Only one thing i would like to add keep him off public roads becase he will want to go on them to test the speed and invest in proper safty gear helmet a must gogles a must and my pads lol when i was younger i to quiet a few fall on my yamaha 175 tri moto
good luck and be paitent cause he will come home with some cuts and brueses but thats a life of a 15 year old boy

Mike Bencivengo

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99 Grizzly , Vamped & Liffed,Warn 2500 Winch

lumber1@rochester.rr.com, Ride safe today,because to ride again tomorrow is Righteous!!!!

 

Bill,

I can drive nearly any road vehicle on the market. At 15, I can drive cars, trucks, suvs, vans, stick or auto, towing any size trailer. I've driven just about any type of vehicle that is approved for the road, including large trailers, 4x4s, front drive, rear drive etc...

YES I do think at nearly (4 days from) 16 years old that I am responsible enough to know my limit in or on a particular vehicle. I don't speed and I'm not in a hurry all the time. Maybe I'm one in a million, but I'm sure that at 40 you'll get the same answer you've gotten today.

That person that they're talking about is both bigger and stronger than me. At his age he's plenty capable of driving any quad on the market as long as he understands how to do it properly.

I wouldn't suggest that any new rider carry passengers, and I'd suggest that even the most experienced driver use extreme caution. I've carried passengers before and if you don't understand how much it can change the way your quad handles, you may get yourself in trouble.

The best idea is to get some good practice and learn to use safe skills. Just like an automobile or power tool, learning the proper way to use it will make it totally safe. I'm sure no one's ever been denied the use of a planer just because it can turn your arm into a fine dust in an instant....they just learned proper skills.

Defensive? Hell Yes! Unsafe? I should hope that I'm not, as I try not to be.

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Want a Magnum or Sportsman 500!!!

 

Dream of Polaris,ok,You may be mature enough at 15 to do the things you earlier quoted,but in reading your quote,I interpeted you as saying ANY 15 yr old.I've been reading your posts for some time now,I beleive you are probably a very responsable person.You just had me a little confused.I thought you maybe meant all 15 yr olds were responsable.Thanks-----BILL

 

Gyambear,

In regard to your son you wrote:

“ Rules were set including no passengers, laws printed out for his reading, manual given to him for his reading, etc. Day 2 with our new ATV, I look out the front window and here is the 14 year old giving a ride to a 3 year old. Am I too strict. If no, how do you teach a now 15 year old about responsibility and maturity”.

This is not intended to be negative criticism, but I think you need more involvement in your son’s ATV training than occasionally looking out the front window to see what is going on.

There is nothing inherently wrong with allowing children to operate ATVs, go-carts, jet skis, motorcycles, or snowmobiles, PROVIDED that it takes place under close and constant adult supervision. The machinery must be appropriately matched to the child’s level of maturity and physical abilities. The child must be equipped with the appropriate safety gear, they must have had rigorous training, or they must be in the process of being rigorously trained, and they must never be allowed to forget that operating any motor vehicle can be extremely dangerous. Training should be given the serious attention it deserves. The child’s attitude towards training must be monitored at all times. At the first sign of a cavalier attitude or of frivolous behavior, the child should be relegated to their Nintendo for awhile.

My 14 year old daughter began riding my Kawasaki Bayou 400 4x4 ATV four ago years when she was 10. In the first three years of riding, I must have run/walked over 75 miles beside that bike during the course of teaching my daughter how to ride. In the first year of her instruction, the Bayou 400 never got out of its super-low towing gear. The next year she was allowed to shift between super-low and first gear, and the following year she was allowed to use second gear. Through varying degrees of increasing difficulty, I had her execute all of the key maneuvers I learned during nearly 35 years of riding, plus those I learned in the Motorcycle Safety Course.

In those first three years I had her make loops to the left, loops to the right, figure-eights, and close orbits about a point. She went up hills, down hills, and across hills. I had her accelerate, upshift, downshift, brake, stop, backup, and turnaround. I had her stop in the middle of ascending a hill and back down. I had her stop in the middle of descending a hill and back up. She went through brush, streams, ruts, and gullies, over logs and rocks, and between trees. She did this again, and again, and again while I have stood there next to her encouraging, instructing, and critiquing. I also taught her my most favored technique for riding over difficult unknown ground, i.e., get off the bike and cover your proposed route on foot first. That way you will know what you are up against and you will know how to proceed with the best chance of success and the least probability of risk.

