what should i buy ?

definately BODYARMOUR including a back (spine) protector and some sort of jacket with joint protectors (elbow, shoulders) which helps to stop breaking upper bones but no amount of protection seems to protect the collarbone....
Just hope they keep the interest in off road because road bikes are the killers.

Peter,
I rode bikes for 20 yrs, raced for ~10, race organiser for around 5! Thats MX, Enduro, Road Race, and Sidecar MX.. :D

Must have items are

Good helmet, dont go with a $30 plastic el cheapo.. As enticing as they may seem, its the price you put on your head.

Goggles: theres 2 of them, one flings up a rock at the other, you only get one set of eyes. Most kids dont like goggles so, try anyway

Boots: These will scare you when you price them. Get leather, and steel toes, some come with shin guards on them which are good.

Body Armour: Now here you can really scare yourself. There are so many different varying types, with incorperated arm guards, back guards, complete Darth Vader kits and all! But chest and shoulders are a must. Arm and back are not so critical.. When I was racing i used front and shoulder only, the others while looking good and safe, to me felt restrictive.

Not so Must Have

Nylon pants: When you crash, you slide along on them, they are slippery! Thats the idea, not a must have item, but better than tracksuit pants or jeans.

Offroad Jacket: EXPENSIVE... Not needed at all, you can ride in a think jacket if you like, if you have body armour... Otherwise a good jumper is the go.

Gloves: I hated them. I like to feel whats going on, but they can save a few grazes on the hands but wont stop much else.

You can get brush guards that bolt onto the handlebars, thta deflect rocks and bushes away, not bark busters, just plastic hand guards

If your in Sydney, give Steve a call at Caringbah Motorcycles I think its (02) 9524 6456 and say Bird sent ya along.

also check http://www.prorider.com.au/specials.htm they have a sale on kids stuff at the moment.



Good on ya!

Not much depending on what type of riding they do. There are many types of motorcycle sport and it depends on what they are doing.

Boots are essential, but not necessarily, the ridiculously overpriced ones they sell in motorcycle shops. A quality pair of steel toe capped Olivers or Blundstones will do the trick.

You cannot wrap kids up in cotton wool, and if they are partaking in organised motorcycle sport, the local club will have rules to what is and what is not required. If they are trail riding, then helmet, gloves and good boots is all that is required. Locally we have a monthly trail riding organised for kids and that is what we require. We also teach the kids how to ride, how to forward read the conditions, how not to damage the environment, and how to fall. Why how to fall, because you always fall off motorcycles in the bush at one time or another. I usually have about one fall a month. You get adventurous up hills and when you stall you fall. You pick yourself up, dust yourself off, make sure the bike is ok. You don't bother to much about bark off yourself as you heal, the bike does not!

I understand your worries. All the boys in this area HAD TO HAVE MOTORBIKES! So my son as soon as he could got into it. He has had a fantastic time over the years and covered bush I've not even gone near. It kept him fit and gave him purpose when the teenage 'blues' hit. He started out a chubby young fella at 14 yrs and ended up well built and fit a year or so into riding. He had a few spills and troubles, but the most horrible time was when he met a ford station wagon in the bush.

It was a drizzly day. I had arrived home from work and was cutting some firewood. Son appeared and told me that someone was bogged down the bush. I took the old troopie out and winched them out of the bog. It was a young couple with a small baby. They had been collecting firewood, and had driven off the track. They had a trailer, still empty.

I left them to it. Son rode off towards home and they set off. They lived on the top of the hill nearby. Not long after I returned home, the bloke came running across my paddock. "Sorry, Sorry, I've hit your son!" Me: "Where is he? How is he?" Him: "I dunno."

I jumped into the Troopie. It took everything I had to hold back as I screamed through the little tracks. The 350 chev. could have put me in just as much trouble. The bloke beside me was half wacked. I think he was a bit of a pot-head. He couldn't get breath, he had been running so much.

I arrived at the scene to find the bike [TT250] thrown off the track and crumpled. The front of the old ford was smashed in. Drag marks across the roof of the wagon and a bent bar at the front of the trailer. Past this was my son lying on the ground with the wife sitting beside him in the rain.

As I got closer, son said "sorry dad". I was a bit of a mess by then, but thankfull he was alive. We made sure he didn't move. As it happens my wife is a ambo paramedic. I called her on her way home after calling an ambulance. He was carted off on a spinal board and spent the night in hospital.

Luckily he had jumped at the last moment, throwing himself across the roof. He ended up with a bruise on each leg where he had come down on the trailer, then spun veritically. He landed like Mr Bean does, flat and face first. He smashed the visor on his helmet and lost a boot as his body flung. We found it the following year about 100 metres away!

The driver was unlicenced. No-one wore seatbelts, with the small baby being held in her arms. They didn't complain when I said "I tow the wreck home for you, and then we're square."

