My Son Wants to Start Riding

[Cormanus]

I'm glad Charley's all right Chip. The same thing nearly happened to me on the freeway on Christmas Eve. A chap in a cage in the center lane realized he was about to miss his exit and turned left in front of me, crossed my lane and made the exit. I had plenty of room to brake and did; and he had the grace to wave and acknowledge what had happened; but if I hadn't seen him it could easily have been ugly.

None of my three sons ride. I'm sorry they're missing the experience; but, paradoxically, I'm quite relieved I don't have to worry. That said, two of three are very sensible and I'd be happy to live with my worry and support them.

After all that: MG, if it's good enough for you to ride, it has to be OK for your son. Overcome your perfectly reasonable concern and support him.

[Riko_imp]

From the perspective of a current 25 year old, I can say that the Internet makes it easy to stay grounded and cautious as a rider. My parents aren't huge fans of me riding (well my dad is a-ok, my mom worries a lot) but I am not one of the "invincible" minded kids anyway. I am active on Reddit, and the motorcycle forum there is a great place where people share videos and stories. It's been a great tool for me to see what is good and bad riding as well as being reminded that it's 'cool' to go ATGATT and be constantly on the lookout for SMIDSYs. I took an MSF course and it was great. I highly recommend. Does your son have friends that ride? If so, as long as they're good riders and not hooligans, he should be fine. I certainly wish I could ride with my dad!!


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Indeed, unfortunately thats a major influence on youngsters.

[metallyguitarded_imp]

Yes. Your son riding will always worry you, but riding with him and letting him gain confidence with you by his side will be one of the most rewarding things in your life!

I have twin sons, that are now 31 and I introduced them to motorcycles when they were 14 on Honda dirt bikes. They went to the street on Yamaha 250 SuperMotos. Now one rides a Ducati Streetfighter 848 and the other has a Yamaha FZ6. Both ride fast but are also cautious.

One thing your son is doing right is starting on a bike that he can't get in too much trouble on. It will let him have fun and build his skills. Like I tell my sons, it's not your last bike. Just your next one.

Enjoy the ride!

Thanks Ron. I appreciate you taking the time to write this.

As usual, great advice in this thread. It makes me look at this subject with more of an open mind.

Compared to most of you, I'm a new rider. I didn't buy my first bike until four years ago at age 50. Why did I wait, some may ask? I waited until both of my parents passed away in 2010. The reason is that I knew they would worry sick about me if I rode a motorcycle. Thinking back, I wish I had started much sooner in life.

MG, soon I will be in your shoes as I have a 16 year old son who just got his driver's permit a couple weeks ago. Him on four wheels is scary enough, and he keeps talking about getting his MC license and getting a street bike when he turns 18. I selfishly keep telling him he has to wait until his mother and me die like I did lol...

After hearing different perspectives maybe I'm wrong. My son has been riding quads and dirt bikes since he was 11 and from what I've seen he's a very good rider; he handles his YZ250 with great skill. Being a sensible kid, doesn't get in trouble and works hard in school, what more could I ask for? As long as he takes the MSF courses and agrees to ATGATT --at least until I'm too old and senile to know the difference -- I will support his decision.

The fact that you waited until your parents passed is admirable. I started riding late in life too. I was in my late 30s. I'm fortunate to still have both my parents and when I showed up at their house on my new motorcycle for the first time, my dad was surprised, told me to be careful but didn't seem overly concerned. My mom, surprisingly, was excited and told me how her father and his brothers all rode motorcycles. She had fond memories of her father giving her rides to piano lessons on the back of his Harley three times a week for years. I do not know my grandfather or uncles and hadn't heard the story of them being motorcyclists. It was a pleasant surprise to see the joy in my mother's eyes when she saw me with my motorcycle. Not at all what I expected.

My mate, bought a bike behind the back of his parents.
Today I met a bike mechanic, totally passionate about motorcycles, uses a bike to go to work every single day.
His dad was against him riding, though he rides himself..

My own mother could not sleep the first night after I bought my Burgman.

My dad who had ridden a bike after 30 years fell...but all is good (dad & bike).


Whats the point of this all you ask?
1. If someone is bitten by the motorcycle bug, you cannot do anything about it, you cannot stop him/her, they WILL ride, if you like it or not.
2. Accidents can happen to all of us, old and young, new and experienced riders.

Deal with it in a positive way.
Help him, guide him.
He already plans to take a rider course.
He wants to start with a small bike.
So, all that is good.

I can't see anything else than go with the flow, and he and you seem to have a good vibe going on in this matter

Thank you Riko. I agree with you. I personally believe that while we shouldn't be foolish or reckless, we cannot go through life afraid. I shouldn't be surprised when my son who has watched me live my life decides to live his in a similar fashion.

