Help: Contract for parents and teenagers

[fire eyes]

I think a contract is a great idea or MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) It could be that this is drawn up initially and operate as a 'living document' which can be altered as your children get older or more experienced. The contract or MOU doesn't have to just be a 'piece of paper' with hollow words, it can be a focal point for on-going discussion when your your not out there on the road .. I feel covering all basis .. on-road/off-road endorses and encourages the parent/child relationship which a clear understanding of each others needs/wants/expectations. Even brainstorming the core text of the document will raise awareness also. Good Luck DB!

[TimeOut]

It can be nerve wrecking but very enjoyable.
My son learnt on a CRF150 it taught him a lot.
Road bikes were the other way round with us, when he bought his ZXR250 my brother and I decided to join him. We have both learnt a lot off each other, it was good when I went in front I could set the pace on the occasions he is in front I have trouble keeping up, now he has ordered a new 6R I think I'll through the towel in and just follow.
Ride together and talk lots it's great.

[slowpoke]

Personally I reckon 15 is way too young to let folks loose on the road. Give the kid a dirt bike to learn some real skills but with todays road traffic conditions 15years old and in charge of a lethal weapon among the general populace is nukkin' futs.
As for the contract thing, I don't get that either. If you can't have a "handshake understanding" with a close family member and you have to put it down on paper then I don't think it says much for your relationship with that person. He/she will know exactly when they have screwed up and you won't have to go pointing at paragraph 3, section a(i) to prove it.
Lastly, reading between the lines, i'm hearing a hell of a lot of do as I say but not as I do type stuff. We'd best be looking at our own riding habits before we go lynching a kid who has done exactly the same as we have done.

[Radar]

Slowpoke makes some good points. All I can add is this: After he gets his bike, sit down with him and view the crash videos on YouTube, and also the motorcycle safety video that you can get free from the (link on the) ACC website. There will be lots to discuss watching those vids.

[CookMySock]

i'm hearing a hell of a lot of do as I say but not as I do type stuff. We'd best be looking at our own riding habits before we go lynching a kid who has done exactly the same as we have done.

That is because he's 15 with NO experience AT ALL, and I'm 42 with 25 years of professional driving under my belt. In about three years he will be quite safe, and then I will let him off his leash, until then it's my way or the highway.

No one is lynching anyone - where the fuck did you get that ?

DB

[slowpoke]

That is because he's 15 with NO experience AT ALL, and I'm 42 with 25 years of professional driving under my belt. In about three years he will be quite safe, and then I will let him off his leash, until then it's my way or the highway.

No one is lynching anyone - where the fuck did you get that ?

DB

Haha, in three years he'll be 18 years old...I dunno' 'bout you but "18" and "safe" were mutually exclusive terms when I was growing up.

"Lynching" was just a loose term for "punished'.

[CookMySock]

Haha, in three years he'll be 18 years old...I dunno' 'bout you but "18" and "safe" were mutually exclusive terms when I was growing up.

"Lynching" was just a loose term for "punished'.

Yes, in three years he will have at least 20,000 km and many hours of supervised and unsupervised roadcraft up his sleeve. That's all the influence I get to exert.

There is no punishment, fool. I just want to let him know that feel afraid about losing the one thing that I love the most. No, it's not the bike. Maybe you think no one cares about you like this ? Well, you would be wrong. Sharpen up.

But I want him to have this new cool thing. He wants it too. So we need a safe way. Thats all.

DB

[Grub]

ok lots and lots of support here. I'm stoked. All good comments - too many to reply to individually. Will read and digest. DB

I rather liked Yungatart's (& MSTRS) idea of hXc going out with the HB group. There's experienced riders, no hoons :Tui:, but seriously, good riding role models.

I wonder if you can extend that concept a bit and say that for the first 6 months of theior licence, they can ONLY ride the bike on rides with you or the group? In that time they would learn good roadcraft as well as smarts about how stupid everyone else on the road is.

My 15yr old cousin was killed in Glen Eden one night "... just going down the road to his mates place ...". He was less that a kilometre from home, in the dark, down on the tank (probably blowing out some cobwebs) .... when he ran into the tray of a parked truck. Police wouldn't let them identify or view the body.

If he had been able to get some serious mileage in with others, maybe it wouldn't have happened.

[CookMySock]

Grub, yeah some good ideas there. Yes we plan to sit on his tail and release him carefully in stages, making sure he has everything cool, step-by-step. If he's out after dark, we'll escort him home, or pick him up in the car.

