New china bike rider 9yrs. old

[DDG1976]

This is my son Jacob's "new to him" Baja motorsports DR50. We picked it up at a local pawn shop for $120 bucks. He's still learning, but doing good, he only crashed into the ditch once today! LOL. This little bike is a 4 speed semi automatic and the darn thing will do 40 or 45 easy with me on it, and I weigh 185lbs! It really shocked me! It will pull the front tire up easily. Therefore I've decided not to teach him how to shift through the gears, even though he's hit second by accident (shift pattern is all down, neutral up) and pulled the front wheel off the ground with his eyes as big as saucer plates. LOL.

[AZ200cc]

AWESOME, I'll never forget my first bike..Looks like he's having a blast.
Now You have someone to ride with.

[IronFist]

What a great DAD!
You wouldn't get that bike for $120 here! But regardless of he price, my dad would never have done that for me.

Keep that pant leg away from the chain 8O Gloves, boots, and jacket might be more than the bike You guys sure are lucky down there.

[DDG1976]

I'm kinda shocked we got the bike for that price too, I geuss with cold weather getting close they were afraid of having to keep the bike all winter. Plus it was a pawn shop that probably didn't know much about motorcycles. I still can't get over how much power the stupid little thing has. I can't govern the carb because it's a plunger type like my lifan, so I'm probably going to take the shifter off to keep it in first gear. He is still in the stage where he gets scared and cranks the throttle instead of letting out and grabbing the brake. Next semi-warm non rainy day we are going to a big field near the house that has some small trails, hopefully he'll get enough ride time to feel comfortable on it. Today he hit second and the front wheel came up, it startled him and he nailed the throttle pulling the front up more, shot across the street riding a pretty good wheelie and landed in the ditch. LOL it was funny to me, but his mom didn't have the same feeling about it I did. Heck I've seen him crash his BMX bike worse. BTW the bike didn't have footpegs when we got it, so he now has the passenger pegs off my GY-5 on it, they fit perfect. The only time I doubled was when he wanted to ride with me, so I don't really need them now.

[tigertamer]

Nice little put!..However;

I like the VeeDub better :twisted: Must see pics

TT

[Willys]

I think you can limit the throttle by butting shims or washers ontop of the slider in the carb ...IIRC. Or you can restrict the amount of cable the throttle can turn which inturn will stop the carb getting to full throttle.
If you can afford...he needs boots if nothing else..I know they are expensive...but after spending 13 weeks personally in a cast from the tips of my toes to my jewels and then 6 months after that in half casts...it's worth it!!! That is the one thing I need to get for my daughter at the next bike show....that is where the deals are up here. We don't have the luxury of good pawn shops here like you guys do.....but with the resession ooops..did i say it???..lol...yes it will hit here too.....maybe we will get some deals after all..that is if we can afford to buy them after food and a roof over our heads!

Isn't it a great feeling the day you gave it to him...to see his eyes light up ...?

Take him to that field and teach him well...it's hard work but worth every minute!

Good luck!

[IronFist]

I 2nd the boots Willy. See we do agree.
In Canada, I'd say The Shoe Warehouse. I get all my shoes there, and riding boots too, cheap. Canadian tire carries cheap armor jackets for atv's now. But at $125 for the bike...

When he gets to shifting, get him a large rear sprocket so he can do a lot of shifting, at lower speeds. The skills he picks up now will last forever. As a kid I'd have been happy with a moped, but I got goalie pads for hockey. :( I guess it helps with balance, reflexes and timing. :(

[DDG1976]

Today I took him to a big park in East Ridge, TN. He had a ball, I shifted it up and let him take off in second and he did fine. The bike will run 25 or so in second. Then I shifted up to third, he went a little too fast for my liking and started to speed wobble when he wound out third, so I made him stick to second for now. He actually has on shin high boots, but they aren't riding boots. There is a KTM and Yamaha shop really close to me so I'll probably pay them a visit, I want to get him elbow pads and a chest protector too.

[DDG1976]

Here's a link to a short video of me riding it.

http://s526.photobucket.com/albums/c...t=SANY0088.flv

[DDG1976]

Can't help posting pictures of him, we went riding again today, and I crashed on the asphault while riding a wheelie (look under the pitbike/pocketbike section) On the other hand he did awesome, he's starting to get his nerve up and jump a little and he blistered a honda 50 today!

[IronFist]

Riding boots are nice, but I don't even have em, I use regular boots and hide the laces. Just to keep my ankles on.

Dirt gear would be good, if I had a bike as a kid, I'd have used my goalie equiptment. Riding gear is better.

If you keep wiping his bike, he might stop letting you ride it.

[DDG1976]

The bike is fine, not even a scratch, I took the punishment. The whole way home I was bleeding all over the car and he kept saying "I'm sorry you crashed". I think he was scared I was going to take it away from him. He's the one actually riding like he's supposed to, He road in second all day today, it's a little scary for me watching him go that fast, but he seems to be really stable on it.