Whether or not this is financially or logistically feasible, I don't know, but how about you and your son buying some used dual sport bikes like a KLR650, DR650, DRZ400 and heading out of the city into the canyons where there is less traffic and onto some dirt roads? If I lived I'm Socal and could afford to own a motorcycle, there would be no way I wouldn't have a dual sport. Seems to be a bit lower risk and a way for your son to gather some great skills and practice without a lot of traffic.

I think used dual sports is a great idea more for the pure fun of it! I've read the other posts debating the best training grounds and find myself somewhere in the middle.

It seems that people who have ridden in the dirt as children and adults, develop very useful skills that then translate to the street. What i don't see happening, however, is someone putting off learning to ride on the street by riding only off-road for some time.

Not being an off-road rider, I can't speak with any authority on the matter but I've read that skills such as comfort in low traction situations/slides is one of the main benefits from riding in the dirt that can possibly help on the street. There is, of course, the skills developed from simply operating the bike, although, I think I remember differences there in terms of braking (rear vs. front) and weight distribution.

I view the most critical skills of street riding being mental rather than physical. I think it was MTC who most closely described my view on street riding. With all that said, I love the thought of hitting the desert with my boys on two wheels.

I have mixed feelings about my son riding a motorcycle. Southern California is not the safest place for those of us on two wheels. Plus, he's 22 years old. I think back to the craziness and invincibility I believed I possessed at that age and it makes me shudder. The thought of him going down and getting hurt really messes with my head.

Another part of me is excited at the prospect of riding together. It would be great to share this passion of mine with him. There are very few things that compare to the feeling I get while riding and none that I do as frequently. I would love for him to experience the same joy. I would love for us to experience it together.

He's always been an athletic, coordinated kid, so I have no worry about him mastering the skills of riding. It's all the uncontrollable dangers that scare me. I'm brought back to the day I let him ride his bike to the park alone for the first time. The anxiety was nearly overwhelming until I heard the back gate open and he came inside, all smiles. He must have been 8 or 9. I'm sure I'll be just as anxious when he rides off on his motorcycle for the first time.

His plan is to take the basic rider course then buy a slightly used Kawasaki Ninja 300. It looks like a great little bike. Even after the course, I'll take him to some large parking lots and we'll practice some more, eventually making it onto surface streets in light traffic and slowly progress from there. My hope is that he'll soon be riding rings around me. And my biggest hope is that he never feels he has anything to prove and that he takes things slowly.

I'm excited and terrified...

Mentally,

Like some others here I started my son Charley very young riding in the dirt. But when he wanted to start riding on the street I was a nervous wreck. The combat mindset required to stay alive on a bike is so different from that required in a car and mistakes can be so serious. So I bought my son the Ducati he wanted for his college graduation but I bought it a year early with the stipulation he could only ride it with me until he graduated. I did my best to observe and critique. He was fine riding the bike so I was just trying to show him how to avoid accidents caused by auto drivers.

The best mindset advice is to imagine that you and your bike were completely invisible and you needed to ride to a destination in traffic. How would you ride? How would you position yourself relative to the cars around you? You would assume that every car would turn left in front of you, or pull out in front of you because they cant see you. You'd never stay directly beside another car any longer than necessary. Ride like you are invisible because to a lot of drivers, you are.

Despite all that I did, shortly after his graduation Charley was sideswiped by a woman in a car knocking him off his bike. She said, "I didn't see him". He didn't get hurt but over $5000.00 worth of damage to his bike was done. He admitted that although he was not at fault that he could have prevented the accident by being more aware. Charley's bike is repaired and he's back riding. I'm glad he wasn't hurt and I know he is more in tune with being invisible. That lesson learned, I love riding with my son. All the best.

Chip

[url=http://s288.photobucket.com/user/chipbeck/media/Lake.jpg.html]

Mentally,

Like some others here I started my son Charley very young riding in the dirt. But when he wanted to start riding on the street I was a nervous wreck. The combat mindset required to stay alive on a bike is so different from that required in a car and mistakes can be so serious. So I bought my son the Ducati he wanted for his college graduation but I bought it a year early with the stipulation he could only ride it with me until he graduated. I did my best to observe and critique. He was fine riding the bike so I was just trying to show him how to avoid accidents caused by auto drivers.

The best mindset advice is to imagine that you and your bike were completely invisible and you needed to ride to a destination in traffic. How would you ride? How would you position yourself relative to the cars around you? You would assume that every car would turn left in front of you, or pull out in front of you because they cant see you. You'd never stay directly beside another car any longer than necessary. Ride like you are invisible because to a lot of drivers, you are.

