Hey guys... My kid is about to turn 5 and we just got him a 26 crf50 to start learning the basics on. I live really close to Switchback MX in SW PA... and we will be taking him here to get his feet wet and start learning the basics over the coming year. When I raced, 20 years ago we just wore helmets/gloves/boots/roost guard.
I want to make sure my kid has whatever gear is necessary for him to be safe, and still have the freedom to move and learn. The prices are insane as you all know even for youth gear. He is a growing little boy and stuff isnt going to last long before he grows out of it.... With that said, I am willing to spend the money on whatever is necessary for protection, but I dont know what to get him as there are such a huge spread of prices on different items.
What are the moto dads having there kids where when they get on the bike? Brand specific would be even better so I have some things to look at.
Also, If anyone is in Slippery Rock PA and wants to get the kids together that would be great ... PM me .
Thanks alot
I know when my kiddo gets a little bigger I’ll put her in a full face mtb helmet because they are lighter and smaller. If she starts wanting to go faster and jump then I’ll look into mx helmets.
I’d look into mtb pads too.
I mean, most kids "learn" with maybe a helmet and gloves. I never actually ever got actual gear when I got my PW80. I personally would just invest in the minimum - a helmet, gloves and goggles. Maybe find second hand boots or study footwear. And then if they take to the bike or start to ride it quickly, get them more gear. At a young age, any name-brand helmet will be good enough. I would go to the store and try on a few to get one that is snug. The best "protection" for people learning to ride is a good mentor or coach, or riding lessons if appropriate.
The nicest helmet you can get, boots, gloves, a chest protector, knee guards, goggles, pants and gloves.
Again, don’t skimp out on a helmet. Spend good money on the nicest helmet and make sure it fits her right!
A neck brace, I'd never in a million years let my kid ride without a neck brace.
I had a massive crash is 2017 and the doctor said it saved my life.
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I think maybe too much emphasis gets put on safety gear for really young kids. In hindsight there were a couple things Id point out
The first kids moto boots are like booties and have zero ankle movement. I think a youth leather work boot is a better option. Give the child ankle moment to learn the rear brake the crf provides and help with shifting.
Helmets- At 4-5yrs old, necks are weak. My kid would tip over and he would be like a turtle because his helmet was proportionally almost 10% of his bwt. At the slow speeds beginner kids are seeing, a proper fitting bike or MTB helmet would be more than adequate and would have given better visibility, and safety.
The rest just needs to be jeans, long sleeve shirt and gardening gloves, youth goggles.
All the above recs are solely based on a kid learning to ride on a slow air cooled bike. Please do not toss the kid into a race until they can demonstrate that they can use the brakes, ride around other bikes, tip over and not be pinned under the bike (dont have to be able to pick up the bike, just getting out from under it and to safety). I feel like racing teaches kids to twist the throttle as a first skill instead of anything else.
A property fitting, light weight helmet, gloves, goggles ,kid sized chest protector, and basic boots is a great start.
Kids that age outgrow stuff so quickly you could probably buy all of that stuff used, and in great shape at a good price!
Well, all of that except for the helmet and goggles, it’s not a bad idea to take the kiddo to the shop and try them on, find the best combo for your kid.
Have fun!!
Hey Man,
Cool to see you getting your kid into moto! I am the athlete manager for EVS sports. Shoot me an email and I will get you guys dialed. jasonf@evs-sports.com
Chris, very happy to see your #1 priority is your son’s safety. My only suggestion is to hold him back from the track for a while. Maybe just take him to an open pit, or even a large backyard. My experience with introducing track life too early has not gone well. The track, and the surrounding chaos can intimidate youngsters, maybe even scaring them off of motorbikes completely. Hoping you take this in the friendly way that it was intended. Best of Luck.
In the very beginning we went with a decent helmet, long pants and shirt.
This will seem obvious but having watched kids whiskey throttle into car doors and bushes and shit maybe not. Start off with 2 adults about 5 feet apart, have your kid start and stop between them a bunch of times, then walk further and further apart. Once you can yell STOP ! and they instantly grab the back brake and shut off the throttle, then turn em loose on their own. I've watched a lot of parents more concerned with teaching them how the bike goes than how the bike stops. Like I said it sounds kind of stupid like that would be common knowledge, but I watched more than a few (of my friends kids) whiskey throttle and bash into something. Get their little auto pilots trained to know how to stop.
You never ever do that.
Boots and helmet are obvious, but buy the chest protector with the highest CE rating that will fit him. It protects all the important organs in there. I would say this is more important than boots.
I got my boy one of these. It's a little bit bulky but it's easy to get on and off and offers good protection.
My boys have been riding since before 2, now 5 & 7. Started with electric bikes and regular bike helmets, eventually to crf50/110. After a few scratched up faces and a hole in the lip from the electric bike days, we started looking at full face options. As others mentioned, mx helmets are just too heavy imo for little kids so we went with full face mtb helmets for both. Currently using the below along with cheap msr gloves, jersey, pants and used riding boots. They grow out of stuff so quick I feel like I'm constantly buying new.
https://7idp.com/collections/helmets/products/m1-helmet
gotta luv Vital for advice...responses range from "Bubble Wrap" to shorts and flip flops! 🙂
Dang guys thanks for all the great responses
. A lot to chew on here…
I already got him an HJC helmet, and some cheap goggles.
We are definitely going to start with the throttle limited,… he will have to prove to me his abilities well before I take him to any sort of open practice or track.
Looking forward to learning from you guys
Chris
Pit Row
Someone say shorts and flip flops ? 😄
Awesome advice and I wouldn’t have thought to do this tbh… thank you
At that age, yes always invest in a good helmet, in addition, kids NEVER wear out gear at that age because they grow so fast. Buy everything else used.
You'll sell it again for the same price you paid for it that way. You have no clue how much this will save you.
Next question then, where do you guys find quality used gear? I don’t do Facebook or twitter or any of that shit.
For starters, post a wanted ad in the for sale / Bazar of Vital
I thought of it after watching my older friends kids do it. The move seemed to be the parents would see them headed for something bad and yell STOP !!! in full panic volume and every time the kids would put their feet down to Flintstone brake it, leave the throttle wide open, not even touch the brakes and bash into whatever wfo. The car door was the best, luckily the door was open and he just slammed it shut so it gave a little. Another buddy's daughter did the same thing into a bush in the desert, she got some scrapes and pokes but the worst part was it scared her enough that she was over it. So we learned from their mistakes that our kids (hopefully) would have a knee jerk reaction to shut the throttle off and slam the back brake when they heard us panicking and screaming at the top of our lungs lol. Train their auto pilots to stop asap ! LOL
That's the great thing about stacyc style electric bikes, they teach the kids to use a twist throttle and hand brake in an even better environment than a pw. You can do stop and go, slow riding, brake lock up drills etc without even any engine noise. When my son finally got on a pw his throttle control and balance were already established, I just have to watch out for when he tips over and the bike lands on his leg but I'm never worried about a whiskey throttle because the pw requires so much more throttle to get going compared to the electric bikes he's been on.
Just remember to keep it fun for the kid.
Ask around at the track, too. Find the mini dads and ask around.
I know our group was always passing down stuff that no longer fit. That size kid doesn't really wear anything out much either.
And people wonder why kids today are soft.
I used to tie a long rope to the back of the bike to run behind with around the yard. PW50 has a nice steel loop to tie to. We would practice the "oh shoot" moments by me yelling STOP!! randomly to get used to stopping quickly.
This times a thousand.
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