faffi Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 Today, I fitted my GoPro to film my son's throttle hand while we where riding on mostly winding roads. I suspected he may be feeding inconsistency into the bike. While I can hear him hit the throttle just fine from about midcorner, I was more interested in entering and until getting commited to acceleration out of the turn. I chose the GP170, which doesn't have much wide angle effect, and as a result I could see very little road ahead and only the switchgear. A bit of a bummer, but luckily the bike is fitted with heated grips, and the wire giving the grip juice very clearly showed his throttle actions. And entering corners, it was a lot of on/off, and also through some of the longer corners. Like any 17 year old, he hates to be explained anything by his stupid old man, and there was no lack of excuses, but eventually he accepted that he needed to do one thing at the time to stop upsetting the bike. He forbade me to put up the video, but I'll make another one in a month or two to see how he's progressed. Coby was the one spurring me on to doing this with a comment he made about 3 years ago, so thanks for that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktk_ace Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 If hes passionate about it enough, he'll learn it himself and eventually ask you if he hits a mental/skill roadblock... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobie Fair Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 Forbade you to put it up, tell him to man up! . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faffi Posted June 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Hopefully, there will be enough improvements until next time that it can leave the press office He learned another thing as well, that there is little correlation between his imagined limits and the actual limits. The lad was shocked when he saw how little off veritical he was despite his SRs firing off in rapid succession. But he'll get there. If he can learn to set his entrance speed as quickly as he learned to get back on the throttle after finishing his steering, it will not take long. We'll go for the same apporach, me observing and telling him when to close the throttle this time. Never imagined radio communication could be this useful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobie Fair Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 My wife has come to the school 4 times--I coached her at none of them! Probably part of the reason we are still married! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faffi Posted June 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Ideally, he'd be trained by somebody where there are no emotional bonds. However, that's not so easy since you must be accompanied by another rider that's had his or her permit for at least 7 years and continually for the past 5 years whenever you practice on the road. But every now and then he try out and more importantly master what I tell him, and from then on he picks up very quickly. As he did with the early throttle application. Today, we managed to reduce the unwanted throttle movements, but there is still some way to go. The things that will be the hardest for him to achieve is quick turning and hard braking - no amount of practice seems to unblock his fears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobie Fair Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 Has he read any of the Twist material, or see the DVDs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faffi Posted June 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 He's watched the DVD and I've made sure he has the book... getting him to read it, though, has not been a complete success so far. He's read some bits, but nothing like studying. Like most teenagers he likes to think he knows best and are reluctant to admit he can be taught anything of value. Well, I'm close to 50 and that doesn't prevent me from acting stubborn, either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobie Fair Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 Here at the school we ask a lot of questions...that format has worked well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faffi Posted June 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2013 I can become better at that, no doubt. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sukeshak Posted July 21, 2013 Report Share Posted July 21, 2013 Sounds like there should be a CSS level for Dad's on how to teach cornering to their kids I want to get my son started next year onwards on motorcycle... Any advice for me on how to teach kids to ride a motorcycle? Bike (bicycle part is going on and he's good at it). For the records he's 4yrs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faffi Posted July 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2013 Put a radio in his helmet so that you can communicate with him, whether you're standing next to the track or riding along with him. The ability to give instructions as it happens is something I found invaluable and sped up his progress no end. The trick is to not make the instructions to complicated or restricting - he will also have to have fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sukeshak Posted July 21, 2013 Report Share Posted July 21, 2013 Thanks Eirik. My question was more about how to start him on motorcycle than cornering. Yes I use Sena for communication so that's already covered. On a bicycle it's easy to make them sit and hold it and run behind them probably to teach them. But how do you teach them on a motorcycle. If you are not aware, in India there is no basic training programs for motorcycle riding. It's mostly someone put you on the motorcycle and told you how to change the gear... u fall n learn after that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faffi Posted July 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2013 I'd say a small MX bike where he can safely reach the ground and a mild mannered 50cc engine with auto transmission and a top speed of 20 mph should make it fun and easy to master if he knows how to pedal bike. Make sure you can easily up the speed to 30 mph if he shows talent so you won't have to buy a new bike after a few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sukeshak Posted July 22, 2013 Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 Availability is an issue, any suggestions for a bike of that size/power? I have seen KTM 50cc bikes on the site... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faffi Posted July 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 Yamaha have dominated that part of the market here with the PeeWee50 http://www.yamahamotorsports.com/sport/products/modelhome/40/home.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotfoot Posted July 23, 2013 Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 My 6 year old has a Honda CRF-50. I am VERY impressed with it, super reliable, easy to start (he can kick start it himself) and handles well. It's a 3 speed automatic with adjustable throttle limiter. It doesn't shift very smoothly but mostly he just puts it in second and keeps it there - second has good predictable throttle reponse and goes fast enough to be stable and fun. He has ridden it on a go kart track (on the knobby tires!) and I was really surprised how well he was getting around on it, it seemed to handle quite well. I'm thinking of getting some supermoto tires for it. Also we use it as a pit bike sometimes, works good for that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sukeshak Posted July 23, 2013 Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 Thanks Eirik and Hotfoot. I have a dirt custom one I got for kids (100cc), but then realized it's too much power for a start. Shhhh... don't tell anyone, it threw me out once... PW50 & CRF50 sounds like good options, now need to figure out how to get those down here... Any ideas on approx. price in $ for both PW50 and CRF-50 there? Website says $1400 approx. but usually website shows more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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