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Take the high road on introducing ATV and dirtbike riding to kids: safety always comes first and practice makes perfect.

As a family, we have always enjoyed the adventure sports of speed—skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, jet skiing, go-karting. So, when Kawasaki Motors Corp. offered an opportunity to test ride some of their new line of dirt bikes and ATVs (collectively known as OHVs, or Off-Highway Vehicles) in Montana, we jumped at the chance.

The venue was the spectacular 14,000-acre Bull Run Ranch in the hills west of Great Falls. That’s a lot of land, about 20 square miles worth of rolling hills leading down to tree-lined valleys, with mountain streams flowing into the Missouri River, in an area where the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery once camped. There are miles and miles of well-kept roads and trails leading through this extraordinary environment, which, over three wonderful days, we would traverse on a variety of vehicles.

Our hosts were the affable Joe Tripp and his lovely wife Leslie, who is part of the family which has owned the land for the past 60 years. Joe is a certified instructor for the Motorcycle Safety Institute, and was a calm, thorough teacher. (He has since relocated to become a Senior Editor for SPEEDtv.com.)

Getting the Family Started On OHVs

Both my wife and I had ridden motorcycles before, but we definitely needed a refresher in bike handling. Our son Regan (age 11) had never ridden a motorbike. None of us had experience on ATVs (the popular 4-wheeled all-terrain vehicles sometimes called quads).

In a grassy meadow by the ranch house, Joe carefully led us all through the learning curve, first on dirt bikes, then on the muscular Kawasaki ATVs. Joe likes to start kids (and adults) on dirt bikes (under 12 years on a 50 cubic centimeter (cc) model; under 16 years on a 90cc model) before letting beginners try ATVs, which have similar age/size restrictions. He recommends learning on the simpler vehicles to master gear changes and braking, and, most importantly, to learn respect for the dangers of the sport. My wife and I rode the 125cc bikes. Since there were no child-size ATVs at the ranch, our 90-pound son stayed on the dirt bike or in the Mule, Kawasaki’s industrial-strength, two-passenger, golf-cart-like utility vehicle, which he loved driving.

After we were comfortable on the bikes, and had surpassed Joe’s minimum standards for control and safety, he let us slowly test our chops, first in the driveways around the house and barns, then on the hard-packed dirt roads of the ranch. We then graduated to the thrilling Kawasaki 650 Brute Force ATVs which are powerful, stable, and well designed for the rugged Montana terrain. Regan happily followed along in the Mule, which never met a trail it couldn’t handle.

The Bull Run Ranch operation has now been taken over by another group of local folks interested in preserving access to the land and enabling OHV riding. However, due to astronomical liability insurance costs, as of 2009, the guest ranch operation only provides access—no ATV rentals, instruction or guidance. For more information, call Russ Ehnes (406/452-8815; monaehnes@bresnan.net).