I don't know how you can let your son ride a bike...

[shrub]

I got a lecture from a well meaning but confused friend when she heard that my 21 year old son has a Street Triple that I helped him buy as an 18 year old school kid. I have had my moments, like the time I got a phone call "your son has had a crash and is an ambulance on his way to hospital" (a smidsy on his mint CBX250) and the worst, when I noticed he wasn't in my mirror when he had a VT250. I turned around thinking he had broken down or something and when I came round a corner and saw his bike in the middle of a paddock and a big group of people on the side of the road my heart stopped. ATTGATT meant he had a bruised elbow and a sprained finger and fixing his broken bike taught him mechanics to the point where he is now training as a vehicle mechanic in the army.

He hasn't had an off since then (4 years ago) and has ridden over 30,000 ks on his Street, many of them at speeds Paula Rose would be unhappy about and a fair few on his back wheel. He is my most frequent riding buddy and motorcycling is something that gives us a very special father and son connection. I wonder how many other parents ride with their kids? It's a good way to stay connected with them but also to help keep motorcycling alive, and my son is a far better car driver because he has learned to stay safe on a bike.

[Deano]

I'm hoping to get my boys into racing rather than road riding. But I'll support whatever they want to do, such as if they want a road bike. Hopefully they will listen to any advice I give, not like when I was a yoof.

[Tosser]

How long has he been in?

[yungatart]

Our youngest got his first bike at 15. We rode together all over the North Island, Mum Dad, and son. It was certainly special times and a great way to build relationships. He is also a better car driver because of his riding experience.
He's 20 now, almost 21, just back from six months in France, broke as, but happily riding my bike to work. Who knows whether he'll buy a car, a bike or bugger off to Europe for the third time, but whatever happens we all have great memories.

[riffer]

I used to ride with my Dad before he stopped riding, and my Granddad too. I pillion my kids now, and will definitely ride with them when they get bikes.

[SMOKEU]

My mum has been a nurse for around 40 years so she has seen what happens when bikers crash. My old man has been living in Taiwan for about 10 years and motorbike crashes happen with alarming regularity over there seeing many riders don't wear helmets or any protective gear. My old man hates bikes!

I got my first bike (a CG125) when I was 18, my mum wasn't overly thrilled but she supported me and didn't try to talk me out of it. I'm 22 now and she let me buy a GSXR600 so I really can't complain. :bleh:

[onearmedbandit]

I'm 22 now and she let me buy a GSXR600 so I really can't complain. :bleh:

22 and she let you buy a bike? Only child, Chris?

[unstuck]

Both my boys (22 and 20) are not interested in bikes even though they used to come riding with me when they were kids. My daughter(16) loves bikes and comes for a ride on the back of mine whenever she gets the chance.My mum(bless her wee yorkshire heart) is forever telling me how dangerous motorbikes are, even though I have never seriously hurt myself in 30+yrs of riding.

[nodrog]

22 and she let you buy a bike? Only child, Chris?

bitty now?

<a href="http://media.photobucket.com/image/i want bitty now/leftbehindchild/bitty.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/leftbehindchild/bitty.jpg" border="0"></a>

[Fast Eddie]

22 and she let you buy a bike? Only child, Chris?

haha its a south african thing, we hang around under the parents wing for a bit. its cheaper ;)

my parents didn't really have a say, I told my parents I was just sticking to a 250.. well one of the cylinders IS 250... and so are the other 3..

[baptist]

Umm... must be great to ride with your kids, can't see it happening for me. My youngest takes after her grandmother, she hates bikes (My mother makes it clear every time we speak what she thinks about bikes - and I'm 45!- even though she married my dad and not only did he ride them he raced them!!). My oldest daughter pillions with me (she is 15) and so there is hope but she has not shown much interest in getting her licence even though she could have earlier this year.

[Stirts]

Last edited by nodrog; Today at 12:50. Reason: a worm stuck its head out of my bum looking for a biscuit and distracted me


Best we get you to the Vet then!!

[shrub]

How long has he been in?

2 years. He's just been posted to Burnham from Trentham.

[skippa1]

Best we get you to the Vet then!!

nah:no: to cure those worms, youve just got to master the art of dragging your arse along the carpet (watch out for pins, sharp crumbs, dropped staples and be sure not to leave a little "marker"):eek:

[Stirts]

and be sure not to leave a little "marker"):eek:

Yeah well DMNTD is due for a visit so there's bound to be snail trail sooner or later.

[SMOKEU]

Only child, Chris?

Yup.


My daughter(16)


My oldest daughter (she is 15)

Pics of said daughters please.

