This may seem a bit dumb,but when I watch my son ride his RedCat 110 it sometimes scares me.I think he might flip it,hit something,or just mess up some how.

I'm tring my best to teach him how to shift his weight and not steer too sharp in turns,not to do spinouts in the yard.

Has or does anyony felt/feel that way to?I just dont want to see him get hurt.The quad is stable,I can get goin fast turn it and not even think of it flippin,but as soon as he gets on it I start to woory.My most often phase is "SLOW DOWN",even thogh he he might not even be goin 15 mph.

Am I being over protective/worried?

 

Nope, welcome to parenthood. Just shows you're a good parent and worry about your son, but not to the extent to take all the fun out of his life.

But the bad news. He is gonna have some type of accident sooner or later. Hopefully it's a minor one. The best you can do is prepare him for the crash. All the gear you can get for him, do it.

One nice thing about these mini's, you can set them on it, and tip them over. (not while it's running) You can control the tip to keep it from going over on them, and they get a sense of how to bail. Note: it's possible they can kick you in the face too. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]

Good luck with him and hope he stays safe.

 

Oh yeah dude! I feel your pain. When my son started riding about four years ago he ran into everything if it moved or not, went through a lot of fiberglass repair and fusion paint,but no flips. I have litterally been on his *** and kinda hard about it too sometimes feeling bad about whatever action I had taken. 2 years ago his 90cc Pantera from Pep Boys blew up,he broke down crying. So without hesitation (and preapproval from wife cause mommas baby was upset) I searched and made the investment of a Yamaha Grizzly 125. He has ridden the bike without incident even though I'm still on him(we will have large groups of 8-9 kids riding at one time) telling him to slow down, watch spacing, leaning, stay together and so on. This past weekend for the first time him and I rode together at an atv park where we had met several people that joined us, tottal strangers. He rode perfect, everything I had tought him showed with numerous comments from other riders on his ability for technical situations and his controll af his bike. He went through everything I went through and there was a lot of deep water and some nasty mud with just a little nudge every now and then. ( see places to ride,
slades Park March 3rd. 4th page comment from Misterhappy, on my son.) I am not bragging but It almost brought a tear to my eye seeing that his ability was mentioned on-line by another rider. I told him that this is why I've been so hard, this day,this ride, I could have never been any prouder and gave him a hug. It's ok to be scared it will pay off!
Now I have a seven year old girl to teach, and she is wide open!

 

stewart,

You are not being overprotective. I know exactly what you are talking about. I am scared/worried when my 5 or 14 year olds are on their quads. I just rely that I have taught them safety and proper riding techniques and that they respect the machine. I always make sure they are under my constant supervision. They aren't allowed to ride unless I am riding with them or watching them. One thing you might want to think about though is a set of wheel spacers, it will take away a little of the risk of a rollover.

 

You are not being over protective but on the other hand they have to lern somehow. Better now with smaller slower quads then faster bigger quads. My 4yo son rolled his just a few weeks ago. It was not bad. He was trying to climb a tree and it caught traction then went up. He cried for a few minutes but he was not hurt. Now he understands if you fool around you can get hurt. Sometimes they hve to experience wrecking and rolling to understand what will happen and how far they can go.

 

It's tougher being a dad than most mom's give us credit for, unfortunetly we don't show emotion like THEY DO, but it is still there. You have every right to be worried, It would be a bad thing if you weren't, but like others have said, poop is gonna happen, they are gonna wreck somehow, and that is how they and we all learn, trial and error. Just when it happens, be there like I'm sure you will be to comfort them, calm them down, tell them what went wrong and then make them get back on it. ATV"S aren't scary, just inexperience and ignorance with the laws of physics. My girl has flipped hers twice, the rest of the kids call her "flip" but she laughs about it now.

 

I fliped the rear wheels around on my sons e-ton. It set them out about 5-6" wider. May a big differnce. the backend stays on the ground better now.

 

I do believe yaw are right,As Jeff Foxworthy said "let him pull the tv on his self a few times,he'll learn."
When I take him to this little 2 1/2 acr field I dont feel as worried,till he puts in 3rd,I got regulated,but it still will move along purdy good.

Once he rides alot I'm sure I'll get better.
Thing of it is,he feels confident on it,maybe too much.
If he ever seen how I rode my A.C. 300 4X4,he might think Daddy is Crazy.But I have never rolled it.(knock on wood)

 

I wish I could say the same about rolling my King Quad lol.

 

My son just started riding.(age six)He see's me doing donuts and wants to.When he opens it up on straight aways i get concerned ,but lets off the throttle pretty quick..The hardest thing for him to get used to was using the brake..He's got that down pat after a couple close calls.. Every parent is concerned whether it's a quad,bike or car..As long as you teach them and they have the proper gear, thats the main thing...My daughter going to be getting her learning permit in a year ..Cant wait[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]