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A new licensed rider in the not too distant future...?

Tourmeister

Keeper of the Asylum
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Huntsville
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Scott
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Friday
My oldest daughter, Sarah, is 15. She wants to get her driving permit :eek2: Yeah, so I am not really ready for that :suicide:

For years, my thought has been to get the kids on bikes so they get used to motor skills involved with controlling speed and scanning for trouble. They've all ridden dirt bikes, but never as frequently as I would have liked. Also, they never really had bikes with clutches. I have a single Honda XR80R with a clutch and Sarah and Daniel have ridden that some. But, she has outgrown it and the carb is having flooding issues. So when she tries to practice on it, it floods and dies every time she comes to a stop. It is kick start only, so that gets only in a hurry! I've been wanting to get something larger and with a clutch, but nothing was calling out to me... until a few days ago :-P

Jeff and Lynn Stoltenberg posted a 2017 Yamaha XT250 for sale here on TWT. I thought this would be great for Sarah, then Daniel, and maybe even Rachel someday. It is relatively light weight, fuel injected, and street legal. For now, Sarah can ride it on the dirt to get better at working the controls and just feeling comfortable on the bike. That way, when she does eventually start trying to ride on the road, she won't be having to think about all that at the same time she's trying to pay attention to all the stuff out there trying to clobber her. I am also hoping it will be an incentive tool for her to stay caught up on her school work if she wants to be able to go riding :trust: Jeff graciously agreed to let us come to his home so Sarah could test sit the bike and see if it was even a good fit for her. The timing was bad money wise for me though because I just laid out $1400 for renewing the TWT server fees for another year and my normal "slush fund" was drawn down. So he went even further and offered to let us give him a deposit to hold the bike for us if we decided it was what we wanted :thumb:

Sarah and I got up this morning and headed to Brenham. I originally planned to ride two up on my GS, but it was cold, my rear tire is almost gone, my right fork seal dust cover has a big gash in it and needs replacing, Sarah had school work that needed to get done on the drive over and back... and it was cold :-P I also wasn't feeling super great, so heated seats and steering wheel sounded real nice. Finding their place was real easy. It is just outside the edge of town. They have a fantastic property for new riders to learn! They are pilots and have a private pasture runway around 2000' long. The gophers have been BUSY, but that was not an issue.

Jeff had the bike out when we arrived and it is as advertised, in very good shape and essentially new minus a few very minor dings from a right side drop (previous owner I believe). Sarah sat on the bike and it fit perfect. She can easily get both feet on the ground and she can easily reach the clutch and brake levers. Jeff asked Sarah if she wanted to test ride the bike, but she wasn't immediately wild about the idea. She kind of talks herself out of things at first but will sometimes warm up to an idea given a bit of time to think about it. So Jeff showed us his shop and the other bikes they have. It is quite the collection! We talked bikes a bit more and then Jeff asked if she wanted to walk around behind his shop to see the runway area and surrounding pasture. She agreed. It is a perfect spot. There is nothing to run into and the ground is soft. Jeff's grandson was there with us and he was itching to ride his Yamaha TTR 50E! That is one of the bikes Sarah first learned to ride years ago. After seeing the area and the grandson's enthusiasm, Sarah decided she wanted to give it a try.

I rode the bike around from the barn to the runway for her. I brought my helmet so I could wear it and talk to her while she was on the bike. This helps her to stay focused and lets me correct her on the fly when things are happening instead of having to wait until she comes back around and stops. If you've ever tried to teach a rider and not tried using communicators, I HIGHLY recommend it! It really does make a HUGE difference! All the instructions can be a bit overwhelming for a new rider to try to remember once they are sitting on the bike. Being able to walk them through the steps as they do them helps tremendously. Sarah geared up and hopped on the bike. She had a few false starts with the clutch, but quickly got the hang of it. Here are some pics and videos from the day. Most of the talking you will hear is me talking to her.


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I could see her getting more comfortable with each pass.

At first she just rode a few hundred yards each way and then turned around. As she got more relaxed, she was going from end to end of the runway where there are mowed turn around circles and she started using those to turn around.