Really sorry to hear about your cousin, thats terrible. "Down on the tank - blowing out cobwebs" going really fast do you mean ? Ohhhh shit. I would sell his bike the FIRST time I found him doing that. I bet his parents wish they did. Am I wrong ? I'm not wrong am I..


DB

[helenoftroy]

IMO It won't work.

You have to give him the best advice, make aware of the implications and danger, let him decide for himself if he wants to ride or not - not just because 'you'd like to see it' - and then let him live his own life.

If he's not ready for it then don't come up with the $.

Agree with you

My youngest had been riding offroad since 14,and got his license on the old XL200R at 15....but he REALLY REALLY wanted a road bike

I ignored him for a long time cause Id only ever had trail/adventure bikes

6 months ago(Sams 17yrs now) we got chance to buy a tidy wee CBR250R,the grin hasnt left Casualtys face and I have a roadbike too.Impressed at his maturity and skills

Life is good

[Nasty]

I have read the whole thread DB ... it makes interesting reading ... heard about Grubs cousin for the first time and I have lived with him for 13 odd years! I don't have kids ... but hear are my thoughts from a different angle.

The most dangerous thing on the road is other people. The teenager killed this week in Palmy was hit by a car .. it is partially the "I didn't see you" thing ... and the "white van man" .... the absolute best thing that I did when working towards my license was do a defensive driving course. I had been driving for ten years, but after that course the Grub was really impressed with my improvement in driving and riding.

Send the lad on some of the motorcycle courses available in the area ... even take him elsewhere if you need to .. but really help him understand that he may do stupid things, but its the dumber things that others also do that may kill him.

[ajturbo]

got luke into bucket racing...
he now knows bike control things...(so he says)
even giving him a ride on the buell... with me on the back...
that was an eye opener for him... ( a bike with power...)
i try and tell himm about the 2sec rule... oil patches... men in white vans, when to perv and when .. to perv..

and WHEN he falls off... he will have the right gear on!!!!

[slowpoke]

Yes, in three years he will have at least 20,000 km and many hours of supervised and unsupervised roadcraft up his sleeve. That's all the influence I get to exert.

There is no punishment, fool. I just want to let him know that feel afraid about losing the one thing that I love the most. No, it's not the bike. Maybe you think no one cares about you like this ? Well, you would be wrong. Sharpen up.

But I want him to have this new cool thing. He wants it too. So we need a safe way. Thats all.

DB

Haha, good luck with it all, you'll be needing it if you talk to him the same way you talk on here. Fostering frank and open discussion? Yeah right....

Edit:

If you disagree with me fundamentally on this, please PM me or post elsewhere, rather than ranting and splintering this thread. ta.

I think you may be operating under a misapprehension as to what is or is not a "forum". Most definitions use the words "open" and/or "public" and "discussion".

If you want to air your views with no thought of contradiction or exchange of ideas then maybe a Blog would be a better format.

[Nagash]

Interesting perspective i'm seeing here..

I got my license at 15 and on the day I got it I was someone afraid of going on the road. I had practiced heaps in a car park before hand so knew the basic controls of my bike.. just on the road it's a big difference.

My Dad just said go for a ride to the dairy, 20 metres down the road there were road works and I absolutely stuffed it, made many other mistakes aswell all by myself. I learned to learn very quickly..

Every time I had an Oh Shit! Moment or binned i'd tell my Dad about it and he'd discuss it with me and my technique and what I could change but he's been real free on my riding. He knows when i go open road riding with mates that I like to hoon it a wee bit but he's a big believer of personal responsibility. Or he doesn't love me...

[skidMark]

Ok at the request of dangerous bastard he wanted me to post my PM to him here...

These are freak accidents that do happen.

He need to be responsible. and to start with do not let him take it to and from school only on weekend putters around town with you.

A new rider, let alone a young one is at high risk, especially if he was going to and from school...

all the parents picking thier kids up, distracted by kids etc rushing home to make dinner, they don't look for bikes, just make sure he truely realises that they do not see him, fingers always covering the brake lever etc etc.

i would reccomend a hyosung like yours to be honest, the zxr's like mine are starting to have problems.

hyosung would be very good, dont touch gn 250s as they are stopping importing them, and the newer chinese ones are of poor build quility anyway.

best bet is fxr150 if on a lower budget.

dont get something too pretty shiney because it will get dropped. and not too flash or kids at school (when he starts taking it there) will possibly get jealous and stuff it.

hope some of that helps from somebody around his age, ive added ya on msn anyways, so anything else just ask.

Take care: Skid.