As a Motocross Father what's the first thing you teach your kid?

Tokyo_Tiddler 8/5/2021 2:37pm
8/5/2021 2:37pm
Tokyo_Tiddler wrote:
"First thing" means it would be when they were first starting out and were slow on the track so I told them to keep to the...
"First thing" means it would be when they were first starting out and were slow on the track so I told them to keep to the sides of the track and let the faster riders have the main lines. Most importantly, if a faster ride is about to over take them, ALWAYS hold their line, NEVER try to guess where they are and move out of their way, and let the faster rider find their way around them. #1 safety rule IMHO for a new rider starting out on a track with other riders.
In addition to the above, I always repeat several times that; "first lap is always a sighting lap" even if other guys are flying around and you want to join them. I have made the mistake so many times myself where I jumped something on the first lap that I jumped a hundred times the day before and they had changed the landing area overnight into something completely different. It is hard to resist the urge.

The next thing I repeat over and over is that if the bike gets out of control, NEVER grab the brakes or chop the throttle, instead keep the power on and the bike will usually straighten itself out. It is hard to make this a basic instinct when your heart is in your throat, but we all remember that once we learned how to do this instinctively, crashes decreased dramatically and we became much more confident on the bike.
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mattyhamz2
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mattyhamz2 8/5/2021 4:02pm
8/5/2021 4:02pm
First thing I taught my kids was that we do this for fun and bonding as a family. This isn’t me wanting them to race and go fast, this is about family time doing something fun together and having fun outdoors. Then we move on to the basics of moving, stopping and controlling the right wrist.
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drivrswntd
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drivrswntd 8/5/2021 4:13pm
8/5/2021 4:13pm
Keep the gas pegged, don’t ever lift, if you take your feet off the pegs again I’m going to tape them to the pegs, stand up or I’m going to take your seat off, there is nothing acceptable except 1st, 2nd place is first looser.

Am I missing anything here?

When we started doing moto last year we did lessons and focused on form more than anything. Speed comes with time. At the end of the day it’s about having fun, growing as a person through all of the ups and downs of moto and having fun and building memories!
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side-pipe
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side-pipe 8/5/2021 4:16pm
8/5/2021 4:16pm
never enter the track on the backside of a jump
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McG194
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McG194 8/5/2021 4:20pm
8/5/2021 4:20pm
Tokyo_Tiddler wrote:
"First thing" means it would be when they were first starting out and were slow on the track so I told them to keep to the...
"First thing" means it would be when they were first starting out and were slow on the track so I told them to keep to the sides of the track and let the faster riders have the main lines. Most importantly, if a faster ride is about to over take them, ALWAYS hold their line, NEVER try to guess where they are and move out of their way, and let the faster rider find their way around them. #1 safety rule IMHO for a new rider starting out on a track with other riders.
Tokyo_Tiddler wrote:
In addition to the above, I always repeat several times that; "first lap is always a sighting lap" even if other guys are flying around and...
In addition to the above, I always repeat several times that; "first lap is always a sighting lap" even if other guys are flying around and you want to join them. I have made the mistake so many times myself where I jumped something on the first lap that I jumped a hundred times the day before and they had changed the landing area overnight into something completely different. It is hard to resist the urge.

The next thing I repeat over and over is that if the bike gets out of control, NEVER grab the brakes or chop the throttle, instead keep the power on and the bike will usually straighten itself out. It is hard to make this a basic instinct when your heart is in your throat, but we all remember that once we learned how to do this instinctively, crashes decreased dramatically and we became much more confident on the bike.
As far as chopping the throttle my dads line was "When in doubt gas it, you may not always save it but you'll end the suspense a lot faster." True story.

Watching my older brother ride I was always a little bummed that he was faster but my dad said "You ride with your brains, your brother rides with his balls. Keep doing it like that and you'll smoke him."
McG194
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McG194 8/5/2021 4:24pm
8/5/2021 4:24pm
MyBobbym wrote:
Unless you have a two minute lead you never look back, ever...

Wtf?
Broseph wrote:
Did you start this thread to discuss the Deegan look-back crash only to have it turn into wholesome fatherly discussion? [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2021/08/05/504490/s1200_8D2D6B7B_E711_4A7E_AA46_12696232E463.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2021/08/05/504491/s1200_252C1AE8_26CC_40BE_9BF7_654D7BECEA34.jpg[/img]
Did you start this thread to discuss the Deegan look-back crash only to have it turn into wholesome fatherly discussion?