Here the dog had come over to me and Jeff, and we were trying to get it to sit before Sarah got there. She was worried she might have to stop unexpectedly, but the dog is really calm and just plopped down next to us for some ear scratching. Sarah did fine.

She was really nailing the U-turns, never putting a foot down or stalling. She did have a few wobbles when she neglected to keep her head and eyes up, looking where she wanted to go.

Jeff's grandson was having a great time getting to ride with someone else and did a great job of not crowding Sarah or getting in her way.

After about 15 minutes or so, Jeff, Lynn, his grandson and the dog all went back over to the house, but he let us stay out as long as Sarah wanted to ride! That was nice! It was starting to get warmer once the sun came out, so she stopped a bit later so we could go get something to drink. I let Jeff and Lynn know that she really liked the bike and felt comfortable on it, so we would like to buy it. After a short break, we headed back over so she could ride a bit more. I wanted her to try going back and forth between first and second gear and practicing stopping and starting.

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Still working on keeping her eyes UP when coming to a stop! She had a mild bobble here but was easily able to catch it because she could reach the ground without any problem.
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Her early starts were either stalls or mild clutch pops that spun the back tire a bit. With a little work, she started getting much smoother and more controlled.

She had time to spot this while riding...
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A near perfect launch!

I talked with her a bit about shifting technique. I like to barely preload the foot lever. Then when I start to pull in the clutch and barely let off the gas, the bike just slides right into the next gear effortlessly. I am trying to get her to think smooooooth for everything she does. Her first few tries going from first to second, she had a bit much preload and upshifted unexpectedly before pulling in the clutch. However, she did not lose focus and was able to keep the bike going without any problem. I had her go from one end of the runway to the other, shifting to second as she came out of the turn around, then downshifting back to first for the next turn around, lather, rinse, repeat. It did not take her long to get the hang of it. One benefit of the communicator is that I can hear what the bike is doing, so I can tell if she is lugging the motor, revving it, shifting abruptly, etc,... and I can talk with her about it immediately. I can also remind her to keep her eyes UP and to TURN her head :-P

Nice and smooth....

After a few passes, she started standing in between turn arounds just to see how it felt. I don't know how I managed not to get a video of that :doh: However, she was relaxed and enjoying it. Her body position was good and she was squeezing the tank with her legs and not putting weight on her arms. One of our communicators was starting to beep a low battery warning at us, probably mine if I forgot to charge it after my last ride. So we decided to wrap it up. I took the bike for a few test runs just to see how it felt. It really does have a nice low end torque which makes pulling away from a stop easy. I showed Sarah that by slipping the clutch, I could get the bike going without giving it ANY gas at all! That impressed her :lol2: The bike also has some nice get up and go. No, it is not a race bike, but it is not a gutless slouch either.


The last thing we did was have her ride on the back of the bike with me driving. There ARE passenger pegs. Obviously, with her weight and my own, the suspension was working over time, but it still did really well. I was talking to her and having her pay close attention to my shifting. I went up and down through the gears so she could hear and feel how the bike reacted. I've often done this when we've been out riding on my GSs over the last 6-7 years. So she is not totally unfamiliar with it, but it is a different thing when YOU are the one trying to do it. So I think she was paying closer attention this time now that she's had more experience on her own doing it.

We parked the bike, said goodbye and headed into town. We had planned to grab lunch at Must Be Heaven, but being a pretty day, the whole area was PACKED. We decided to head for College Station and grab a bite to eat at C&J BBQ on Hwy 30. I also got to pick up some ribs to go to have for lunch tomorrow :eat: Sarah admitted that while she was reluctant at first, she was really glad she rode the bike and she had a great time doing it. She's really excited about getting it. I just wish I had such an awesome place for her to practice. My folks have 10 acres and we have wide smooth trails down through the woods, but no huge open spaces like this. There is a really wide shoulder on one side of their tiny country lane that the kids ride, so we'll likely work that until she is really comfortable with the shifting, then maybe work on the trails in the woods.

Now I just have to scrape up the rest of the money because I think the waiting will be harder for me than her!! :lol2: :doh:
 
Good write up and nice videos. We thought she would like the bike. Glad we had such a nice day for her to test ride it.
 
