At What Age?

[Stegosaurous]

So i know your going to chastize me for this but... Why not have your kid sit around while you tinker on the bike. Maybe even have him give you a little hand here and there. It will have him feel like he's really helping out and he can learn so much quicker about the bike that way... flame away

[jerseygirl]

Can I answer first hand? Through stories, I have heard that I started to ride around 7. All I remember is riding my Montesa trials bikes up a bush Christmas morning. At this point, I think it was safe to say, I was not ready. At 11, they took me to a farm and sent me on my way. Every since then, I have been riding on my own.

From what my Dad said, he knew I wasn't ready. It sounds like your kid is much more ready, but I think you will know quickly whether it is time or not. Good luck!

[6 Fingered Man]

I started wess on his 4th birthday. It was a bit to much for him to handle on his own. he is much better now at 4.5 and in the spring i be he can ride it well.

[Stoneman]

So i know your going to chastize me for this but... Why not have your kid sit around while you tinker on the bike. Maybe even have him give you a little hand here and there. It will have him feel like he's really helping out and he can learn so much quicker about the bike that way... flame away

Way ahead of ya, kid. Except for the carb thing, he'll be right there with me. In fact, he 'fixes' his current ride now. Funny as shit - he'll go grab some of the handtools we got for him and make air gun noises as he pretends to fix it. It's a fookin' riot. He already knows the difference between a wrench & screwdriver & plyers, so he'll be the perfect help...

[Pittenger5]

Long as he knows what beer to go get daddy he'll be the best helper ever.

[seth399]

I got my first bike for myself on my 23rd birthday

pretty much same with me, I was 3

[Stoneman]

...It sounds like your kid is much more ready, but I think you will know quickly whether it is time or not. Good luck!

Oh, he's ready. When he saw it sitting in the driveway yesterday he walked right over to it and asked if it was 'his' bike. After I told him we needed to fix it , he told me we hadta '...put it on the twailah and bring it to Unka Bobbies now...' Then he went inside, grabbed Big Shirl's helmet - which coincidently matches his Zinger and told her that the helmet was his now, but he'd share it with her. Good stuff!

[FTMS]

Got the tires studded yet??? What are you waiting for????

When I get out to the shop i will take a look and see if I have a manual for that. Those little things are fun!!!

[Stoneman]

Got the tires studded yet??? What are you waiting for????

When I get out to the shop i will take a look and see if I have a manual for that. Those little things are fun!!!

HA! First thing I mentioned to Big Shirl was studding the tires! I don't think there's enough meat on those little donuts to stud 'em though...

If you've got a manual, that'd be the nuts! I STILL can't find a free download!

[Paul_E_D]

Well...we 'acquired' an old (but supposedly running when it was 'put away' two years ago) Yamaha 4Zinger. Shaft drive 60cc with no real gears. Other than needing some obvious carb work, everything else seems in pretty good shape. Can't wait (either one of us!) to get it running...

Actually took your advice Paul, but for other reasons than this. We got him wunna those Stryder bike things - or whatever they are. Pretty cool little things, he has a ball on it...

But we got him an electric quad a while back so we could guage his ability to 'ride'. Within about a month, he was finding things around the house to '...builda jump...' with and tossing blankets on the ground so he could '...wide it tru da mud!' He's beat the shit outta the thing and is entirely bored with it's lack of speed & power and he's a little more than upset that he can't '...wode a wheewie' yet...

Soooooo...I'm havin' a helluva time finding a FREE service manual download for it. Maybe I'm a bit Google-impaired, but I'm not having any luck with the freebies. It's the same engine & drive as the TriZingers, but still no luck. The 4Zinger is the YF60, and the TriZinger is the YT60, I believe. Years are not important...

Cool, Have him rock that strider as much as possible before setting him off on the 4zinger. It'll take a lot of the immediate crashing out of the equation. See if you can get him to paddle along and then pick his feet up. They jump really good too!

Good luck! It'll be fun for sure.

Edit: Training wheels or no?

[Stoneman]

Cool, Have him rock that strider as much as possible before setting him off on the 4zinger. It'll take a lot of the immediate crashing out of the equation. See if you can get him to paddle along and then pick his feet up. They jump really good too!

