One stuffed teenager - Tom on a Beta Rev-3

[grizz]

Thanks again to Jon "Lebowski"...... it seems I am thanking him a lot lately.

More details in a moment.

Since Tom has has shown what seems to be more than a passing interest in the Trials bike at home, riding my Scorpa a few times (Possibly because he will be 16 in October and wants to get onto a 50cc for school and general scooting about)

What's in the garage: Madass 50cc

After his first 15 minutes riding this was him.

Next day by the 45 minute mark, more confident, but still cautious.

At the weekend out at Hookwoods he had an objective to ride over a small log or stick which he did not reach after this little happening at the end of the day..... though the rest of the day was great and he was a bit knackered at that point from running around in the woods taking loads of photographs.

I GUESS THIS IS NOT QUITE THE SAME AS PLAYING X-BOX IN A GAMING CHAIR.

Learning about spotting for madness.

Jon "Lebowski" offered me his spare 2001 Beta Rev-3 250cc trials bike a few months ago, should I want to teach Tom to ride, as I had mentioned I was planning to let him ride my Scorpa.

At first I refused as I was happy to let Tom play on my bike and get to know the basics with the Scorpa and break it if needed.

However, since he seems to have more than a passing interest in riding, and Pete has loaned him a Helmet and Boots, and I got him some gloves all af which fit comfortably, I asked Jon last week if the offer still stood...... of course, and fortunately it did.

So today we went down to Whitstable harbour for a coffee and then collected the Beta and brought it back here.

Tom knew we were fetching the bike and being school holidays, would normaly be on the X-Box/Internet/Online Gaming etc in his dungeon (Bedroom)

When we got back, he was straight out and helped with the unloading, stroking the bike and asking loads of questions.

Jon went through the basics with him again and set him loose. First thing to mention is that the Beta is fitted with a regular throttle, rather than the "fast throttle" fitted to the Scorpa, so he seemed to take to it better.

The other thing, for Tom being lefthanded etc, is the kickstarter is on the wrong side.

A few loops up and down the lawn later, I suggested he go up to the side of the house and loop back and then onto the deck and come down the two steps onto the lawn (most wives should look away at this point, I know thats as bad as boots on the kitchen table)

I saw the instant look of panic on his face, but then told him to practice just rolling off the deck without the engine running, which worked perfectly and surprised him.... the grin was worth the effort.

Next up was doing it with the engine running, easy peasy.

I also pulled a railway sleeper onto the lawn, to give him the opportunity to ride over the log he wanted to do over the weekend.

His face and words were a perfect reward for me : "It was soooo easy, I thought it would be real difficult"

I did not get to do a decent video, but in it you will hear his mum and sister cheering when they saw him go down the 3rd time, so at least the support group is growing.

Logjamming !!!!

Lastly, the video.

Now we just ned time and space to let Tom rideand practice to get up to speed.

I will register him under the adults fo his ACU competition license after ctober, then he can come out to play with the grown ups.

[sir dabs alot]

Great story!!! Pretty much what it's all about!!!

[jse]

Excellent!

Jon

[samy]

That's awesome. Thanks for posting!

cheers

[grizz]

Thanks guys, the fight against his dark room/dark side/X-Box/PS3/Online games/Being a teenager does not stop here.

What I woud like is for me to have to try keep him off the bike, rather than offering opportunities to practice.

[grizz]

In other good news, Tom came home from 10 days holiday in Malta tonight, and one of the first things he asked about when he came into the house, was how "his" Beta trials bike was.

To me that is great news.

He also asked when we were riding again, which is Saturday over in Watford area at Berkhamsted. Told him he could probably not ride, to which he responded no problem, he still wanted to come. Surprises indeed.

In the mean time I have just completed club membership application, and they allow family members under 18 free membership. So it looks like he will be riding.

Another thing..... Nicola told me to start looking for a 2/3 bike trailer, so that we can get both bikes to venues.

Today's progress with the garage was actually good.

I also went to B&Q Hardware with Jon's VW van to fetch some more 25mm plywood for the wall above the workbenches, to fit tools etc.

What it looked like tonight when I finished up.

I will continue to sort out stuff tomorrow and to try create some more order.

I also want to add some more shelves on the wall.

[Andy]

I think I saw a 3-bike trailer appear on the TC Classifieds a couple of days ago.

http://classifieds.trialscentral.com

[austini]

Great to see Toms getting into the a real Motorcycle sport.

I presume the spanner on the right in the garage is for the Scorpa and all the other tools are for maintaining the BETA