First RR

Lots of excitement around the old hacienda this weekend. Thanks again to
Jim, Scrape, gtsnowcrack and others for helping me make it happen!
The Warren boys turned 9 (today) and 11(last Friday) and their long-time
dreams of owning a dirt bike turned into reality over the weekend. We picked
up the TTR 90 on Saturday morning in a whirlwind trip to a bike shop in a
neighboring county that had it on consignment. We were in such a hurry
because the shop opened at 10am and from 11:30 until 1pm all of the roads in
our route would be closed for the Tour De Georgia bike race. Ordinarily not
a big problem, except the eldest and I had to be back home, packed and on
the other side of town to depart for a Boy Scout overnight spelunking
adventure at the Lost Sea in Sweetwater, TN. OK.....back to the RR. We only
had about 10 minutes before it was time to leave, but they were begging me
to let them ride before we left for the trip and I caved. Did I mention that
by now there was a full-on Monsoon going on and they wanted to ride anyway?
So, we unload, do a systems check, go over the controls and what to do if
the uh-oh I don't know what to do's set in (kill switch, brakes and foot on
the ground). Travis being that it's his bike gets the first ride and he
takes off only to go about 10 feet before panic hits, he grabs front brake
and manages to simultaneously twist the throttle around to WFO, throw a
decent roost and bail off 2 feet later. He jumps up scared that I'm mad
about the yard and has us all rolling when he says..."your really not
mad?......then can I do it again, that was awesome!!!!!!!" Running out of
time, older brother gets a turn. He jumps on and proceeds to ride like a
pro, no problems....."Dad, this is so easy, I can't wait to get mine" I try
to warn him that dealing with a clutch and a taller bike is just a wee bit
different and not to get too cocky.

It must have been my ESPN kicking in with that warning about clutches and
bike height, because sure enough on Sunday after we got back from picking up
the eldest's new steed, he forgot that the clutch is an integral part of the
stopping process, and that once you do get stopped, it is somewhat important
to actually put a foot on the ground at some point in time before the bike
is in a horizontal position. Oh, don't get me wrong, we spent the better
part of an agonizing (to them) hour going over all the pre-ride checks,
routine maintenance items, controls and operating procedures, the
demonstration, etc, etc...... but it took about 30 feet for the euphoria to
kick in and eliminate any residual logic within those brain cells. Yep, he
laid it over, cried a bit and said "I'll never get it, that clutch thing is
just too HARD, I guess I need a little bike like bubba's. I move into
patient dad mode and we go through everything again, concentrating on the
two up demo and I coax him back into the saddle. Wilson takes off in first
and he's a little shaky at first, but by the second lap around the cherry
tree, he's got this great big grin and he's doing great. A little timid
(which is a good thing at this point) but still great.

Time for little brother. We go through everything for the 3rd time now, he
mounts up and is off! Night and day difference from the short ride the day
before. He is soon riding up to show big brother a wheel and then backs off.
This process repeats itself a few more times and then they come in for a
break. The 9yo tells me "Dad, I was gonna pass my brother, but I didn't want
to make him feel bad because he was a little bit scared, but he sure was
going slow!"

After the wore a circle in the yard between the cherry tree and the soccer
goal, I jumped on the kwad (haven't got the carb rebuild kit for the ancient
beast yet) and they played follow the leader all over the 4 acre yard for
the next hour or so until our neighbors showed up with their kids.
Begrudgingly they got off and played with the other kids for a while until
they had to leave, then it was back on until dark. All in all, not a bad
weekend. Only one very slow speed get off each with no damage to bike or
rider (except a little pride) and about 4 hours of clean riding all total.

Pic's on a.b.p.m.

KW




--
Keith W
'74 Kawasaki F-11 250 Enduro
'90 Kawasaki 220 Bayou
'01 Honda XR 100
'02 Yamaha TTR 90


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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Suddenly everything is so easy
    ... but when the bike is cold the clutch drags and kicking the bike into ... I believe the Warrior clutch assembly is the same. ... you hate at crappy dealerships that try to rip you off selling you ... posted voluminous dissertations on how superior his CURRENT ride is to ...
    (rec.motorcycles)
  • ewww! Gross!
    ... My Nephew and I went for a nice two-hour ride in out in the country ... (nice bike, but that's another story), but *lots* of bugs (how people ... my clutch didn't seem to work right. ... removed right hand glove first, ...
    (rec.motorcycles)
  • Odds n Ends (kinda long)
    ... Blackhawk pilot (my brother flew Hueys in Vietnam) and mine as a Field ... endorsement to ride legally. ... I should add that my substitute bike, a bobber by Dave Perewitz, was taken ...
    (rec.motorcycles.harley)
  • Notes from CM militants
    ... > The following is the text of a Critical Mass brochure that was just ... > really are many different ways to organize a bike demo/gathering, ... > street in order to promote bicycles' equal access to the road. ... > unsure what this ride was going to be like, ...
    (rec.bicycles.soc)