Good luck! It'll be fun for sure.

Edit: Training wheels or no?

He mastered the Stryder thing within a coupla minutes. Bombing around the house, doing faux wheelies, trying to find jumps, doing powerslides, etc. I GOTTA stop doing that shit while he's watching me!

The 4Zinger wouldn't need training wheels - it's a QUAD!

[Paul_E_D]

Boo!!! Get him a 2wheeler!!!

Sounds like you've got a stunna on your hands!

[Stoneman]

Boo!!! Get him a 2wheeler!!!

Sounds like you've got a stunna on your hands!

2 wheels = $$$
Quad = FREE

You do the math!

[FTMS]

I looked around and I don't have a manual for that machine. If you have some questions on it let me know. I have worked on a few of them. There is not much to them.

[Stoneman]

I looked around and I don't have a manual for that machine. If you have some questions on it let me know. I have worked on a few of them. There is not much to them.

Nah, there really isn't. Just things like recommended oil and amount, recommended spark plug, shit like that. Ya never know what someone decided to throw in there, ya know?

Also - did they hide the carb somewhere? Seriously, looking over it quickly, I don't see it. The guy I got it from insists he never removed it, but it's certainly not where it should be!

[FTMS]

The carb is just about under the seat.

[Stoneman]

The carb is just about under the seat.

Those're looooooong seats! I haven't really gotten into it yet, haven't taken any of the plastic off or anything. If it IS on there, it's definitely not where it'd normally be. The first thing I noticed when he dropped it off was that I couldn't see the carb. Almost every carb I've ever seen is just behind or under the fuel cock, not so on this assuming that it is indeed there...

[OreoGaborio]

He mastered the Stryder thing within a coupla minutes. Bombing around the house, doing faux wheelies, trying to find jumps, doing powerslides, etc. I GOTTA stop doing that shit while he's watching me!

The 4Zinger wouldn't need training wheels - it's a QUAD!

WTF is a Stryder? Sounds like my nephew needs one & my brother would hate it

NM.... one of deez.

[Stoneman]

WTF is a Stryder? Sounds like my nephew needs one & my brother would hate it

EDIT: wunna deez?

Yip, those. Guess I was spellifying it wrong...

[Paul_E_D]

scroll up to my first post. It's in there.

[OreoGaborio]

Word. He needs a red one to match Unkka Peet's Apwiwia

Or... since he only turned 2 back in November. One of these.

[Stegosaurous]

Way ahead of ya, kid. Except for the carb thing, he'll be right there with me. In fact, he 'fixes' his current ride now. Funny as shit - he'll go grab some of the handtools we got for him and make air gun noises as he pretends to fix it. It's a fookin' riot. He already knows the difference between a wrench & screwdriver & plyers, so he'll be the perfect help...

Good man. See if you can teach him about the carb, and maybe even help on a rebuild. If you do, by the time he is 5 he will be redoing carbs for NESR lol.

[Stoneman]

Okay. So maybe expecting to hold a very active 3-year old's attention long enough to have him help was a bit of a stretch. That lasted all of about 10 minutes. He was far more interested in climbing all over the other ones that I WASN'T taking apart!

Pulled the plastic off, got the gas tank & airbox off & the carb just about ready to come off. What little gas was left in the tank had basically turned to turpentine - all green & shit. Pulled the fuelcock & cleaned that all out too. Although at some point someone broke the lever/tab off it and it's stuck continually 'on'. Not sure if it's been correctly cross-referenced, but the plug that was in it was entirely incorrect according to what I've been able to dig up...

It appears there's no real 'changing' the oil though. I can't find a drainplug. It also appears that while you put erl in the crank, you also fill a tank - akin to it's big cousin, the Raptor. I'm wondering if I should be running something a bit thicker in there than is run on my newer stuff. I seem to remember reading that newer engines are built to lube with thinner oils to increase efficiency & shit. Seems easy enough to change the rearend & trans fluid. I'm guessing like most fully autos, it'll just use some good ol' hypoid gear lube...

[FTMS]

Remind me when I show EARLY Sunday morning to take a look at that.