Wednesday, May 1, 2013
CHILDRENS AND THEIR MINIBIKES
The habits we learn at a young age will become instilled over time and with practice. It will be hard for your teenager to suddenly start riding safely if you haven’t insisted on it all along. It’s also unreasonable to expect your children to do what you say if you don’t do it yourself. Children will model the behaviours they see. This includes wearing your helmet and safety gear properly every time you get on a motorcycle.
Rules for minibikes:
In Queensland it is illegal to ride a minibike on a public road. The only legal places are private property or the various kart tracks and motorcycle tracks around the state. Riding on public roads or in any public place may result in a heavy fine. It should be noted that pocket or minibikes are not toys, despite often being treated as such. Even the cheapest 38 mL minibikes (often going for as little as $150) are capable of speeds of at least 40 km/h. The 49 mL ‘super’ pocket bikes can do 50–65 out of the box, depending on rider weight, while the 110 mL–125 mL four-stroke bikes can do 80 km/h. The petrol-powered motorcycles are substantially faster and require more skill than the off -the-shelf electric bikes that typically top out at 20–30 km/h.
Protective gear:
As with a full size bike, the rider should wear a helmet and protective clothing, even for off -road use. You don’t have to be going highway speeds to get painful road rash; it can happen at 15 km/h (or less depending on the road surface). Professional minibike racers wear full leather suits like GP racers. While a leather racing suit is beyond most people’s budget, a good helmet, a long sleeved shirt, boots, gloves, goggles, long pants and some knee/shin pads should be used
as a minimum.
