Is 13 Too Young? - Page 19

 



I think a modern two-stroke GP 250 is way too much bike for the
average 13-year-old, experienced racer or not.  I think that there are
bikes that a 13-year-old can manage and race, relatively competently,
to learn HOW to race.


I started racing at 30; mt son started at age 15.  He quit at age 16
when another young racer who was on track with both he and I (my son
was racing my back-up EX500 club racer in the novice class while I was
racing in the expert class) was killed in a freak accident.

As sad as the fatality was (there were no other racers involved) I was
relieved that my son stopped racing; I would've preferred that he
didn't race, but was willing to give him the opportunity as long as it
was vitally important to him.

He was not permitted to race at 13 at any level.


Agreed.

 



  13 might be old enough but given the information in the report, 12 is
certainly too young for such things.

--
RCOS #7
IBA# 11465
http://imagesdesavions.com

 



<SNIP>

Is 13 too young to go to college?  For the average 13 year old, yes, but should
there be special cases?

 

| Full story:
| http://tsn.ca/auto_racing/story/?id32074  ......
|
| Back to the subject title, is 13 too young to be racing a high powered
| motorcycle at a national level? Is a 13 year old physically strong
| enough to effectively control a race bike and mentally mature enough
| to make the responsible decisions on the track?


When I was a kid Americans were not allowed to race until 18 or 21.  Thus
they were well past their best racing years by the time they got experience
enough to get really good.  Need I say that there were no American world
champions.

The problem is our facination with NASCAR and it's two-wheel version.  A 125
cc GP bike weighs about 160 pounds, has over 45 HP and laps about as fast as
a 600cc stuporbike.  A 250 weighs 200 with over 80 hp and anybody who
remembers how Rich Oliver embarassed the Formula USA crown at Willow some
years back knows they are plenty fast.  There is no reason a kid even
younger couldn't handle one.  Question is why anybody wants to race a 400+
poind slug that don't handle well enough to really teach one anything.

I also recall watching Rossi racing 125s then 250s.

Yes, if I had a kid who wanted to race, I'd get him a 125 then 250 GP bike -
but I would not let him race my FLH Harley, or any other street bike.

 Here in New Zealand a fifteen year old can legally drive a car or motorcycle
on a public road!