Hillbilly Helmet Cam & Evel Wannabe

[Hyflyer]

The boys got 'crazy skilz'

[bpro]

Tom,

If you are trying to slow the bike down here is a trick we used at MotoTech Racing when we sold several models of 4 stroke youth ATV's and mini's.

Pull the slide from the carb and measure the diameter of the inside of the slide. Run up to the big box hardware store, and in the Oddball hardware you will find nylon spacers. Find one that just fits inside of the slide and sticks out about 1/4 inch or so.

Reinstall the carb slide with the spacer in place and it will prevent the carb from fully opening. The bike will rev slower, make less power and have a lower speed in each gear. Another bonus is that it is almost impossible for the kid to rev the motor hard enough to damage it.

The spacer can be removed once his skills grow beyond what the bike has to offer.

[witttom]

Originally Posted by bprodoehl

If you are trying to slow the bike down here is a trick we used at MotoTech Racing when we sold several models of 4 stroke youth ATV's and mini's.

Actually, he has progressed along well enough were I have no problem with him going as fast as the bike will take him now. I do appreciate the tip though!

[witttom]

26-APR-09 Afternoon:

The boy is running hard racing his sister, coming out of a wide sweeper and catches a oddball groove in the yard. It throws him into a real ugly tank slapper and I thought for sure he was gonna high side, but he recovers. My 8yr/old had just done the same thing only a short while before on the same bike while "warming it up" for her brother (she saved it too), so I pulled the bike in for an inspection to make sure nothing was wrong. It checks out ok. I think they're both just riding way over the suspension limits of the bike.

I send them both back out on there own bikes. A short while later, the boy comes out of the neighborhood retention pond (which is always dry) WOT in 3rd gear and catches air like he always does. This time however, he gets a little sideways as he lands, goes into a violent tank slapper again, and goes down hard. Dirt and grass flying everywhere and it sounds like a car crash. I'm guessing he was going about 35mph when he lost it, then slid about 40ft once he hit the ground. He just lays there, not moving. I run out to where he is and ask him if he's alright. Still laying there, he says "Yeah, I'm good.". I snap at him telling him that he needs to let me know if he's hurt or if he's ok when he crashes, and not to just lay there. Hehe....

I pick up his bike, and it's a mess. It has pieces hanging off, the whole left side bodywork is sheered off, shifter is bent, peg is bent, as well as several other little brackets and doodads bent, some lines are pulled loose, forks are twisted, and handlebars are outta whack. He wants to hop back on, but I explain "Dude... I'm not sure if you've noticed, but you just trashed your bike!". So we drag it back to the garage. I beat the shifter and peg back into shape, realign the forks, and repositioned his handlebars. Just left the bodywork off for now. Off he goes again.

26-APR-09 Evening:

I remind the boy that he needs to let me know if he's ok when he crashes. I told him to stand up, hold his hands up and say "I'm ok!". I then remind him that NOT crashing would be better. I ask him what he thought caused his crash earlier in the day. He shrugged his shoulders and said "Ummm... I dunno. Just going too fast I guess.".

27-APR-09 Morning:

We spend a couple hours tearing down the boy's bike and fixing what we can. I drilled dozens of holes in the bodywork and stitched it back together with zip ties. With the exception of the Frankenstein stitches and the dents on the tank, it really doesn't look bad at all.





The boy wants to take it out. I beg him to give Dad a day off.


27-APR-09 Evening:

The three kids and I get back from the both girls' softball practice. They want to ride. I let them head out for an hour or so. I begin teaching the boy how to shift. I'm actually kinda surprised, because he immediately picks up on it. Like his sister however, he isn't strong enough to down shift (GP shift pattern, 4-down). That's ok. He's learning. So it's 1-2-3. I've not seen him shift into 4th yet (which is good).

I continue to work with my daughter. She finally gets to the point were she can downshift. She's tickled, because that means she can now enter into some rough terrain she likes without getting assistance in downshifting first. She's a technical rider and makes really good decisions. I'm quite proud of her too. She too likes to go fast, but she can also appreciate the slow-going challenges.

When it's time to come in, I flag them in one at a time. Neither the 4yr/old boy, nor my 8yr/old daughter can touch the ground, so I have to catch them each as they come in for a landing. My daughter is learning to slide off the saddle though and balance on one foot, so she's getting close. As the boy is coming in for a landing, he's coming in pretty hot. So I tell him "Brakes, brakes!" (he's been practicing). He gets about five feet away from me and slams on the brakes harder then I've ever seen, and performs a perfect endo. The rear wheel comes back down and he balances there motionless for a couple seconds while I run up to him. He says "Was that good? I've been practicing!". I didn't even know that was possible on a bike like this with drum brakes. Hehe... but man that was cool. Wish I could have got a photo of that! I said "Yeah, that was real good. Don't do that again.". Hehe...