If you think that what I’ve described sounds like a lot of work, let me assure you that is exactly what it is. In fact, it is very nearly drill in the military sense of the word. Now it certainly helps that my daughter is a big girl (5’ 8” and 120 pounds) and mature for her age, as the machine she started on could not be considered a beginner’s bike. But a little well ordered discipline never hurt anyone and she is now quite a competent rider... for a 14 year old child. And that is a point I can not emphasize enough, my daughter and your son are just children. They do not act or think like adults and won’t for quite some time yet (hence riding the toddler on the back after you expressly told him not to do so). As adults and parents we are not only responsible for their safety, we are responsible for their every action. My daughter is not permitted to operate the vehicle mentioned above without my express permission and my close supervision.

A quick perusal of the postings in this forum discloses more than a few teenagers who have no real solid grasp of sportsmanship and discipline (or of spelling and grammar for that matter). But this should not be construed as overt criticism, for after all, they are just children. They are still in the process of learning and developing. As responsible adults and parents it is incumbent and imperative that we do more than merely instruct our children how to do a particular something. We must do for them what they can not yet reliably do for themselves, i.e., exercise good judgment. We must also teach them by prudent example exactly what constitutes good judgment so in time they will themselves exercise good judgment.

The three years I spent teaching my daughter how to ride, and having her practice, practice, and practice some more the things she learned, have paid off handsomely. She became a careful and competent rider, but it was obvious that the 400 was a little too much machine for her. It was especially tiring for her to manage the steering during long riding sessions. The weight of the 400 plus the added up front weight of the X1-F Superwinch and mount combined to make steering very difficult at the slow speeds she routinely rode at.

Just prior to Christmas ’97 she began to lobby me for an ATV of her own. She had grown and matured considerably during those three years, and it was obvious she was ready to graduate to riding her own machine. After careful consideration of her riding abilities, and of who else might use this second machine from time to time, in July ’98 I bought a used ’91 Kawasaki 300 Bayou 4x4.

Now the training turned to the riding technique refinement stage as we had a specific goal in mind. Julia was going to ride in the 10th Annual AHPA Poker Run in Cochranton, PA (the world’s largest OHV run with over 6600 participants this year). Once again under my supervision she was practicing all of the things she had learned earlier, but the speeds were higher, the obstacles were more difficult, and the rides were longer.

Six months ago on 4-3-99 Julia rode her Bayou 300 4x4 35 miles through some of the nastiest mud and rocks imaginable over Trail B at the 10th Annual Cochranton Poker Run. She had no trouble keeping pace with our group of ten riders (which BTW included Tree Farmer and his Bayou 300 4x4) for the 8-1/2 hours it took to complete the poker run, and she had no difficulty with any of the obstacles we encountered. There were more than a few riders who DNFed at Cochranton, but Julia was not among them. For a picture of Julia and her 300 Bayou at Cochranton, go to Bob Pflueger’s home page www.pflueger.com

I am extremely pleased with, and proud of, Julia’s performance at Cochranton. At one rest stop Doug Blackburn (another Bayou 300 4x4 rider) said to me regarding my daughter’s riding, “Julia has proved to me you don’t need to be a hotshot to successfully ride in the poker run”. Doug was not insinuating the trails were easy, but rather was complementing Julia’s technical riding skills. During the poker run we passed any number of 2WD, and 4WD, quads stuck in some obstacle, but Julia managed to deftly weave her way through all of them without getting stuck, or riding like a madman. But none of this happened by accident, it was preceded by almost four years of disciplined instruction and drill.

If you haven’t taken the ATV safety course, it is well worth the time and I strongly suggest you do so. When you take the course you will find that it is limited to those who have valid drivers licenses, usually those who are 16 or older. So your son will not be able to attend, a foolish proscription on the part of the ATV Safety Institute in my opinion, but there is no reason that you can not teach him what you have learned. The ATV safety course can be scheduled by calling the ATV Safety Institute at 800-887-2887.

I would hope you are committed to a program of disciplined instruction for your son that will yield a competent, careful, and courteous rider. However, if it is your intention to simply look out the window periodically... please don’t. Sell your Bayou and save the rest of us the aggravation of encountering yet another immature, irresponsible, and undisciplined brat out on the trail.

Army Man

BTW, what punishment did your son suffer for disobeying a direct order not to carry passengers???


[This message has been edited by armyman (edited 10-20-1999).]