[vifferman]

I have three sons in their 20s, and none of them are really interested in bikes, despite (or perhaps because of?) all having been on my bikes (once all at the same time!) #2 MutantTroglodyteSpawn got interested in a Harley during a brief spell working in a bike shop, but really shot himslef in the foot when his inexpert jibes at me about "murdercycles" culminated in me giving away all my spare gear, so he can never again be pillioned anywhere. Shortly after, he asked for a lift somewhwere and was crestfallen about the fallout of his supposedly friendly teasing....
LOLee

[HenryDorsetCase]

yeah well dmntd is due for a visit so there's bound to be snail trail sooner or later.

wwop

wwop

[munster]

I'm 42, Dad's 68, we still ride togethor as often as we can.

[been_there]

My oldest boy is 15, he is learning to ride on a DR350 but off-road only.
My 11 and 10 boys are getting a bike (125) to share for Xmas again off-road.
My wee girl who is 8, will also be getting her bike for xmas (warehouse).

So thats all the kids sorted, just the wife to go....
I have taken the kids for rides and they love it. So we thought that why not let then have a go, get the right gear and instruction they can have as much fun as I do everytime I go and play in the dirt!!!

[nodrog]

wwop

wwop

http://www.all4humor.com/images/files/Big%20Poop.jpg

[george formby]

I used to road & trail ride with me Dad back in the day. No mention of the inherent danger of bikes but lots of good road & dirt advice & quite a few "don't ride like a twat lectures". The only chance we have now has been on my last couple of trips back to Blighty. Fook, he's quick for a retiree. It was a weird feeling me tut tuting him when he had his Tuono for speeding & wheelying while I'm thinking about what a hooligan I was as a yoof. My last visit included a couple of weeks touring in Europe with him. A bonding thing I guess & great trip. It's still really cool to get his advice on things, he has lost none of the passion & it seems none of the skills.

He lives in Spain now & has just bought a new GS 650 for exploring the local mountains on. I'm looking forward to my next holiday......:laugh:

[ducatilover]

I went for a couple of rides with the old man when he had his FJ12 and even jumped on the back a few times for giggle. He even let me take it for a day :cool:

My kids will be all over bikes, if not I'll punch the missus in the eye.

[Jay GTI]

A workmate’s wife is a child psychologist, her work motto is “Mums: put on this Earth to fuck you up”.

Ok, wild generalisation here, but I’m not surprised this has come from a woman. The instinct that drives them, as mothers, to protect their young is, on the whole, waaaaaay above what a Dad would have towards the same kids and is responsible for some seriously messed up childeren. When my girlfriend and I have kids, they are going to be delivered, cleaned up a bit, then put on their first dirt bikes and told to go play in the car park. My girlfriend knows this, so has got into dirt biking herself, because she would much rather be with us when we go riding, than sat at home worrying like mad about what is going on and if everyone will come home in one piece. She knows that her instinct to wrap the kids up in cotton wool will drive her batty if she spends hours on a Saturday or Sunday, waiting for the ute to roll down the driveway and everyone to get out, happy and smiling. Interestingly, by doing so, she has discovered she actually loves dirt biking and it’s turned into a genuine hobby… but I digress.

The thing is you can live your life avoiding risk and playing it safe, or take the risks and get the buzz that goes with it. If you’re one of the risk-takers, you shouldn’t try and preclude your children from doing the same. Do as I say, not as I do should not apply in this case (or in fact ever). Biking is dangerous, I know this. I have been in hospital more than once and ACC must be sick of getting my claim forms, but I won’t stop doing what I do. I am insanely passionate about my hobby, it is so much a part of me, giving up riding would be like giving up part of who I am. So if it turns out my daughter or son has the same passion, or a passion for something else just as dangerous, they will get full encouragement from me.

Your well-meaning friend should politely be told to pull her head in. The world does not operate by her rules and if she’s an over-protective mother who won’t give her own children the freedom to enjoy life on their own terms, that isn’t your problem.

[rossirep]

22 and she let you buy a bike? Only child, Chris?


hahahahahahaha i was thinking the same thing..!!! 22 and mummy let you buy a bike... what would have happened had she said no.. lol,

[Fast Eddie]

I got my mrs couple hours of pro motorcycle training for xmas... im preparing her for the later having kids and get them riding idea :D haha.

Shes going to be on my aprilia rs250 when she passes her basic skills test and will feed the speed demon inside her quickly.. I want to see her on my blade at full tit within the next 24 months.

then it should be plain sailing to get the kids into it when they arrive :D

thinkin ahead - this is the only time I have ever done that

[unstuck]

Yup.





Pics of said daughters please.

:finger:Over my DEAD and ROTTING body.:bleh:

[hellokitty]

I'm 42, Dad's 68, we still ride togethor as often as we can.

