally went out last weekend. After about an hour of riding, he naturally had learned to lean in to his turns, stand-up when needed, etc. Of course, he probably has watched all of us ride enough so he has picked it up but what a great thing to see. When he has mastered that bike and is ready for the next, we'll not be keeping the 80 Raptor but going to the Honda 90.

So my recommendation is either the Suzuki or the Kawasaki 50 but a newer one. It has the kill switch, throttle control and suspension.

Here is a interesting article regarding children's injuries.

Children's Hospital

And here's to all Californian's that don't know the riding laws for our state because the warning label rivoted on our bikes are not the law here, it's a manufacturer recommenation because they have to cover their butts.

California Vehicle Code

Sorry to get off topic...

 

Holy accident waiting to happen. Even I don't think a 9 year old is good on a 250.

 

Honestly it probably depends on the size and skill of the kid. There are some 9 year olds that are close to the size of a small adult woman. If the kid fits on the quad, and knows the rules, and follows them, it's probably not as big of an issue as it sounds.