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New Rider.
- Thread starter Rich82GS750TZ
- Start date
Not really worried about the knobbies’ performance in the rain TBH. They’re the original Chinese tires that came on this Chinese bike. It’s my kids’s first bike. We’ll be doing a lot of riding on forest dirt/gravel roads especially as he’s learning. When these wear out probably go with something like the Shiro 705 like in have on the GS or the 700 which I’ve also used on the GS. 700 is more aggressive but I don’t think you’d call it a knobby, per se.
Took my son out to the desert and rented dirt bikes, gave him a rundown of the operation of clutch throttle and gearshift and took off on him after he stalled it 3 or 4 times Waited about 5 minutes behind a hill around the bend and pretty soon, around he came, hauling butt and mad as a hornet hahaha.
I guess there is now no reason that we won't see BOTH of you at the rally next year. :-\\\
You would not be the first father/son team there. I think there have already been three or four.
That could happen. My SIL has a sprinter van we could borrow. Could you imagine riding a 250cc dirt bike 615 highway miles, one way? This thing made my fingers, toes, and butt numb after an hour. 
93Bandit
Forum Mentor
Your son's first bike is an MT07????? I'm very jealous, those are great bikes. I have several buddies with the 07, 09 and 10.
Congrats on the new bike for the newly minted rider! A dual sport (a cheap chinese one at that) is a GREAT first bike IMO. Not much to break if he drops it, not too much power to get in trouble, plus they're just plain FUN with the upright seating and nice wide handlebar and low weight. That and you have plenty of fun gravel roads to explore with him on and riding on gravel and getting comfortable with how the bike feels when it's loose and doesn't have full traction is all great stuff for building skills IMO.
It's a different perspective a parent, your own kid on a bike. My dad hated motorcycles, but never forbade them. In the 70s and early 80s when I was young, it was 'anything goes'. No rider training, whatever gear you could gather would do. Good to see that we have evolved, but sometimes it seems a bit over the top to an old crusty dude. All is not bad in the world, and we need to savor the good times that motorcycling brings. It has added a lot to my life, that's for sure.
When I say my dad "taught" me how to ride in 1983 (1972 Yamaha DT250), I mean he showed me how to use the clutch, no real explantation of why. How to change gears, 1 down, 4 up, Neutral between 1st and 2nd. Showed me the throttle. Showed me the rear brake.
Me: What's this lever on the right hand?
Dad: Never-mind, you won't need it.
explanation: I was 12, the alley behind my house was dirt. We rode only on dirt except for crossing the occasions paved road. To this day, I believe I rode that bike for 2 years and never touched the front brake.
Dad was a man of few words. He let me go off on my own or follow my older brother on his SP500. I learned quickly, learned how to crash real good. I dropped that bike a lot. Shortly after getting it, I was riding in the woods behind my house and somehow managed to get my handlebars wedged between some trees. There was sapling @ 2" dia. wedged between the clutch lever and the grip. I had to walk home, grab a saw off dad's neatly organized pegboard, back out to the woods and cut down the offending vegetation. That was the first of many broken levers. But that's the one I remember most.
If I do half as good a job with my boy as my Dad did with me, he should do OK. I'm a little more protective, I think, but I'm not above allowing him to make mistakes, safely. One thing I did get from my dad is the phrase "put my GD tools back where you found them when you're done with them":biggrin:
Me: What's this lever on the right hand?
Dad: Never-mind, you won't need it.
explanation: I was 12, the alley behind my house was dirt. We rode only on dirt except for crossing the occasions paved road. To this day, I believe I rode that bike for 2 years and never touched the front brake.
Dad was a man of few words. He let me go off on my own or follow my older brother on his SP500. I learned quickly, learned how to crash real good. I dropped that bike a lot. Shortly after getting it, I was riding in the woods behind my house and somehow managed to get my handlebars wedged between some trees. There was sapling @ 2" dia. wedged between the clutch lever and the grip. I had to walk home, grab a saw off dad's neatly organized pegboard, back out to the woods and cut down the offending vegetation. That was the first of many broken levers. But that's the one I remember most.