Both my daughters started riding when they where 8 on bikes with automatic clutches then when they where about 12 they moved to manual clutches, to be honest I really hoped they would both get bored with motorcycles before they reached 16 as I really worry about them riding on the road (they are great riders, its the car drivers that are talking and texting and not looking at the road that worry me), but I figured if they did want to ride on the road then they would be better than average riders as they already knew how to use a clutch and had already ridden motorcycles for 8 years!! My eldest lost interest around 14 or 15 so never got a road bike (one success!!) but the youngest now 20 still loves motorcycles and rides on the road (CBR500RR) and on dual sport (CRF250X road legal), so my planned worked for one but not for the other, but the great thing is that when the youngest drives on the road she is not having to worry about using the clutch and changing gear as that is all natural due to several years on manual clutch bikes, so this leaves her able to just focus on the other idiots driving around her!! I second your idea of the intercom, we have had Sena intercoms (on the dirt bikes and road bikes) and it makes it so much easier to point out things they are doing wrong or giving suggestions after they have made a fault (rather than waiting for them to stop and then try and get them to remember what they did and point out the mistake!!). I love road riding with her and my wife, but always worry when she is off riding by herself!! Congrats on finding a new bike, now find the money for it and you will both have a great time..
 
My hope is that this will help her develop more confidence in her abilities and her self. She is capable when she applies her self, but sometimes doubt and lack of confidence can get the better of her, as it can do for many of us. I see all these blogs, YouTube channels, and FB pages for these women that travel the world solo. It is not that they ignore possible danger. It is just that they have developed the confidence and intelligence to plan and deal with things as well as most anyone else might. I want my kids to stretch themselves to do more and not sell themselves short. Even if she ultimately decides not to ride, I still hope that this is what she takes away from the experience so that it can serve her for the rest of her life. The selfish side of me just wants to spend time with her and hopefully make some long lasting and great memories.
 
My hope is that this will help her develop more confidence in her abilities and her self. She is capable when she applies her self, but sometimes doubt and lack of confidence can get the better of her, as it can do for many of us. I see all these blogs, YouTube channels, and FB pages for these women that travel the world solo. It is not that they ignore possible danger. It is just that they have developed the confidence and intelligence to plan and deal with things as well as most anyone else might. I want my kids to stretch themselves to do more and not sell themselves short. Even if she ultimately decides not to ride, I still hope that this is what she takes away from the experience so that it can serve her for the rest of her life. The selfish side of me just wants to spend time with her and hopefully make some long lasting and great memories.

Looks like youā€™re on the right track.
 
You are in for some good memories for sure. Colton still enjoys riding. Emily seems to have lost a little desire. I may try her with the clutch again at spring break.
 
Excellent write up and thanks for sharing. Great info and timing as I've purchased a Beta 125 RRS for my 14 YO daughter to learn on. Hope to get the bike sometime this week and start getting her comfortable with the clutch etc... I love the communication in helmet idea. Any other links for teaching that would help her / help me get her started.
 
Excellent write up and thanks for sharing. Great info and timing as I've purchased a Beta 125 RRS for my 14 YO daughter to learn on. Hope to get the bike sometime this week and start getting her comfortable with the clutch etc... I love the communication in helmet idea. Any other links for teaching that would help her / help me get her started.

I just had my daughter sit on the bike with it in 1st gear and idling with the clutch pulled in. Then I would have her EASE the clutch out slowly until she could feel it start to grab, feel the bike start to twitch, and hear the motor start to strain, then just pull it back in. I had her repeat this over and over. I was trying to get her to develop the feel for the slipping of the clutch. I also tried to get her to understand that the purpose of the clutch is to connect, modulate, or disconnect the power from the engine to the rear wheel. So while in neutral I would have her just sit there and rev the motor up and down so she could see that nothing was going to happen if the bike was in neutral or the clutch was pulled in if the bike were in gear. She's not real mechanically oriented, so the concept of what EXACTLY the clutch is doing wasn't real clear to her at first. I didn't explain friction plates and all that, just the idea of connect, modulate, disconnect. When she was doing her U-turns I was telling her to keep the engine RPMs up and slip the clutch to control speed and barely drag the rear brake to smooth things out if needed. A LOT of new riders want to just dump the clutch, forget about it, and then try to use the throttle to control speed at low speeds. An exercise I used on another rider was for her to ride past me at a SLOW and STEADY speed but I wanted to hear the engine really revving so I could tell she was slipping the clutch. Doing that for a while really helped.