Despite all that I did, shortly after his graduation Charley was sideswiped by a woman in a car knocking him off his bike. She said, "I didn't see him". He didn't get hurt but over $5000.00 worth of damage to his bike was done. He admitted that although he was not at fault that he could have prevented the accident by being more aware. Charley's bike is repaired and he's back riding. I'm glad he wasn't hurt and I know he is more in tune with being invisible. That lesson learned, I love riding with my son. All the best.

Chip

[url=http://s288.photobucket.com/user/chipbeck/media/Lake.jpg.html]
Thanks for this Chip. Just the other day I was telling my son the exact same thing about being "invisible." I'm glad your son wasn't hurt and I'm sure that was a lesson learned/affirmed.

I told my son about how he is invisible even when it looks like they're looking right at him. We talked about assuming drivers will turn in front of him, come into his lane, stop suddenly, all those things that have happened to all of us.

We also talked about target fixation and having an escape route. Much of our discussion probably didn't sink in but I hope that the seeds are being planted and we'll have these talks again when he starts riding and experiencing the madness that comes with riding on the street.

I'm glad Charley's all right Chip. The same thing nearly happened to me on the freeway on Christmas Eve. A chap in a cage in the center lane realized he was about to miss his exit and turned left in front of me, crossed my lane and made the exit. I had plenty of room to brake and did; and he had the grace to wave and acknowledge what had happened; but if I hadn't seen him it could easily have been ugly.

None of my three sons ride. I'm sorry they're missing the experience; but, paradoxically, I'm quite relieved I don't have to worry. That said, two of three are very sensible and I'd be happy to live with my worry and support them.

After all that: MG, if it's good enough for you to ride, it has to be OK for your son. Overcome your perfectly reasonable concern and support him.

I certainly intend to support him in this. It's incidents like yours that scare me the most. I trust that he won't be foolish while riding but I also trust that people in cars will be. I take some comfort in realizing that, at a minimum, I'll be here to guide him and offer advice. When I started riding, I did it on my own and learned as I went along. Of course, I read everything I could get my hands on, watched videos, joined rider forums, took the riders course, and built my skills slowly. It's worked out for me so far. I pray that he has as successful and enjoyable experience as I have.

[metallyguitarded_imp]

From the perspective of a current 25 year old, I can say that the Internet makes it easy to stay grounded and cautious as a rider. My parents aren't huge fans of me riding (well my dad is a-ok, my mom worries a lot) but I am not one of the "invincible" minded kids anyway. I am active on Reddit, and the motorcycle forum there is a great place where people share videos and stories. It's been a great tool for me to see what is good and bad riding as well as being reminded that it's 'cool' to go ATGATT and be constantly on the lookout for SMIDSYs. I took an MSF course and it was great. I highly recommend. Does your son have friends that ride? If so, as long as they're good riders and not hooligans, he should be fine. I certainly wish I could ride with my dad!!


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Great to have your perspective on this. I don't think my son's friends ride and I'm okay with that. Haha. Although, I am convinced that if he were to surround himself with good, responsible riders, it would reinforce all the good habits I'm hoping he develops.

[quietguy_imp]

You can, and should give your children all the information. But at the end of the day, all we can do as parents is hope they make the right choices.

Sounds to me like your son has his head on straight, MG. Good luck, to you both...

[metallyguitarded_imp]

You can, and should give your children all the information. But at the end of the day, all we can do as parents is hope they make the right choices.

Sounds to me like your son has his head on straight, MG. Good luck, to you both...

Thanks quiet guy. That's something I hope we all continue to have as it's something we all continue to need - LUCK.

[the Ferret]

Its funny MG. I come from a motorcycling family. Dad got me my first street bike when I was 15 and got an after school job no one could drive me to. Made me wear a helmet with faceshield not for protection, but so that the police couldn't see that I was underage. I don't recall any safety talks other than my mom telling me to be careful. There were no safety courses, no forums, no videos, certainly no internet, (we didnt even have color TV or air conditioning), no cell phones to use for calling home if you broke down or were going to be late ( we carried dimes for the pay phone). ATG meant work boots and gloves, jeans and an army peacoat if it was cold. Everything was learned the hard way.

Where I am going with this, is there are currently lots and lots of tools available to help young riders today be successful riders and survive the mean streets. Make sure they are available to him and make sure that he takes advantage of them.

[quietguy_imp]

+1 on Ferrets post...

[Huladog_imp]

+2 ferret's post. Kids have great resources now, point them to the right training so they don't need to flounder around like us grey beards who have managed to survive.


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[Riko_imp]

+2 ferret's post. Kids have great resources now, point them to the right training so they don't need to flounder around like us grey beards who have managed to survive.


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Statistics indeed show that it are the 'elderly' (those who did not receive a thorough riding education) that have the most accidents when looking at the age of victims in motorcycle accidents.