January 30, 200818 yr After my getting the clutch as easy as I could at present , I taught my little one how to ride his "new" bike ... 1; clutch to stiff for small hands ! 2 ; Stock throttle (and oe slide spring ) too light ... 3 ; Dads porting and expansion chamber de baffling , extra OOMMPHH ! (will lift the front end in 3rd gear on it's own w/my 200lbs on the seat !) 4 ; Trying to pull in clutch to stop (like DaD told him !) , jerks throttle WFO too ... and crashes into house... 5 ; big ole tear rolling down cheek and first words " is MY bike ok ? " and I have to say , Bike is fine , your not broke , and you will never forget your first good crash (house dented ! ) So I've got a slow turn throttle on the way , some adjustable pivot levers , and I'll put in the new oe. spark arester/silencer guts I've got .(just to mellow it a bit ...) But what a ball the little beastie is to ride .. 6 ; And the look on his face as he made his first lap around the yard on his own ... PRICELESS !!!!! Glenn
January 30, 200818 yr First nephew I taught to ride had a similar experience. Then I learned to put a piece of fuel line on top of slide to limit power. As they get better you can remove more line to open it up. Other critical skill is to teach them it's OK to bail. They don't know that and will stay with a losing cause until it's too late. I had nephew #2 and niece roll down a hill with the motor off and push off the rear. It teaches them how to get off by throwing the bike as well showing you won't be upset with them dropping the bike. Bike parts are cheaper and easier to obtain then body parts.
January 30, 200818 yr Kids are spoilt nowadays! When I learned to ride not only the clutch was impossible to pull in the ground was too far away! So we fell off everytime we stopped!!! i think it was some sort of Viliers engined road bike though!!
January 30, 200818 yr Author I didn't even think of the throttle limiter option !!! Thanks for that one ! Glenn
January 30, 200818 yr my first ride on old ty was certinly memrable! got it out of the van, started it up, rode it for a minute, poped a wheelie and fliped it! haha it happens to everyone!
January 30, 200818 yr Glen, Well done, on the right path, soon you won't be able to get him off it! Couple of similar stories on my web "Where it all began".....ME "Yes, my Son" ..... When they grow up "Tire in a jam" ..... Teaching Finally used the purple pipe on the RE Tony
January 30, 200818 yr If the clutch is too heavy and your boy is not too big you should be able to get away with removing a couple of clutch springs until he builds up the strength.
January 30, 200818 yr Author Thats not the problem ... He's strong as a baby OX , the lever is on the stiff side for me too ... I used some stubby honda mx levers I had around 'cause the stock ones are trash . And there is just enough differance in the fulcrum of the levers to make a world of differance on the ty80 type clutch linkage ... ya know DAD's cheap so we run what we've got !!!! and I've got all kinds of stuff .... Will post again after mods to the bike ... And I already have to keep it locked up ! Glenn You can see how short the levers are in the photo , I think they were for a early elsinore !?... And Tony , I ordered that fuel pipe thinking it was red from the photo ! but purple is your passion , so I'm glad it got used !!!! Edited January 30, 200818 yr by axulsuv
February 5, 200818 yr Author Some small details make all the differance ! adjustable levers , slow domino , (with throttle stop , Trial and error process , but well worth the time !) And a little boys confidence in himself and bike quadruple in minutes ! Glenn Edited February 5, 200818 yr by axulsuv
February 7, 200818 yr Glen, B&J has some good 3 position levers at a good price and MSR also sells some good 3 position ones. Not that good for modern style clutch riding but good for learning. I used a teather kill switch when my son was learning. Get some proper grips while your at it, tight wad! What, are you from Scotland? ( I hope Big John doesn't read this)
February 8, 200818 yr Dan Williams: The fuel line in carb is a great idea! Just in time for me, as I have spent the winter rebuilding a TY80 for my 8 year-old son and have been anxious about the upcoming spring and his first ride with the bike. Would you mind giving me more details as to how exactly you went about doing the modification i.e., did you route the throttle cable through the fuel line, a good starting line length etc? I could experiment, but since you've already done it, why re-invent the wheel as they say? I have purchased (yet to install) a tether switch as well, but this sounds like very good insurance against the more serious bodily damage. P.S. tried to send this message directly to you but was told your "inbox" is full. Thanks, Matthew Edited February 8, 200818 yr by Moment88
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