OZ ATV :: The Australian ATV Forum

[Big Jb TRX450]

Gday crew...well my 8yr old little miss will have her 1st bike next week but ive got a problem, you see she has autism (high functioning) & with that tends to have comprehension problems when learning. Mrs JB & i have always used learning systems where to explain new concepts to her we make it as straight forward for her to understand. Now ive been trying to figure out how to explain the process of changing gears. The bike is a Raptor 90 so 3 speed manual with auto clutch. Being her 1st bike she isnt mechanically minded so explaining how/why & when to change gears is doing my head in. Im worried that if she doesnt get the jist of it she will become frustrated & quickly lose interest which is a possibility.....Id like some input from an outsiders point of view.....so fire away
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04 TRX 450r
with a bit of this & a bit of that

[jono10]

Gday mate can sort of understand your frustration, its hard to get kids to understand the concept of changing gears while steering and learning when to brake.Tried my son on a 80 with 5 gears and he had no idea.Bought him a cheap no geared quad off ebay with a throttle govener and he took to it like a duck to water, loves it. so maybe that might be worth trying?

[kingquad]

Raptor 90 is an automatic it only has throttle and breaks, no shifting needed.

I hope your little girl loves her new bike. Here is a link to the specs of the bike. The raptor is great to learn on because it has two speed limiting systems on the bike. http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/products/modelspecs/612/0/specs.aspx

[Dino]

I'd reckon just work on getting her riding, steering and stopping at first, Josh. Then feed her as little as she is prepared to handle regarding the other skills.
That's worked out OK with our kids and so many trainee operators that I've been involved with.
And good on you.
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Remember. We elect politicians, but we have to deal with bureaucracy.
Notice that crazy in the bureaucrats.

[yogie]

I will assume with her autism, her hearing could be really good, so teach her when the engine is reving highly its time to shift up, as with all kids give no more than 3 direction at one time because on the fourth one, all will be forgotton
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2005 KFX700
With a few bells and whistles
and the twin yoshi's
American Star A-arms, tie rods
elka stickers
Shorty Shifter
I have a Waco
rossco gave me a flexx sticker
honda thumb
Great at climbing trees
durablue stickers

[feralkid]

I managed to teach my sister to ride, and she is blonde. She sat on a bike (fully manual) that was in neutral one day, and asked if it was in gear. We told her yes and she revved it and tried to get it to move.
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"If in doubt go flat out"
"Nothing worth having is easy to get"

[Linc]

From my own limited experience you are better just explaining gears as "faster" and "slower".....the whole gear ratio, engine revs explaination in any way you try put it just goes throught to the keeper.

Maybe try "slow", "medium" and "fast" from there she'll work it out for herself.

I hope that helps.

[bullet]

Linc's suggestion sounds good, but i think the Yami is a CVT auto with no gears.
Just check that out first.
Either way if you do have gears, pick simple and consistent terrain for starters.
Stick to a marked out track on flat ground to avoid stalling on hills etc.
Get the hang of throttle and brakes first, then as experience builds, add one hill that requires a down shift.

have fun.
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Can-Am X Team
Bullet #Y12. MrsB #Y18.

[Stevo]

When I first taught my lad to ride I put him in front of me on the bike and just got him to listen to the engine.
Started off really slow in one gear & worked our way up from there.
Getting him started by himself took a little while . I used to just push him a bit untill he got the hang of it , He learnt on a Banshee.
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The older I get the faster I was !!

[Big Jb TRX450]

Cheers for the help. Turns out the 09 is an auto (good on me & my lack of research) so thats one element taken care of but as already mentioned there are alot of things to think about when riding. little miss will be learning how to ride on a dairy farm so pretty flat ground, grass & a few dirt rds. I sat don with her last night & picked her brain to see what she knew as far as riding goes, after asking questions she did get the idea of change gears in the car as shes asked me before why i do it. I then went to explain steering & braking (i cant get her to ride a push bike) i used to think it was a balance problem but she rips around on one of those razor scooters just fine. Im starting to feel confident she will get the idea of what to do, take things slow & undo the throttle screw as the skills develop, keep the suggestions coming ppl, very much appreciated ...cheers
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04 TRX 450r
with a bit of this & a bit of that

[Big Jb TRX450]

Stevo wrote:

, He learnt on a Banshee.

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04 TRX 450r
with a bit of this & a bit of that

[Stevo]

Big Jb TRX450 wrote:

Stevo wrote: , He learnt on a Banshee.

I governed the throttle for him He soon picked it up
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The older I get the faster I was !!

[SX Quad]

Big JB,
She will handle the 90 fine. Our daughter didnt like the little Suzuki 50 and took to the 90 easily. She has only just turned 6. I also had the dealer fit a kill switch lanyard as a secondary safety and she has used it once when she jumped off after missing a corner and parking it in a shrub so she knows it stops the bike if she is in trouble.
There is the two limiters, one being the throttle screw which i didnt use and a bridging clip on the CDI under the seat to limit the revs - that one is still in place. Make sure it is there when you pick up the bike as the dealers normally rip it out and throw it away - only takes a screwdriver to put it in.
Friends of ours have an autistic boy and he rides really well - just needs to learn to slow down sometimes as the fear factor is not there. Same thing he couldn't ride a bike but can ride the quads really well and he is only 9 now.
Hope she enjoys it.
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660R mine
300 Grizzly Hers
90R Little T

[vjcrose]

hey JB
What you are doing is awesome!
My bro who has downs loves his quad. It is hard to get people to try - just in case it doesn't work out.
If I could reach - I would pat u on the back

I know huskygoat has been looking into a quad program for camp quality kids. He has had a problem with a hole in the fund bucket but I hope things work out for the children involved.