If I do half as good a job with my boy as my Dad did with me, he should do OK. I'm a little more protective, I think, but I'm not above allowing him to make mistakes, safely. One thing I did get from my dad is the phrase "put my GD tools back where you found them when you're done with them":biggrin:
Today we sold the Hawk 250. Noah is leaving for the military soon so it had to go. Happy to see it go, and it was fun for me and him to tinker on. Everyone’s first bike should be kinda crappy.
He just put it up on FB marketplace today after a potential buyer that stopped at our garage sale last week ghosted him. Lots of interest in a short amount of time. A buyer came 100 miles to get it for $650. It was priced to sell despite to money in upgrades we put into it. Just this week I paid to renew the state inspection and registration. I was to meet them at the local notary but left work a bit early so I could stop at home and make sure all was good with the buyer. He was to load it on his pickup at the house.
I see the guys truck when I pulled into the driveway, got out, and first thing Noah says to me is “Dad, I just crashed the bike….bad”. I notice some bloody knuckles and he’s rubbing his shoulder and holding my helmet in his hand. “It’s all messed up, I told him he can have it for $200.” After making sure that Noah is relatively OK, check out the bike. Things I can see: left side of handlebar is bent way down. Front fender is broken almost completely, big chunks of it laying about. Left footpeg is broke, dangling, came off in my hand when I touched it. Bike is f’ed. I got it started and could shift gears, rode it toward buyers truck. Front wheel is horribly bent. FML.
Buyer is Dominican. That’s neither here nor there, just mentioned to explain there was a bit of a language barrier. He wasn’t saying much but I knew he doesn’t have a MC license. Between he and Noah, the story I pieced together is: throttle stuck, bike hit telephone pole, bike landed in ditch. I’ll get more later when Noah gets off work and I’ll have him walk me through it. But he had to get cleaned up before starting his shift at the brewpub. Think I’ll go in and have him tap me a beer. Bar shouldn’t be busy. He was a bit shaken up when I left. Even gave the guy his helmet saying he didn’t want to ride anymore. I started to say something like “it’s 5 minutes after the accident , think about this later….” He already told the guy he’d give it to him. (The gently used $200+ helmet w/bluetooth I had just handed down to him with a brand new face shield on it)
What’s bothering me most is Noah just had this bike at a local shop yesterday, where the owner inspected it, rode it, and slapped a new sticker on it. It was to be in good working order. I’ll never get the chance to figure out what exactly happened, and why.
Trashed bike gets loaded in truck, guy has no straps. No way I was giving him mine. So it’s laying down in the bed, of course gas is pouring out of the tank overflow tube. I found a nail to plug the hose. No idea if that would keep what was left of the gas to stay in the tank. His problem now. Guy followed me to the notary to do the title transfer. Costs him $179+ with tax and fees. We chat a bit and I learn that he rode many different bikes in DR. I’m not so sure. He didn’t seem to know which side the throttle was on. We shake hands, off he goes. When I get home I realize I was probably supposed to keep the license plate to return to PennDOT. It is impossible to get a person on the phone. I found a way to send an email. Waiting on a reply to see what I’m supposed to do about the plate. I don’t want to contact the buyer again.
We definitely lost money in this deal, but the important thing is Noah is OK. I’ll get him back on a bike, when he’s ready.
No pictures. Not sorry about that. Thanks for reading. :dejection:
He just put it up on FB marketplace today after a potential buyer that stopped at our garage sale last week ghosted him. Lots of interest in a short amount of time. A buyer came 100 miles to get it for $650. It was priced to sell despite to money in upgrades we put into it. Just this week I paid to renew the state inspection and registration. I was to meet them at the local notary but left work a bit early so I could stop at home and make sure all was good with the buyer. He was to load it on his pickup at the house.
I see the guys truck when I pulled into the driveway, got out, and first thing Noah says to me is “Dad, I just crashed the bike….bad”. I notice some bloody knuckles and he’s rubbing his shoulder and holding my helmet in his hand. “It’s all messed up, I told him he can have it for $200.” After making sure that Noah is relatively OK, check out the bike. Things I can see: left side of handlebar is bent way down. Front fender is broken almost completely, big chunks of it laying about. Left footpeg is broke, dangling, came off in my hand when I touched it. Bike is f’ed. I got it started and could shift gears, rode it toward buyers truck. Front wheel is horribly bent. FML.