MyBobbym wrote:
Check out the big brain on Brad.. I'm digging the direction it went though. 😁😳
Kind of funny, you start a thread to shit on a 15 year old but at the end of the day that 15 year old was showing amazing situational awareness to turn around and find the kid because he knew he was in trouble.
Wycked31
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Wycked31 8/5/2021 4:39pm
8/5/2021 4:39pm
Surprised no one said “Pin it to win it” or “When in doubt, gas it”
cwel11
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cwel11 8/5/2021 5:19pm
8/5/2021 5:19pm
Tokyo_Tiddler wrote:
"First thing" means it would be when they were first starting out and were slow on the track so I told them to keep to the...
"First thing" means it would be when they were first starting out and were slow on the track so I told them to keep to the sides of the track and let the faster riders have the main lines. Most importantly, if a faster ride is about to over take them, ALWAYS hold their line, NEVER try to guess where they are and move out of their way, and let the faster rider find their way around them. #1 safety rule IMHO for a new rider starting out on a track with other riders.
This is almost word for word what I was gonna say. Perfect 👍🏻
wwoberg
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wwoberg 8/5/2021 7:25pm
8/5/2021 7:25pm
Elbows up. When he said "Villapoto has his elbows down" I said "when you can ride that fast you can do whatever you want"
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Coyote
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Coyote 8/5/2021 7:56pm
8/5/2021 7:56pm
Coyote wrote:
don't ride Maico"s??
MyBobbym wrote:
Or a Husky.
lol, good to see you still have your sense of humour Bobby!!
450
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450 8/5/2021 8:04pm
8/5/2021 8:04pm
Respect to your competitors and stay humble when you have victories. Believe on yourself.
nornevrder
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nornevrder 8/5/2021 8:31pm
8/5/2021 8:31pm
Don’t try and stop with your feet off the pegs. Utilize the front and rear brakes.
MyBobbym
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MyBobbym 8/6/2021 9:05am
8/6/2021 9:05am
Broseph wrote:
Did you start this thread to discuss the Deegan look-back crash only to have it turn into wholesome fatherly discussion? [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2021/08/05/504490/s1200_8D2D6B7B_E711_4A7E_AA46_12696232E463.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2021/08/05/504491/s1200_252C1AE8_26CC_40BE_9BF7_654D7BECEA34.jpg[/img]
Did you start this thread to discuss the Deegan look-back crash only to have it turn into wholesome fatherly discussion?




MyBobbym wrote:
Check out the big brain on Brad.. I'm digging the direction it went though. 😁😳
McG194 wrote:
Kind of funny, you start a thread to shit on a 15 year old but at the end of the day that 15 year old was...
Kind of funny, you start a thread to shit on a 15 year old but at the end of the day that 15 year old was showing amazing situational awareness to turn around and find the kid because he knew he was in trouble.
I'm talking about leading up to this mistake, a few turns before .FYI my post was directed more to his pops.
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McG194
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McG194 8/6/2021 9:21am
8/6/2021 9:21am
MyBobbym wrote:
Check out the big brain on Brad.. I'm digging the direction it went though. 😁😳
McG194 wrote:
Kind of funny, you start a thread to shit on a 15 year old but at the end of the day that 15 year old was...
Kind of funny, you start a thread to shit on a 15 year old but at the end of the day that 15 year old was showing amazing situational awareness to turn around and find the kid because he knew he was in trouble.
MyBobbym wrote:
I'm talking about leading up to this mistake, a few turns before .FYI my post was directed more to his pops.
I will say this publicly. Brian is just a couple years younger than me but he's enough younger that when the whole Metal Mullisha thing was starting I thought he was the biggest douchebag ever.

I was way wrong, he was way smarter than I gave him credit for and he has steered his kids careers flawlessly. I think he has set them up to be financially successful and most importantly he set them up to challenge them but not put them in unwinnable positions that hurts their growth. He's done a good enough job that I'm more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
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wreckitrandy
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wreckitrandy 8/6/2021 6:00pm
8/6/2021 6:00pm
Never had a dad. Never had children. So, anything I say, grain of salt....What I did have was a grandma that loved me. She bought my first bike when I was ten. She said, "Here you go. You can work and buy the gas and tires and keep it going." That was on Sunday. On Wednesday, it snowed. I shoveled sidewalks for a quarter. She taught me to work with that bike. If I had been blessed with kids, I think I would have taught them the same thing. Hard work is what you do when you want things bad enough. Well, it used to be anyway. Thanks grandma.
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APLMAN99
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APLMAN99 8/6/2021 6:36pm
8/6/2021 6:36pm
I don’t remember the first thing I ‘taught’ my kids, but I do remember what I told them before each got their first bike.