Two good examples of why I love quad people
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Family is most important.... next is our quads

[Big Jb TRX450]

thanx everyone, got some good advice out of it, i think ill take her on mine & poke along with her explaining what im doing, got some good tips out of this post. its now just down to whether or not little miss comprehends the info im feeding her with. after reading comments on here i have confidence. ill let you know how her 1st run goes, expecting the bike early next week
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04 TRX 450r
with a bit of this & a bit of that

[dynamitediscodave]

JB, i've gotta say well done!
I really hope she can pick it up then you 2 can go riding together!!!!
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ltr450 with un-broken stuff

Thanks to: HST, Roycroft, AUSTRACO, ATV's Unlimited, Hardiman and Casper

[muzzgit]

Know any truck drivers?

You could take her for a ride in a truck and just mention every now and then going faster changing up, going slower changing down, but don't forget to do lots of not talking so she can soak it up at her own pace.
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Cheers,
MUZZ
06 YFM 700R mine
03 KFX 400 hers

[SX Quad]

JB, have you got the bike yet and if so how is she going. Think everyone is hoping it turns out fine.
Good luck with it all.
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660R mine
300 Grizzly Hers
90R Little T

[Big Jb TRX450]

Getting dropped off tonight. Weather pending this weekend for her 1st outting
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04 TRX 450r
with a bit of this & a bit of that

[yogie]

Big Jb TRX450 wrote:

Getting dropped off tonight. Weather pending this weekend for her 1st outting

mate she is gunna love it, have a video and camera handy... but dont let her ride beside you, there will be tears, when you cant keep up her...
_________________
2005 KFX700
With a few bells and whistles
and the twin yoshi's
American Star A-arms, tie rods
elka stickers
Shorty Shifter
I have a Waco
rossco gave me a flexx sticker
honda thumb
Great at climbing trees
durablue stickers

[Big Jb TRX450]

BIKE HAS LANDED...!! 09 RAPTOR 90...DAMN THING IS NEAR NEW....STOKED!!! photo's are crap but its surpassed my expectations
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04 TRX 450r
with a bit of this & a bit of that

[pyjamas]

Have fun!!
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If you're not having fun, it's not worth doing

Thanks to
The Goldfinches
Squire Sisters Racing
Motorcycle Parts an Gear
Off Road Vixens
Burra Tyres
SA Quad Club
and everyone else who helped us

[Big Jb TRX450]

Well sundays weather was pretty kind out our way & there was plenty of excitement in the air. We had a lunch day with friends of ours who are dairy farmers & so that was the day for my little missy's 1st ride. Got her riding gear a few days before that so everything was good to go. Got out to our friends place & after a nice lunch i had miss breathing down my neck..."Dad!!! come on lets do this"...Mrs B got her suited up while i did a final check & fired it blue weapon up. Now i had butterfly's in my stomach & was feeling very nervous. I had spent over a week & a half talking to miss about riding (in theory) so i wasnt sure how much she had taken in & how much of it she understood. So she saddles up & asked her if she remembered the stuff we talked about "Dad dont stress"...."just let me ride"....& with that statement she was off. I had the throttle govened but wasnt 100% sure if i had it set right. After i walked along & guided her to do a bit of a loop after about 15min of nutting her bike out suddnely she found her Mo-Jo. She had taken on everything i had talked to her about, even leaning right into the corners as if she had been doing it for yrs. 40min into it she came back & asked me to open the "go button" a little more so with caution i did let the screw out another half turn & off she went. Mrs B & her friend were sitting outside watching missy ride while i was inside with my mate (Coddz) when i heard a great yell...."josh get out here!!"....i thought good god whats happened???!!....shot out there & missy was doing her lap & found a muddy road. i said "whats wrong?"...Mrs B said "watch this"...called miss over & told her to ride inbetween the two cars & the fence (which had enough room to fit 4 big quads)...Mrs B says..."you'll love this!"...so off she goes & comes back & approaches the corner & went out wide before cutting into the corner & right @ the end the cheeky little bugger gets the back end to slide out & to my supprise she caught it & corrected it....i was shocked....Mrs B asked if i showed her that?..."No way, she figured out that one for herself!!".....Now im sure a few of you maybe reading this thinking big deal my kid does this & that & races but if you knew my little ladys life has been a battle for her (learning & comprehention) so watching her do something for the 1st time & doing it well was a huge moment for Mrs B & myself, it was the 1st thing shes ever done where everything about it seem to make perfect sense to her which honeslty gave me a bit of a frog in the throat. From here on my hope is that in the future she will have a quad of her own & she will want to saddle up & hit the trails with the old man. Here are a few pix from sunday, enjoy them & thanks for the advise & support............Oh & a special comment just for yogie...like daughter, like daddy....(you will know what im talking about)

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04 TRX 450r
with a bit of this & a bit of that

[Fozzy]

Awesome news mate.

Im sure you're proud as punch!

[SX Quad]

Glad it all went well and hope there is many more rides to come.

Proud as punch I am sure and a good feeling so keep the tissues handy.
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660R mine
300 Grizzly Hers
90R Little T