 

at 14 i was riding a 85 atc250r those rules are bull it just depends on your skill level some people are more than capable of riding a big bike at a young age

 

at 14 i was riding a 85 atc250r it just depends on how long you have been riding

 

I appreciate all the very constructive responses. In an effort to keep my orignal question short, I didn't include every detail, including: there were 2 adults outside with the 14 year old supervising him, but they were not aware that I wanted all users to abide by the rules - no passengers - yes my oversight; also, before we even started shopping for the ATV we contacted the safety training group, although we didn't set up our training until after our purchase. We are set for NOv 6 training. Our 15 year old can take the training, but only on a 90cc which we will have to borrow. That also was in the rules given to him before we bought the machine. And, as armyman suggested, the 15 year old and I trekked our woods, 9 acres, to clear a path and look for potential hazards before taking our ATV there.
His punishment is that he will not ride the ATV until he demonstrates that he has the maturity and responsibility to handle an ATV in a serious manner. At present, he feels the NYS rules and manufacturers warnings are just guidelines and not really meant for him (ie he doesn't believe any damage can be done by him or to him) and that training would be a waste of his time. While I now believe there are accomplished and mature 14 and 15 year olds that certainly can handle the responsiblities of ATV riding, as expressed in the previous messages, I have some more educational responsibilities on my hands.
thank you all for your input.

 

Armyman:

In my opinion it takes a lot more to teach your average recruit to march than it does to teach someone the proper riding techniques. Although I admire your training in the riding of an ATV, for the majority of people, riding an ATV is more of a natural feeling and shouldn't require 3 years of granny-low training. But as I have seen 10 year olds nearly hurt themselves on a 350cc Yamaha utility quad, I can see your concern.

Thank you Bill for saying that I am probably a mature person.

Armyman, maybe half the reason I am so mature is that I am an NCO in the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets, a navy program for young people that I have been involved in for a few years. The disipline I have learned from the military has caused me to do better in school and to be more responsible in every aspect of my life. Although I'm not like a DI, I don't march everywhere I go or dress in uniform, I take pride in myself and maintain my military bearing at all times. The key to everything is disipline, and by your nick I am sure you have plenty of time under your belt to know that.

I can definitely see how knowing how to do the right thing at the right time can be similar to military drill...it's all the timing.

Since I'm rambling again, I'll stop.

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Want a Magnum or Sportsman 500!!!

 

As an avid ATV rider and a teenager (turning 16 Nov. 2), and also having ridden ATV's since I was 5 I feel I have a little to say on this topic. I started my riding on a 1984 Suzuki LT125 with little supervision and absolutely no safety equipment (no shoes, shorts, t-shirt, no helemet, etc.). Although this sounds real irresponsible, I must point out that I never wrecked it while my two much older sisters hit many assorted obstacles, from each other to trees, quite frequently. Looking back now I see that I should have been under more supervision and should have worn safety equipment. I also disagree with reserving 90cc quads for those under 14. At the age of 5 I was more than able to control a 125cc quad and even the extremely heavy 1984 TRX200. Gyambear, I agree totally with the no passengers rule, for now. As you son is new to ATV's he has no idea how much riding a passenger affects your ATV's handling. A relatively easy curve for one passenger becomes a 3-point turn for a quad with two riders. This is especially true for a lighter, smaller quad such as your Bayou. Another reason for not carrying smaller passengers is the fact that their actions are unpredictable. I have seen a 14 year old girl stand up on the back rack of a Honda 300 and jump while it was in motion. If a 14 year old would do this you can only guess at what a 3 year old would do. This same Honda is a 1999 model and has already been wrecked several times because of the girl's inability to fully think of the consequences of her initial actions. In addition to enforcing rules, and taking part in a training class, get your son acquainted with the basics of all mechanical things on an ATV. Make him clean the air filter, fill it up with gas, check and change the oil, and keep an ear out for any unfamiliar sounds coming from the quad. And please, please make sure he can shift, I have seen an 18 year old boy start up a Honda 300 and go from neutral to fifth while sitting still, and then take off. This is my biggest pet peeve on the trail. Hope I helped.

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Kevin JA Works of Georgia

1996 Yamaha Warrior

 

In Maine no one under 16 can drive one with out and adult with in shouting distance of them and they have to wear a helmet up to 18. but i would not go any were without one and i am 30. Yeah is is good to teach responsiblity my dad taught me, to respect other peoples land and tread lightly. I see allot of kids really tearing it up and riding down tar roads. Which is illegal in Maine. Totally would reccomend any training classes they might offer in your area. ATVing can be a safe enjoyable activity.