Buyer is Dominican. That’s neither here nor there, just mentioned to explain there was a bit of a language barrier. He wasn’t saying much but I knew he doesn’t have a MC license. Between he and Noah, the story I pieced together is: throttle stuck, bike hit telephone pole, bike landed in ditch. I’ll get more later when Noah gets off work and I’ll have him walk me through it. But he had to get cleaned up before starting his shift at the brewpub. Think I’ll go in and have him tap me a beer. Bar shouldn’t be busy. He was a bit shaken up when I left. Even gave the guy his helmet saying he didn’t want to ride anymore. I started to say something like “it’s 5 minutes after the accident , think about this later….” He already told the guy he’d give it to him. (The gently used $200+ helmet w/bluetooth I had just handed down to him with a brand new face shield on it)
What’s bothering me most is Noah just had this bike at a local shop yesterday, where the owner inspected it, rode it, and slapped a new sticker on it. It was to be in good working order. I’ll never get the chance to figure out what exactly happened, and why.
Trashed bike gets loaded in truck, guy has no straps. No way I was giving him mine. So it’s laying down in the bed, of course gas is pouring out of the tank overflow tube. I found a nail to plug the hose. No idea if that would keep what was left of the gas to stay in the tank. His problem now. Guy followed me to the notary to do the title transfer. Costs him $179+ with tax and fees. We chat a bit and I learn that he rode many different bikes in DR. I’m not so sure. He didn’t seem to know which side the throttle was on. We shake hands, off he goes. When I get home I realize I was probably supposed to keep the license plate to return to PennDOT. It is impossible to get a person on the phone. I found a way to send an email. Waiting on a reply to see what I’m supposed to do about the plate. I don’t want to contact the buyer again.
We definitely lost money in this deal, but the important thing is Noah is OK. I’ll get him back on a bike, when he’s ready.
No pictures. Not sorry about that. Thanks for reading. :dejection:
Sorry to hear about the overall situation, but as noted, good news the Noah is relatively ok.
My observation over the years is that there seem to be two types of motorcycle crashers. Those who crash and swear off riding forever, or those who crash then assess the situation and cause then get back on. If Noah doesn't get back on you may lose some quality time with him which would suck, but life goes on.
My observation over the years is that there seem to be two types of motorcycle crashers. Those who crash and swear off riding forever, or those who crash then assess the situation and cause then get back on. If Noah doesn't get back on you may lose some quality time with him which would suck, but life goes on.
Noah’s had some offs before on this bike. This was the worst. I’ve had worse and always got back on. His were all due to some mechanical failure that I could not or failed to foresee. This little 125 as so buzzy. It shed bolts/fasteners like crazy. I’m glad to be rid of it. I won’t push him to get back on the horse. Thanks all for your input.
Last week at the BC rally, I chatted quite a bit with Rich Desmond, he mentioned he’d be coming through central PA soon. After leaving Bedford, he travelled up through Wisconsin, Minnesota, into Canada then East. Got an email from him last night that he could stop by the Rust Rail this afternoon on his way back to VA. He did, we chatted over beers. Noah was tending bar. We shared yesterdays fiasco with Rich D. Noah is sore today but I don’t think they’ll be any permanent scars. We’re both able to laugh a bit about the absurdity of it all. RD shared a bit about how he lost the tip of his finger in a MC racing accident a while back. I think that helped put things in perspective for Noah.
What?? Wait?? Rich Desmond was there? How did I not know, or did I know and not remember?
Show me some photos...I bought springs from that guy...
Oh, Bob, that is too funny. I had to look through all your parking lot photos because I didn’t take many and I couldn’t find RD in any of Dave’s. This is one of yours I cropped. I’m talking to RD, who is mostly obscured by Scott Baker. He must have been telling a really great story. He got me, Ron, Norm and JustinRedmanSon rollin’.
He rode a Yamaha Tracer if that helps.
He rode a Yamaha Tracer if that helps.
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I’m glad to hear Noah is okay and hopefully he’ll decide to ride again some day.
