I have a nephew on my wife's side that has been wanting a dirt bike for a long time and we talked about some good options in the 250 range and every time he sent me one from KSL it was completely the opposite of what we discussed so I finally told him to get what ever he wanted but at the price range he could afford, I knew it was going to be a 2004 - 2010 Honda CRF250R that would need a completely new top end and brand new head. I could feel it in my bones that it was going to be dropped in my garage and my wife would make me fix it for him. Well, he ended up spending a little more and got a 2019 Honda CRF250R with fuel injection and the magic button. He has a really odd work schedule and can never come when I invite him. He texted me yesterday and asked if I would take him. At this point he has ridden his new bike 4 or 5 times but at the Knowles and loves bombing roads. He has no idea how to use a clutch properly and it was painful for me to watch him. I took him up above Pineview and followed him up a ways making a mental list of all his bad habits. There is an overlook that has plenty of room to teach him proper clutching techniques. We spend a good hour doing nothing but making him stop and start on a little hill until he could start without stalling it or popping the clutch. Once he could start good, we worked on slipping the clutch on slower areas and obstacles. Before we started off, I told him if I saw him sit down, I was going to take his seat off and chuck it off the mountain. I think he was regretting asking me to take him but after he was done whining about how hard it was to ride he began to pick it up and started to make some huge advances. Pretty soon he was trying to jump off some of the rollers. By the time we got to the bottom, he had a huge smile on his face. We still need to get him lots more seat time and practice these new skills but he can see why you need to stand and why clutching is so important. He has already texted tonight wanting to go again. He has a group of buddies that all think they are fast but none of them can do anything but drag race down a dirt road. I keep telling my nephew that we are going to make him ride circles around his buddies shortly. He just needs to practice his new skills.
A kid I work with was out there racing as well interested in hearing how he did.
youtube.com