I told them that riding is something that was always a lot of fun for me, but it might not be for them. Because of how dangerous it can be, if it ever stopped being fun for them they could stop riding at any time and I wouldn’t be upset at all.

They let me know when other things were more fun and that’s when I knew that the risks outweighed the rewards.

My oldest son just turned 26 and said he is thinking about getting back into riding after over 12 years of not. I don’t think he’d be interested in it if I would have made him continue doing after it stopped being ’fun’.

I’m kind of looking forward to riding with him again soon!!!!
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walent215
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walent215 8/6/2021 9:14pm
8/6/2021 9:14pm
I taught them the obvious basics of hold your line, don’t look back etc .... after the safety schpeel I taught him how to be aggressive on the start and get the holeshot to sprint away from all the carnage that is inevitable....
While everyone is bangin on each other slowing each other down he will be pulling away ... in the safe zone
The one that he didnt like but understood later on is to line up far outside or Atleast away from the inside where everyone wants to be ....
Local races with smaller gates this is an easy way to keep out of the first turn pileup etc ...

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dboivin
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dboivin 8/7/2021 1:05am
8/7/2021 1:05am
McG194 wrote:
Kind of funny, you start a thread to shit on a 15 year old but at the end of the day that 15 year old was...
Kind of funny, you start a thread to shit on a 15 year old but at the end of the day that 15 year old was showing amazing situational awareness to turn around and find the kid because he knew he was in trouble.
MyBobbym wrote:
I'm talking about leading up to this mistake, a few turns before .FYI my post was directed more to his pops.
McG194 wrote:
I will say this publicly. Brian is just a couple years younger than me but he's enough younger that when the whole Metal Mullisha thing was...
I will say this publicly. Brian is just a couple years younger than me but he's enough younger that when the whole Metal Mullisha thing was starting I thought he was the biggest douchebag ever.

I was way wrong, he was way smarter than I gave him credit for and he has steered his kids careers flawlessly. I think he has set them up to be financially successful and most importantly he set them up to challenge them but not put them in unwinnable positions that hurts their growth. He's done a good enough job that I'm more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
kinda hung around that crew (was a mechanic for another same tier rider) during 94/95 nationals. brian was a good dude. was not surprised at all with him be successful. when i see intereviews or videos of him talking...hes the same guy he was back then. hes pretty down to earth with a smart business brain.

btw, when you watch his kid before that crash...it is quite amazing how aware he was and way he bailed off before the actual hit was pretty smart. probably saved him from getting seriously hurt. most kids would just ride that out hoping for the best.
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keinz
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keinz 8/7/2021 9:56am
8/7/2021 9:56am
Run son, run
TbonesPop
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TbonesPop 8/7/2021 10:12am
8/7/2021 10:12am
Outside of which is the gas and which is the brake, I taught What holding your line means, what it actually is and how to do it. Could be a life or death lesson.
gharmon
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gharmon 8/7/2021 9:51pm
8/7/2021 9:51pm
Tokyo_Tiddler wrote:
"First thing" means it would be when they were first starting out and were slow on the track so I told them to keep to the...
"First thing" means it would be when they were first starting out and were slow on the track so I told them to keep to the sides of the track and let the faster riders have the main lines. Most importantly, if a faster ride is about to over take them, ALWAYS hold their line, NEVER try to guess where they are and move out of their way, and let the faster rider find their way around them. #1 safety rule IMHO for a new rider starting out on a track with other riders.
Yep. Man on a 125 5 .5 years ago slammed on brakes and roll a jump right into my line. Said he was trying to get out of my way. I was already commited to the jump. Landed on him. He rode it out.
Compound distsal left femur fractute, shattered left acetabulum (hip socket), ruptuted bladder from an external oblique ripping the head of bladder off. 3 broken left ribs. And i have permanent left foot nerve damage from a knicked sciatic nerve. I will wear an afo brace the rest of my life as well as i have to shift with my heel now. Cant pick toes.
So yes, that was a very good first lesson dad.

Oh yeah that wreck costed me 10 days in hospital. 4 months non wt. bearing and 9 months out of work from one simple mistake.
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UpTiTe
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UpTiTe 8/10/2021 2:35pm
8/10/2021 2:35pm
Teach him to love riding. Don’t scold him into riding better, let him love it first.
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TeamGreen
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TeamGreen 8/10/2021 3:48pm
8/10/2021 3:48pm
Coyote wrote:
don't ride Maico"s??
MyBobbym wrote:
Or a Husky.
Coyote wrote:
lol, good to see you still have your sense of humour Bobby!!
Brad’s brother?

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