I am not defending them but they didn't appear to be a bunch of idiots.

 

I know this post is pointless, but if the goverments wants to rule the engine size by age, it should be like this:

50cc and under: minimum 5 yrs old
90cc and under: minimum 11 yrs old
250cc and under: minimum 13 yrs old
350cc and under: minimum 14 yrs old
351cc and up: minimum 16 yrs old.

I think this would work good because then it at least allows a 14 or 15 yr old on a 300ex or a Z250. So they would be more likely to get one.

Just my pointless post.
I also kinda posted this to get my 200th post.

 

simster,
Congrats to your 200th post and Happy Birthday.

Alot of good points have been made so far.

Here's something to ponder......

If the physical size of the ATV is the biggest issue of the age guidelines we now have...... What if say, Yamaha was to introduce a Raptor660 chassis with the Raptor 80 engine to compensate for the rider size under the age 16 category??? Hmmmmm.

It wouldn't sell because that engine barely pulls an adult in it's own frame very well, much less in a big quad like the Raptor, but that's the only realistic option that any manufaturer out there right now can do under the current guidelines.

 

good points everyone,

I think they shoud have courses, like say you want to get a 300ex. so they have a course for 300cc to ditermine if you are capable of riding that atv.(will never happen)

my point is it shouldn't be about age it, it should be size and experience.

 

But the numbers of children with ATV's has jumped what 500%? And I'm low balling that number. But bring up the bad numbers only not the whole picture. Kinda Bias I think[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]

 

Damn the Granola Munchers!!!!!!!!!!!




Its crazy. If you wanna save the trees, eat a beaver.



If I had a kid and he broke his arm/leg/neck riding a quad all I would say is "so, did you learn anything?"

Maybe if kids bought all the parts they broke out of their own pocket it may change their attitude and make them more responsible.
Supervision, supervision, supervision........ And if they get hurt while being supervised then the adult shouldnt be riding either.


ok, enough of that. Iunno maybe its just me

 

The numbers he posted aren't bias.

The number of kid ATVs sold is irrelevant to the safety issue. The number of kids killed is what's rellevant.

Besides, those numbers mostly came from kids riding full size quads and not kids quads......which is the problem.

 

I'm from Canada and we all ready have strictly enforced age limits. And we still have kids killed on adult bikes. I don't believe that this is the way to enforce and try to save lives. I'm in a very rural area and parents don't have to worry about getting caught by the police. So there are still kids with little supervision or training tearing around on these things. I'm an anti-establishment type of a guy. I'm tired of rules and regulations that seem to be put in place as a money grab for our goverment. Recently we have went through huge changes in pleasure boating.You now have to have a pleasure boat operators licence$40 .One for me and one for my wife=$80.00. Then there is the snowmobiling. You now have to register your sled=$40 and you have to insure your sled=$200.00 and then you have to buy a trail permit=$175.00. They have all but ruined snowmobiling for the average guy in my area. If they want to do something for kids they should put on goverment sponcered and paid for training classes. When I was 14 I took a motorcycle training course it was 8 classes @ two hours a class and it was free. I had experienced and qualified people showing everything from rules, to crashing and laying a bike down. The classes were packed because it was put on for free and parents wanted kids to have this.A sticker on a bike isn't going to stop a kid,nothing will stop him from grabbing those keys and riding.So lets train him how to ride.

 

That part with the parents saying that they can't believe that the dealer sold that to their son is what gets me pissed...

How can they say the dealership sold a quad that costs probably around $4,000-$5,000 to a kid 10 years old or younger? Rediculous...


However, the discussion on the size of a rider brings up a positive point on kickstarts on high-performance quads. My two younger cousins that are 13 and 11 were trying to kick over my 450R and they could hardly get the kick starter to move so this would help keep the youngin's off the faster quads...

 

I am an ATV instructor and have so far instructed 3 classes. Oil industry, surveyors and other types of industries require their employees to take training courses on ATV's every 3 years. Most of these courses are paid for by the boss and the people reluctantly go to them. What I do is try to open their eyes to what can happen, how to aviod hazards, and teach them riding skills which can be applied to almost any environment. (hills, turning, traversing slopes, stopping, environmental concerns, and so forth) If I can make people realize what they are doing when they are out there then the better.

I am sure that in a few years (just give it time) that a ATV saferider course will be mandatory to own a quad, just like the boating card thing.

We have caused all this and the only ones that we can blame one day for havng ATV's outlawed are ourselves. We need to make a difference now to prevent this. I am talking about being banned from areas because some bad apples have littered, ripped up the ground, and basically trashed the area. This is the iresponsible attitude that will make ATV's outlawed one day. And CANADA, we are not too far behind the US. There are a lot of people who dont want us riding out there. If you can pack it in you can pack it out. Let clean up our act.