[FOXHONDARIDER]

Originally Posted by witttom

26-APR-09 Afternoon:
I send them both back out on there own bikes. A short while later, the boy comes out of the neighborhood retention pond (which is always dry) WOT in 3rd gear and catches air like he always does. This time however, he gets a little sideways as he lands, goes into a violent tank slapper again, and goes down hard. Dirt and grass flying everywhere and it sounds like a car crash. I'm guessing he was going about 35mph when he lost it, then slid about 40ft once he hit the ground. He just lays there, not moving. I run out to where he is and ask him if he's alright. Still laying there, he says "Yeah, I'm good.". I snap at him telling him that he needs to let me know if he's hurt or if he's ok when he crashes, and not to just lay there. Hehe....

I pick up his bike, and it's a mess. It has pieces hanging off, the whole left side bodywork is sheered off, shifter is bent, peg is bent, as well as several other little brackets and doodads bent, some lines are pulled loose, forks are twisted, and handlebars are outta whack. He wants to hop back on, but I explain "Dude... I'm not sure if you've noticed, but you just trashed your bike!". So we drag it back to the garage. I beat the shifter and peg back into shape, realign the forks, and repositioned his handlebars. Just left the bodywork off for now. Off he goes again.

26-APR-09 Evening:

I remind the boy that he needs to let me know if he's ok when he crashes. I told him to stand up, hold his hands up and say "I'm ok!". I then remind him that NOT crashing would be better. I ask him what he thought caused his crash earlier in the day. He shrugged his shoulders and said "Ummm... I dunno. Just going too fast I guess."

The boy wants to take it out. I beg him to give Dad a day off.

When it's time to come in, I flag them in one at a time. Neither the 4yr/old boy, nor my 8yr/old daughter can touch the ground, so I have to catch them each as they come in for a landing. My daughter is learning to slide off the saddle though and balance on one foot, so she's getting close. As the boy is coming in for a landing, he's coming in pretty hot. So I tell him "Brakes, brakes!" (he's been practicing). He gets about five feet away from me and slams on the brakes harder then I've ever seen, and performs a perfect endo. The rear wheel comes back down and he balances there motionless for a couple seconds while I run up to him. He says "Was that good? I've been practicing!". I didn't even know that was possible on a bike like this with drum brakes. Hehe... but man that was cool. Wish I could have got a photo of that! I said "Yeah, that was real good. Don't do that again.". Hehe...

Best story Yet, Wow is that kid brave or what. I can't even do a stoppie on my dirt bike. I need to get some pointers from him

[thom_boles]

Originally Posted by witttom

He says "Was that good? I've been practicing!". I didn't even know that was possible on a bike like this with drum brakes. Hehe... but man that was cool. Wish I could have got a photo of that! I said "Yeah, that was real good. Don't do that again.". Hehe...

You've got to wonder where it is he is practicing stoppies? I think you'd better find out what he's doing down in the pond...

[witttom]

Originally Posted by witttom

He gets about five feet away from me and slams on the brakes harder then I've ever seen, and performs a perfect endo. The rear wheel comes back down and he balances there motionless for a couple seconds while I run up to him. He says "Was that good? I've been practicing!". I didn't even know that was possible on a bike like this with drum brakes. Hehe... but man that was cool. Wish I could have got a photo of that! I said "Yeah, that was real good. Don't do that again.". Hehe...

Originally Posted by FOXHONDARIDER

Best story Yet, Wow is that kid brave or what. I can't even do a stoppie on my dirt bike. I need to get some pointers from him

Originally Posted by thom_boles

You've got to wonder where it is he is practicing stoppies? I think you'd better find out what he's doing down in the pond...

Well... I really don't think he was intentionally doing an endo. Just that he's been practicing his braking skills and showing me how well he was doing. Hehe... Braking seems like a fairly straight forward thinking process to me, but it's not for a kid. That's been one of the toughest things to teach ALL of my kids. Braking with the rear typically comes first and something the is physically fairly easy to do, but braking with the front is often difficult. The vast majority of the time, the boy NEVER uses any brakes, with the exception of coming in for a landing.

[witttom]

Moving onto other interests....

[witttom]

Crappy Crackberry Video.



Crappy Crackberry Photos.

Originally Posted by witttom

Crappy Crackberry Video.



Crappy Crackberry Photos.

Thanks for sharing video

[witttom]

Admin alert. Last post is a spammer.