How young is too young to drive quad??

[gtsum2]

my son started on a power wheels (big one) at 3 years old...started riding a yamaha raptor 50 at 4 years old (with the kill tether cord), and he has done well. He almost flipped it turning too fast (thinking it would react like his electric one and slide). That made him realize he had to pay attention (well, at least as much as a 4 year old can). He will be 5 in August and he rides his raptor on some of the local trails with me behind him and my neighbor in front of him..they are pretty much green trails, but there are some creek crossings, etc that he waits at and I get off mine and then walk next to him and help him through. They move up fast, but they still have physical limitations....biggest limitation my son has is using the brakes..he is physically not strong enough to squeeze the brakes hard enough (to lock them up...which is not necessarily a bad thing), but stopping quickly still needs some work for him

[Jfmagnone]

My son started like many of the others. First with the electric when he was 3, then at 4.5 I got him a 125cc. with the throttle limiter. It was set so low that he could hardly get it to start moving, ha. But as he progressed I gave him more throttle to work with. The two things that seemed to get through to him where, 1- I got on his quad with him and took a turn to fast to bring up the inside half of the quad and had him feel what it was like right before the lift. Once he knew what to "feel for" he figured out the slow your butt down before the turn issue. (btw- he has not rolled it yet). 2- once he had enough throttle to get him in trouble, I sat him down with my iPad and pulled up YouTube. Just search "atv crash" and let him watch to his heart is content. Let him see how bad and how quickly things can go bad if you are being stupid.
The confidence boost was amazing. There's my 2 cents :-)

[3 Polaris Atvs]

I bought my 2 year old grand daughter a very small electric for her birthday last year. She almost has it mastered so It is time to get a little bigger one. I have already traded my buddy's 10 year old daughter out of her Sportsman 90 for one of my Trailblazers. She will have to master the bigger electric one and be able to put her feet on the floor boards before her moves up again. Not sure when that will be.

[Blake.]

it's not about age. it's wether or not they can realize their limits and ride within their ability and not be too risky. and make it clear you are the ultimate decider. make rules like no riding without you or another COMPETENT adult around. and make sure he will listen to your advise when in tight spots.

my dad brought home an '87 honda fourtrax 70 for me right before i turned 3 years old. i do not see a problem with riding at any age as long as the kid can be smart and ride within his limitations.

yes, i know, a 3 year old on a gas powered 70cc rolling danger mobile sounds like a bad idea. but for one i was absolutely humongous when i was a kid. it was so bad my mom use to carry a copy of my birth certificate around to prove my age. and on top of me being insanely big for my age, my dad didnt baby me when i was growing up so i always acted much older than i was. hell he had me reading writing and doing simple math before i started school. After talking to me most people still cant believe i'm only 21(as of last week.) and being 6' 4" 270 most folks think i'm late 20's, not just turned 21.

my Girlfriend's nephew on the other hand, i dont even trust him on the power wheels stuff he has. it really depends on how the kid acts.

but that's my point. it's not about how old the kid is. its how "mature" the kid is, and how confident you are in his ability. with you riding with him you know how capable he is on a quad. if you feel good about it, get him one. but be sure you set him down for a serious talk and lay out some LAWS.

and sorry if some of it is repetitive or rambling. i got into some beers. i mean i just became legal to drink last week. lol

hope this helps your decision.
Blake.

[bakada]

I started my son out at 6 in front of me on an old Honda Foreman. By the time he was 7 he could shift it by himself. We got him a little 50cc mini bike at 8 with 4 gears and he took right off with that. Now he was not a real aggressive kid and I knew he would take it easy. At age 10 he followed me for 140 miles riding my 700. It took most of the day and by the end of the day he was about in tears his thumb hurt so bad. He still talks about that trip. He turns 16 this summer and has his own 500. My daughter started riding the old Honda at about 9 but never did develop the ankle strength to shift it. She would just ride around in second gear all the time. She now has a magnum 325 and is 13. Luckily both my kids are mellow and not very aggressive so I haven't had to worry much about them. We got them a go kart years ago and they love to slide that thing around in the snow and on the gravel. I think teaching them to ride young is a good thing. It gives them a big head start when it comes time to learn how to drive a car. My kids learned from day one that you always wear a helmet. you always stop and look both ways before leaving the driveway. They know what side of the street to drive on and who has the right of way at stop signs. The transition to cars is an easy one. My nephew on the other hand was not allowed to ride or ride on any motorized vehicle when he was young. When it came time to get his drivers license he didn't have a clue how the gas and brake worked. Gas was full to the floor and brakes were hard to the floor always. No finesse at all. To this day he is the crappiest driver I have ever seen. I honestly think he will die one day behind the wheel. I just hope he doesnt take anyone else with him. On the other hand my son is a great driver and I have no doubts my daughter will be too.

[fishhooker]

Originally Posted by Blake.

it's not about age. it's wether or not they can realize their limits and ride within their ability and not be too risky. and make it clear you are the ultimate decider. make rules like no riding without you or another COMPETENT adult around. and make sure he will listen to your advise when in tight spots.

Blake.

X2! Very well stated!
To the OP, sounds like you and your son will have some great times ahead riding together.

[Blake.]

so what are you getting him? sportsman 400?

[Earlzach]

My son got a PW50 with training wheels at 3. We never took the trainers off before we switched to a Polaris outlaw 50 that he got for Cristmas at 5.5 years old. Now he is doing great. The yard is no longer big enough So I finally got me a quad this past weeekend so time to hit the bigger trails.


Your son is just old enough to take chances behind your back. IF you dont really feel hes ready then your prolly right.

The truth is the male brain cant really think things through to there entirety.
With that said. I would definatly want him on a quad more suited to his riding ability and wont be so tempting to see what hes capable of.

If you do cut him loose be sure its under your supervision. If he looks to be getting gutsy nip it before he finds out the limits.

Gear him up, I always say " Dress for the crash not the ride" He is at a great age that you could get him a quad of his own and make for some great Father Son time.

Good luck.

[lost cause]

My daughter started riding a sportsman 90 at about 2 1/2 with me on the back of it. Now she is 3 1/2 and she drives it on her own. Here she is during the learning phase at about 3 years old.

[RENOBADBOY]

It really depends on the kid. I started driving stock-cars at 13! Had my first Harley at 14!(Basket case) Also while out prospecting last year one of my buds had his son riding his 850, the kid is 9,and knew what he was doing! He went "crawling" with me one day to check out an area I wanted to look at. I'd give the area about a 7 out of 10 for difficulty and he hung right in with me most of the way. The rest he asked how to go about it in detail and did great. I told his dad he did so well and he told me that he had just bought the kid an Xplorer like mine for his birthday.(I gave him my old rear box for his quad for his B- day!)