We use SENA 20S communicators. Any will do. It really helps to keep them calm when they are nervous and helps to keep them focused on what they need to be doing right that moment. Having a large flat clear area of dirt/grass to ride would be ideal. Something like a hay pasture would be great if you have one available. It just removes the extra worry over running into something or target fixating. Also, if they have a WIDE OPEN throttle panic moment, it gives you time to talk them down and back into control, unless they crash first. Generally though, if there is nothing to run into, the wide open moments actually keep the bike upright and hearing your voice can bring them back from the panic so they can get things under control. Some folks use remote kill switches, particularly for small bikes with small kids. I had one on our TTR50E, but I never used it. MY thinking is that having the bike suddenly stop running would be disconcerting. That said, if they were heading straight for a tree or something, I would have used it just to avoid the fast impact.

If you have a bike where you can ride two up AND communicate while riding, this is really helpful. I will describe to them what I am doing and why. I do this for things like corner entry, scanning traffic, changing gears, changing my body position, passing or NOT, etc,... I am trying to train them to be THINKING about what they are doing the whole time they are on the bike. I don't want them just cruising on mental auto pilot.
 
Pretty cool, hope you get the bike soon!
 
I know teaching her how to ride and control a bike is very important. Bike skills do directly transfer to a cage in many ways. Mainly awareness that is very lacking in most cagers. But, taking her out to open pavement, especially if wet in a car so she can learn panic stops and skid control can go a long way toward her being a competent driver. Also teach her that if she misses a turn/offramp...just go on down the road until she can double back.
I was a reluctant rider with my sister at the wheel years ago. It was raining and due to her lip flapping, we entered a corner a bit too fast. In the middle of the corner, she hit the brakes, I almost pooped my pants.
 
Thanks Tourmeister, valuable info. I have an old BW80 that she is comfortable putting around on and about an acre and a half of wide open. I had her in the garage with me last night just getting on / off, sitting, familiarizing with controls etc...on an XR250. I can tell she is intimidated by the weight and seat height. The Beta 125RRS is supposedly a little smaller than the XR and I can lower it an additional two inches with a kit. I hope so anyway, bought the bike without ever personally seeing one. Could have ordered a new one but after looking for a good while I luckily found a 17' In Missouri. Hope to have it sometime this week. Really hope she takes to it. We'll see.....
 
Thanks for the great story. She will learn a lot no matter how many years she ends up riding. I got my first bike when I was 14 and since then motorcycles, trips and cycling friends have been a huge part of my. Also, the Yamaha looks fantastic!
 
So after posting this video WAY back in February, last week I got a notice from YouTube that I violated their community standards because after they reviewed it they decided the video was age inappropriate... :scratch:


That is just me... riding in a straight line on a motorcycle in a pasture... I didn't even do a wheelie!!
 
I''ve been in a email group for years with a group that has played WWII flight sims...Air Warrior and now Aces High. I don't play currently but I've kept up with the group since the late 90's. One of them told us recently that YouTube gave him the same age restriction for a video of him diving his computerized plane into the ground.

So after posting this video WAY back in February, last week I got a notice from YouTube that I violated their community standards because after they reviewed it they decided the video was age inappropriate... :scratch:


That is just me... riding in a straight line on a motorcycle in a pasture... I didn't even do a wheelie!!
 
Is there any way to protest the decision?

There is a link in the email to appeal. It is a dead link :doh:

Ultimately, in my case it doesn't really matter. However, it is just a symptom of the zealousness of YouTube and other platforms of late :shrug: No doubt, there are those that might say the same thing about my heavy handed moderation here on TWT :-P
 
Maybe they are commenting that it was appropriate for Sarah to be riding that motorcycle, but maybe not for the old man (age inappropriate šŸ˜‚).

I imagine this was just a computer glitch.
 
This bike is getting ridden a LOT more now that she finally has her license! :thumb: Thanks Jeff and Lynn!
 
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