Like me and my Dad, and Mum pillions, it is great! Dad and I are trying to figure out how to get my brother on a bike (his wife won't allow it)


A workmate’s wife is a child psychologist, her work motto is “Mums: put on this Earth to fuck you up”.

Ok, wild generalisation here, but I’m not surprised this has come from a woman. The instinct that drives them, as mothers, to protect their young is, on the whole, waaaaaay above what a Dad would have towards the same kids .

Yep! When I was learning to ride Dad's bike and did a lowside on gravel, his response was "for gods sake don't tell your Mother she won't let me give you the bike to ride again!" Next door neighbours kids told my Mum :mad: and I was 35 at the time :niceone:

[george formby]

Like me and my Dad, and Mum pillions, it is great! Dad and I are trying to figure out how to get my brother on a bike (his wife won't allow it)



Yep! When I was learning to ride Dad's bike and did a lowside on gravel, his response was "for gods sake don't tell your Mother she won't let me give you the bike to ride again!" Next door neighbours kids told my Mum :mad: and I was 35 at the time :niceone:

Love it! When my GF lowsided her reaction was "why did I wait so long to do this, I heal slowly now?"

[Blackshear]

Old man really wants me to get a dirt bike.
Too pussy to ride my TL though.
???
I think he wants to get a proper road bike before his knees are too naffed.

[Scouse]

My mum let me buy a GSXR600 and I'm 22 so I really can't complain. :bleh:Fookin Mummys boy

[LBD]

My Dad Dad started riding a WLA after the war and he got me into bikes at the age of 10...40 somfink years ago.

And I got my daughter into bikes when she was 12...and she still rides now.

And those occasions when we have ridden together are great

[Gremlin]

Dad used to ride around the age of 20, but mainly for cheap transport, so the biking bug never really bit him. Then he came home too often in the back of an ambulance muttering that "that one really hurt", his poor ol mother couldn't handle it and bought him a car.

For that reason, he did say from the outset he couldn't say no. Mum worries, but that's what they always do. Recently my brother picked up riding, but it seems to be more about transport than the bug of riding... Woe betide any girl that gives me the ultimatum of me or the bike... :ride:

[Oblivion]

Got my first bike as a present for my 16th birthday. Almost 18 now and its almost time for the full license. :headbang:

My mum was always against bikes, mainly after Dads accident. (Metal rods in arms anyone?) But its too late to stop riding now :cool:

[clmintie]

For us it started out as a bit of trail riding at Woodhill, the girls were 11yrs. Now they're 16, on 125 mx bikes and we spend every cent and every weekend travelling to motocross/dirt events, wouldn't listen to anybody trying to tell us it's wrong to have amazing family time with a shared obsession.... :bleh:

[Jay GTI]

Yep! When I was learning to ride Dad's bike and did a lowside on gravel, his response was "for gods sake don't tell your Mother she won't let me give you the bike to ride again!" Next door neighbours kids told my Mum :mad: and I was 35 at the time :niceone:

It never stops, I'm 38 and my Mum still keeps checking to make sure I wear a helmet when I go riding...

"no, I ride naked Mum"

"Really?"

"No, I am covered in the best protective gear I can buy, I am an adult ferchrisake...."

"Yes but I remember when you were seven and got your first BMX, you were so dangerous and fell off so many times. You didn't wear a helmet then!."

"So, what, I'm still seven? I'm not capable of learning from my mistakes, maturing, becoming a responsible adult?"

...and so on, and so on, and so on.... that instinct never dies, it just gets stronger....

[SPman]

Dad rode and raced before the war (WW2), so I never had a problem when I turned up at home one day on a bike....in fact, he insisted on taking it for a spin, even though he hadn't ridden for 25 yrs! My older son has bikes and has ridden for years, but the only qualms I have, are about the clapped out pieces of old shit he rides!

[baptist]

:finger:Over my DEAD and ROTTING body.:bleh:


You mean HIS dead and rotting body don't you?

As I have told my daughters... Pastor or not ... I have guns :bleh::bleh::laugh::laugh:

[hellokitty]

It never stops, I'm 38 and my Mum still keeps checking to make sure I wear a helmet when I go riding...


Yep! My Mum keeps turning around to check on me when we ride and my Dad tells her off! (sit still!)
She always says she worries about me, then she turns to MrHellokitty and says "I blame you for this" :clap: She has forgotten that I was riding dirt bikes with the intention of getting a road bike before I met him! It is Dad's fault :rolleyes:

[DMNTD]

Yeah well DMNTD is due for a visit so there's bound to be snail trail sooner or later.

