Teacher gets apple
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Dirt bikes and ATVs - Riding motorcycles and ATVs off-road. 

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Subject Author Date
Teacher gets apple Mike Baxter 07-13-2008
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Posted by Mike Baxter on July 13, 2008, 3:45 pm
Well, yesterday was the day I taught 2 first time riders how to ride.
They happened to be 10 days away from 19 years old and are the twin
son and daughter of my companies US subsidiary President. I took
them to Metcalf. I used one of the best bikes for teaching. The
Pampera! Set the idle slightly high and it's very difficult to stall.
We started at the beginner area just behind the parking lot.

The boy (Bar), drives a manual transmission car, but the girl (Gal)
had never driven a stick. Gal picked up the clutch instantly. It was
freaking amazing. I explained it once, showed her once and she was
off. this was followed with how to brake. On the slight downhill, I
would yell brake. She pulled in the clutch, and carefully applied the
front brake. I had her keep braking harder and faster until she
locked the front wheel, but at 10 MPH it's not too scary to skid and
fall over. She only fell when forgetting to pull the clutch and that
was at 2 MPH. Bar started out on the Pampera as well, but I soon
moved him to my '05 GasGas EC300 so both kids could ride. Bar did
very well, but his mountain biking may have hindered him a little. His
body position was back making the front-end push, so as soon as he
started picking up the speed, the front-end pushed and he ate dirt. No
damage, just smiles. He commented on how much bigger, heavier and
faster the 300 was compared to the Pampera. I agreed, but I only had
one Pampera and seeing as Gal is almost exactly the same size as Tracy
(She wore all Tracy's gear), she was to be the Pampera pilot.

Dad (Maori), ran to get the gas we forgot on the way to the riding
park. Once he got back, he suited up and took and took my '00 EC300
for a quick warm up loop and then took the kids on their first real
trail. They returned about 35 minutes later. Apparently, they were
not ready for Dad's trail selection and he had to hike up and down a
hill a few times to get them back. That wore him out and he was
pretty much done. I took them out next on trail #1. It's short, kind
of easy and allows for the kids to go their own pace. The first
downhill was scary for Gal. She crashed trying to inch down. I
jumped on the back and we rode down together (engine off) at a jogging
pace and I stopped right at the bottom. I explained that the bike
stabilizes with a little speed due to the gyro effect. Her next trip
around was fine. The next obstacle that they had a problem with was
the rough rutted up hill. They both stalled because they were not
aggressive enough with the throttle and both had a tough time getting
started. The Pampera was easier and once Gal understood that she
could slip the clutch she was off again. Bar had a harder time on my
300. It requires more throttle and clutch to get moving on an uphill,
and is more likely to spin the rear wheel, especially for a newbie. I
finally had him hold the thottle at about 1/4 throttle and worked the
clutch for him to get him moving. After that, he was fine and
repeated "getting started on the hill" the next trip around.

After we were done, I sent Bar out on the Pampera on trail #1. He
ate it on his 4th lap, but again, nothing but smiles. Everyone had a
great time. I enjoy sharing this fine sport/activity with people. I
enjoy teaching. I think the Pampera is great for teaching new riders,
except for starting the little beast. Most newbies are barely able to
start a TTR125, much less a high compression 280cc trials engine.

Happy trails!

Mike Baxter

Posted by scrape on July 13, 2008, 7:31 pm
On Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:45:50 -0700, Mike Baxter

>Happy trails!

That's the coolest thing I've read in a while. Good going!


----
Team NCS Off Road
----

Posted by endurodog on July 13, 2008, 9:43 pm

> On Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:45:50 -0700, Mike Baxter
>
>>Happy trails!
>
> That's the coolest thing I've read in a while. Good going!
>

I agree, thanks for posting that was a very enjoyable read!

Rex McKinney


Posted by CrashTestDummy on July 14, 2008, 12:15 am


Yeah, awesome report and great job, Mike!

I always forget that the Pampera has a 280cc engine. The chassis
seems to suggest a 100 or 125. But I realize that extra displacement
allows for the torque and mild mannered trials behavior of the motor.

I wish I had land and money 'cause I'd do stuff like this every
chance I got. It's great to see kids having fun on dirt bikes because
you remember back to when you were a kid yourself, and how much you
loved riding. I'd LOVE to buy my wife and daughter TTR-125s and take
'em with us when we go out. I think they'd both have a blast as long
as we stayed on easy trails. Lake Murray would probably be perfect for
them... or even Red River if I planned an easy loop.

But maybe this fall they'll get some riding in on Tanner's XR-100.
:-)


CrashTestDummy
fbradfordREMOVE@tx.rr.com

Posted by KW on July 14, 2008, 9:21 am

>
>
> Yeah, awesome report and great job, Mike!
>
> I always forget that the Pampera has a 280cc engine. The chassis
> seems to suggest a 100 or 125. But I realize that extra displacement
> allows for the torque and mild mannered trials behavior of the motor.
>
> I wish I had land and money 'cause I'd do stuff like this every
> chance I got. It's great to see kids having fun on dirt bikes because
> you remember back to when you were a kid yourself, and how much you
> loved riding. I'd LOVE to buy my wife and daughter TTR-125s and take
> 'em with us when we go out. I think they'd both have a blast as long
> as we stayed on easy trails. Lake Murray would probably be perfect for
> them... or even Red River if I planned an easy loop.
>
> But maybe this fall they'll get some riding in on Tanner's XR-100.
> :-)
>
>
> CrashTestDummy
> fbradfordREMOVE@tx.rr.com

Way to go Mike! You've given those three folks a day to remember and
hopefully a bug to get involved in the best sport on the planet.

Fred...bring the famdamily with you on the next Brushy Mtn excursion and
I'll supply a TTR125 and an XR100 for the wife and daughter!


--
KW - aka DirtBikeDad, GA-Spode & warrenmountain
03 Kawasaki KDX 220R
01 Honda XR100
03 Yamaha TTR 125L
90 Kawasaki Bayou 220
03 Husky ZTH5221
01 Kubota B1700



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