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Get dirty!Jul 09 '00 Write an essay on this topic.That is the best advice I can give to anybody: get dirty. The only way you will ever learn to ride is through experience. My experience started on a beat-up old Kawasaki 300 ATV, and I can still remember my mom hosing me off on the lawn because I was too muddy to come inside! The first thing you should do when you get on a 4-wheeler (or 3-wheeler) is familiarize yourself with the vehicle and TAKE IT SLOW. You should be supervised by someone who knows what they're doing, just in case you get in trouble or if you don't know how to work something. Get used to the thumb-throttle, the clutch (if it has one) and the shift-pattern, the turning radius, the grip of the tires, the amount of power the bike has, etc. In general, get a feel for the vehicle. Ride along in 1st gear for a while, try standing and sitting and moving yourself from side-to-side to feel how stable it is and how the suspension works. Try turning in progressively tightening circles, keeping your weight on the inside footpeg/floorboard. You will feel how the vehicle seems unstable if you don't physically "ride" it, and how you can affect the stability with your own body weight and how it is placed. When you get comfortable on the vehicle, you should go searching for more challenging terrain. It is an ATV, after all, and you will undoubtedly be tackling all sorts of terrain soon enough, right? Still, I repeat, TAKE IT SLOW, you don't want to ruin your learning experience with a traumatic high-speed crash. Practice crawling slowly over obstacles like logs or rocks, as this allows you to practice shifting your weight to keep the vehicle stable. If such obstacles are not available, go find a gravel pit or sand pile and try riding on a slope, keeping your weight on the inside peg. Next, try to find a nice trail where you can ride a bit faster. Ride in a straight line first, then try taking corners. Keep the speed down around corners, especially on logging roads, in case you meet something coming the other way (and keep your weight on the inside peg!). You should also try sliding the vehicle, if there is enough room and if the surface is loose enough to allow you to lose traction. Not only is sliding a lot of fun, you should get to know what it feels like so you don't do it by accident. Sliding allows you to learn the limits of your bike, how it moves, the weight distribution and which way it likes to go when you break it loose (AND KEEP YOUR WEIGHT ON THE INSIDE PEG!!). Finally, like I said at the beginning, get dirty. Use your newly acquired skills, look for something you haven't done before and just do it, because that's the only way you'll learn. At this point, you may want to either buy your own ATV or upgrade to a different model, and I recommend you buy used (since you are bound to wreck something or even crash in the course of your adventures). Wear your helmet, get a pair of good boots and keep everything covered (no shorts and t-shirts, if you crash you can cut yourself up quite nicely and gravel hurts a lot when it's ground into your skin!) and start exploring!  |
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