His cup will runith over

[PrincessBandit]

While your kids are at home I think it is quite hard to trust that they will be fine and return home safely each night they go out. I still lie awake listening for both mine when they're late in, and I always tell both of them "take care" when they go out regardless of mode of transport.

Of course as a rider I know how much more vulnerable you are on a bike. However I get cheesed off when people tell me "oh, the weather doesn't look too good I don;'t think you should head out on your bike" (generally NOT my hubby saying that to me - it's my daughter!) so I avoid doing to other riders, including my son, what I don't like having done to me.

[Little Miss Trouble]

Of course as a rider I know how much more vulnerable you are on a bike. However I get cheesed off when people tell me "oh, the weather doesn't look too good I don;'t think you should head out on your bike" (generally NOT my hubby saying that to me - it's my daughter!) so I avoid doing to other riders, including my son, what I don't like having done to me.

Maybe she thinks you'll melt :innocent:




My Mum was already so used to me being a handful and doing the unexpected that when I told her I was buying myself a bike for my birthday, she offered to pay for some of my riding gear. I guess she knew full well that I was gonna go right ahead and do it, so her best option was to make sure I had all the gear. Best Mum ever :love:

[hellokitty]

My Mum was already so used to me being a handful

You? A handful?
:clap: :weird: :laugh: :killingme :2thumbsup :nya: :girlfight:
Yes I could imagine you can be.... I have only seen you on your best behaviour :msn-wink:

[Tosser]

I guess the word "headstrong" politely describes a lot of us.

[sondela]

My boys have both been riding since they were old enough to, and they both love riding, and they actually like riding with me, which is cool =)

I bought a bike in pieces in a box with my first pay check expressly against my mother's wishes, she was a nurse.. if my dad had been around it might have different, but I was a wee bit stubborn.. and I've only had two bad offs in all the time of riding.. second one a couple months ago on the track (Ducati only just fixed this week)

From my experience, if your kids want to ride, they will, forbidding it doesn't work, so may as well encourage them to ride safe, and keep an eye on their learning..

[gatch]

My Dad owned bikes since he was young, when he met Mum she used to ride on the back of his.. So when I got my first bike at 15, there was some questioning looks. Otherwise they were pretty easy with it.

If I ever father some hellspawn I will happily get them into bikes if they want..

[Little Miss Trouble]

You? A handful?
:clap: :weird: :laugh: :killingme :2thumbsup :nya: :girlfight:
Yes I could imagine you can be.... I have only seen you on your best behaviour :msn-wink:

Hahaha yup you've only seen me when I've had sufficient caffeine-to-blood ratio in my system :laugh:

And not when that evil Ducky has forced me to drink Tequila :shutup:

[_Shrek_]

most of our kids either ride or are pillions & love it, our youngest (15) has just bought his 1st road legal bike & rides with us or does his own thing, he has been riding since he was 8 much to the disgust of family, friends etc... who don't know shit about riding, we have always let our kids ride mc's around the farms we lived on etc.. with the rule foot wear, long pants & push bike helmet were the min... to be worn & it's a great way to do stuff together
the down side with :ride: 14 years ago our eldest son (then 18) went to his 1st rally sulphur city (i think) & we got the call on Saturday arvo that he had binned but was ok bike a bit trashed had to go get him & bike, about 3 years ago on the bottle lighting run we came around a corner & found our daughter & her boyfriend lying on the road :shit: after high siding, (we were 1st on the scene) both were ok a bit of concusion & brusing bike rideable to next town, it's part of the territory & as parents we have to except that it could happen & be alot worse than what we have had happen, I still worry some times & I guess thats just part of being a parent, but it wont stop me encouraging my kids to :ride: & to do it well

[meteor]

Both my boys (16 and 14) ride off road, the youngest races. My daughter (18) can ride but prefers to pillion with me. My boys are both shit pillions. One bounces round like he's got ants in his pants and the other goes rigid whenever we lean into a corner? Weird! Miss 18 and master 16 both drive and master 16 wants his bike licence but I'm in no hurry for that! I know he'll be safe but it's all the other mad fucks on the road that I'm packing myself about.

[shrub]

My son is currently in my shed returning his street triple to some semblence of standard to get a WOF, then we're off for a ride. Rode down from Kaikoura with him on Monday and I was pleased that a fat old man on a slow, fat bike can still show a young lad on a missile a set of pipes going through the Hunderlees. Most of the time.

[Smifffy]

23 years ago my Dad was super pissed off that I traded my 250 in on a toyota corolla. A few years later it was all good again when I traded the corolla on a calais, and bought my mate's RD350LC. 17 Years later I'm still pissed off with myself for ever selling the RD...