My point? Son wore protective clothing, and in particular the helmet. He also had had lots of practice and had the body awareness to save himself.

He totally rebuilt the bike. I was proud..... but still worried. Ahhhh..... He sold it soon after.... great!

Since then he has tricked up a shorty and goes 4WD in the worst way. He takes it places where you can barely walk. The 35s and lift, means he can walk over anything. I bought him a roll frame and 3 point harnesses.... still worried. Touch wood, no big problems. [He he....... he siezed it yesterday..... damn talking about a V8 conversion now].

His new bike is a new Yamaha 450 enduro bike. At least he got the works in respect to protective gear.

Hmmmm sorry you got me going there. Cheers Royce

Peter,

This is always a difficult question, especially when you are thinking of growing kids.

As others have said, get the best helmets you can. The next couple of things to get are boots and gloves. Get proper MX boots if you can afford them – kids will go faster than they can manage (even if, with their undeveloped motor skills, this isn’t actually very fast) and lower limbs cop a lot of flak. Blunnies etc are not good enough.

Gloves – make sure that they are capable of handling the friction of falling off. When you fall over the first thing you do to save yourself is put out your hands. Don’t skimp.

As for the rest, I would generally agree with Truckster apart from the spinal protection. I view this as much more important than any other body armour.

Also, if the kids are going to ride on any bitumen then nylon gear is a no go. Nylon will slide and, on bitumen, generate enough heat to melt it into your skin. Not a good idea. Nylon gear is good for dirt use though.

Good luck, and try not to fret too much. I am sure that they will have a ball.

Gday peter
i spent 3years as a licenced machine examiner for bikes & the one thing i always found was that both kids & adults would race out buy all this gear come along only to find that we rejected them for safety becauce none of the gear fitted properly an oversize helmet for example is cappable of breaking a neck due to to much movement,correct way to see if helmet fits properly is to put it on have the person stand up straight stand behind them & slowly lift the rear of the helmet up if it the right size the head shuold tilt forward if not the helmet will roll off of the head you will be supprised how meny people dont have correct helmets
as to cost of helmet standed response what is your head worth.must disagree with truckster back plate is to me vastly more in portant than ather body armer arms ect heal a broken back or neck at this stage is unreparable ,expect broken bones cuts scrape ect goes with the teritory & boys will be boys.in closing ihave seen accidents on the track that make you cringe on seeing the such as guys coming off the straight 160ks per hour straight into fence remember speed way bike s have no brakes both rider & swinger walk away un halmed due to the fact the gear was good and fitted properly,but rember on a1ny given saturday more pepple end up in hospital though playing football our most dangers sport by far
Regards Bruce

A pair of thongs and some stubbies. Once they lose several metres of skin from various parts of their bodies their desire to ride them will diminiss greatly. And all your worries will be over.

Just Kidding although it did work for me.

Peter, We use bikes, 250's, 400's, 600's, for mustering, with staff down to 17 years of age. Usually their riding skills are grossly inferior to their enthusiasm, so stacks are more commonplace than we hear about.
The only evidence is often a damaged bike. The paddocks are large, so even with UHF, it is difficult to keep an tab on their progress. In 15 years, we have only had one serious injury.

Workers' Comp records show that more injuries are sustained from horse accidents, than from motorbikes. At least your grandkids will learn at an age where riding well becomes 2nd nature, or as someone else said, they'll give it away.

Tongue in cheek here: if you want to protect them, strap a $500 UHF handheld to their chest, I can guarantee the UHF will always hit the ground long before either the bike or the rider.

Helmets are mandatory here, other gear less so. I like gloves, they stop your hands sweating in summer, and keep them warm(er) in winter.

At least the g'kids are getting out, not becoming couch potatoes.
See ya...

thank you all very much for the advise i will use it and only hope that my grandkids have a great time although i will be to chicken to watch . thanks again regards to all peter

Nylon gear is definitely not good for dirt use. Nylon is a weak product in the case of motorcycle clothing.
Not for offroading?? Infact to race you must wear them. So cant be too bad eh...

Jeans with Kevlar patches in the correct gives by far the best result.
Wrong, Leathers give the best by far, but at the price and weight of them, having a few sets of 1 and 2 piece leathers from roadracing, they are impractical for offroading.

When you find a use for nylon gear on motorcycles let me know.
Hire yourself any Crusty Demons of Dirt Video, or go to yoru local club and see what people are wearing.. I still have an old pair of my Rat Racing Pants out the shed I think!

I have to agree with Truckster on this one Ozi. Nylon gear is the right sort of gear for dirt riding. It may not be as protective as leather, but it is cooler and easier to clean.

As I said before though, nylon gear (or any man made fabric with a similarly low melting point) should not be worn on bitumen.

Jeans with Kevlar patches are, to my mind, more of a marketing exercise than anything that will give you real protection, although they will be better than denim on its own.