The power and the guilt

[Bruce CurtisMember]

Yesterday took the lad and his mate out to a local (private) track to get a bit of time up on his bike, now these two have never ridden together before (on purpose) as they are both too highly competitive with one another, so once Brenton (my lad) had asserted his dominance on the track he proceeed to show his mate his race starts, I was also giving his mate some tips as well, cause if he pushes bren they both get better.
First two starts where good examples of control particular given the boggy state of the track, he used his body to counter the wheelspin and kept the front just hovering…need to work on his gearshifting tho’, so as well as that i offer a bit of advice on throttle and revs, so off he goes once more…………………..well phuk me if he didn’t just drop the clutch at 20 zillion revs and weight shift and change into second at the same time, the ensuing mono was beautiful for around 50 metres, absolutely verticle staright up to the sky his mates jaw was on the ground (as was mine) until he finally scraped the guard on the ground and lost the feet off the pegs and started to tilt over to the right. Now how does one flip and go over the bars in one fluid (sorta) motion? cause i watched him do it and of course not let go of the bars and catch his knee on the trip through as well, the KX was screaming it’s nut off and he was winded and couldn’t get up, so I ran over killed the bike checked him out and then he burst into a few small tears about his knee and pride (I reckon mostly pride anyway), 5 minutes later he was back sliding around on it and grinning, and generally having fun on an unbelieveably slippery track. Meanwhile I felt guilt about the whole thing as I hadn’t been as dilligent with my tuition as normal and just told him “you need to have more revs up just after the clutch bites to stay ahead of the pack, and get into second as quick as possible (haven’t taught him 2nd gear starts yet), so he interpretted that (as an 8 yr old does) as maximum revs as you let the clutch out and move back off the tank as you shift, cause dad knows his stuff and we trust dads don’t we :dry: …………well at least he knows how to flip now, keeping an old family tradition intact:blush:

Reckon I teach him how to mono one handed for our next trick, should be good for a hospital trip for one of us at least……..:ohmy:

BC

[Mick DMember]

Bruce you are doing well to get him to even listen to you.My son does the exact opposite to what I tell him, but if Dave aka KTMRAT tells him the same thing at a moto school he will do it straight away.
I have also experienced the guilt of telling him to hit the table top with “more pipe” happening, only to see him flip in mid air and then land flat on his bum and bust his pelvis.

[Anonymous]

Don’t be so hard on yourselves guys, they are lucky to have dads that let them get into the sport and help them along the way. As you guys both well know, crashing comes with the sport and also acts a good (albeit pianful) lesson learned. You giving them advice and emparting your wisdom has probably saved them from many other crashes

[DavidMember]

Mr Blue good going that your junior kid listens still, make hay whilst the sun shines it wont last long, he will soon be much faster and work out “what do you know dad, I am way better than you dream of being”. Mate the art to the start is in the clutch, not the throttle or keeping in front of it, I always say a “slow clutch = fast start”, this tends to screw with the whole mental side of wanting to go fast, but master it and its “see ya latter boys”

[Bruce CurtisMember]

Thats right Mr Rat, he’s getting the hang of the “slow” clutch, action I got him in on that early, unfortunately it’s right after that he goes berko and decides he’s a speedway star, I am trying to makes his shift points smoother and stop the overrevvin and holding one gear thing he does. Talking with a very know;edgeable man round here he dislikes the Auto-clutch classes he seems to feel that the kids go backwards when they move up to the geared bikes, and I s’pose if I was ever to listen to anyone it would be this bloke, he sorta knows a bit about such things, but I am not sure on this theory, but I have seen Brentons riding go backwards since getting the KX, far less fluid and now all over the place.

BC

[DavidMember]

When they are on the auto class the things needing to be done all at once by the kid, are not as many as the same for a geared bike, so it tends to confuse when they start the geared bike, the benefits of “action and reaction” or “cause and effect” that the faster div 2 machines can deliver to the budding racer are invaluable to their path of learning, I actually endorse the 2 big regime(a 50 and a 65, or a 65 and an 85) at the early stages to help speed the transition, but in the real world its hard enough to get one bike let alone two, the kids will sort themselves out soon enough if it in their hearts to do this, that’s for sure, keep up the good work mate, and I would love to have your boy come to the Rat MX School one day:)

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