Mums and Dads who ride.... bikes that is

[Wolf]

I'm not going to apologise for not liking kids - I've NEVER liked them and the old cliche of "but if you had your own you'd love them" doesn't hold any water for me - what if I didn't? Can't send it back!

Yeah, fair enough. The whole "women are instinctively maternal" thing is utter crap, in my observation. I know a number of women who do not feel in the least bit maternal, including two who have each had a child - so they can say from experience they didn't suddenly turn into "mama bear" by virtue of having a child.

If you don't like kids, that's your prerogative - no one should expect you to or expect you should change your mind about it. No one should expect you to apologise, either.

Me... If my kids got between a mother bear and her cubs and I was around, the mother bear would not survive to get within striking distance of my children - to each their own

[Beemer]

Apologies Big Dave, I thought you were implying I should SHOW some respect, not that I'd earned some from you

I love well-behaved children as I like well-behaved dogs - both are a joy to have around. What I hate are the obnoxious children (often an only child - wonder why?) who come to our house and wreak havoc. It's so hard when you really like the parents but loathe their children, and you feel like such a meanie yelling at a child "get off my couch you little shit, it's not a fucking trampoline!" So if any of you have well-behaved children, don't worry, if I ever meet them I'm not going to hurt them, but if you have one of the other sort, well, don't bring 'em to my place!

[Big Dave]

Apologies Big Dave,

No probs - i thought we were at crossed purposes. easy in this medium.
Besides, I'm an Aussie who loves living in NZ - I'm not easily offended.

[Virago]

Wow, what a mixed bunch we are!

I rode little commuter bikes as teenager, moved up to a cage when I got engaged. Twenty-three years later, with two teenage daughters (and just a little discretionary income!), I'm finally back in the saddle. Mrs VV loves the bike too, so most of my riding is with pillion.

And so on to the next generation! I've attached a video clip of my eldest daughter trying out a Virago 250 for size. Taken last year, when she was 16, she fits the Virago fine, despite being under 4'10"! (edit: sorry, site won't accept an MPEG file)

[Holy Roller]

I have 5 kids oldest is 18 the bike has been the most practical transport for me over the years. Cheap to run and also theruputic(sp we really do need a spell checker) time out. It also has provided quality one on one time with each child resulting in memories that hopefully they will want to remember. The kids have the next few runs already allocated as to who will be on the back. My 13 yr old son is super keen to do the Cold Kiwi again, he was dissapointed when I wrote off the last bike.

[250learna]

I know two guys who use to ride, one quiet passionatly, who have given up riding. One guy realy loves it and I let him take my bike round the block a few times (he couldnt resist) but he is going to be a father in a few months and at 28 has decided that its too much of a risk as he has to support the family and doesnt want his kid to go trough life without a father should things go wrong.
Its sad to see him not riding but as he puts it, his life is not his own anymore, he shares it with his wife and a unborn baby.

I dont know if i will be able to give up riding if i have kids, but will definitly have effect on my riding style, mite have to start getting to the track when i get better so that i can get it all out there and be more careful on the road. for now, thanks to durex , im still my own person... but only time will tell

[Pixie]

What a load of petticoat wearing bollox.
I'm a grandfather and I still ride the wheels off everything.
Get over it and harden up, the lot of youse.
beemer - respect.

I agree,just think where the human race would be if our ancestors decided to stay in the cave because there might be a smilodon lurking outside,rather than looking for food or a cave chick to drag home by the hair.

Thats a mean looking possum you have a picture of there,Dave.

[Big Dave]

Thats a mean looking possum you have a picture of there,Dave.

It was my answer to the rather cheesy mickey mouse Triumph RAT logo that has since been dropped.
An original - it loses something in the reduction (well, turns inta a possum)
http://www.davidcohen.co.nz/rat.jpg
but that's how i would have done it. (not really, but you know...)

[Brian d marge]

The boy is 10 mnths old , I think he was about 3 months old at his first MX meeting ..( Loves the bikes ,,,)
Actually Much to his mums dismay and his fathers delight ...the boy loves the bikes as they go round the first corner ...( he gets bored after that ...) ACDC any of the Bon scot videos .. and a green plastic box in which the wet tissues come in

He sits in his pushchair and plays with the rear wheel when i am working on bikes....( I bought him a cheap tool set ..but like a true craftsman he uses the adjustable spanner as a Hammer ..and is tough on paint work ....they since have migrated to the truck as tools for race meetings ....

When hes a little bigger I will sit him on the tank and give him a squirt ....
As for owning a bike ..well pocket bikes are cheap and when he can balance ( on his own feet ) we will think about it ,,,,,

As for owning a motor bike ...

1st ..he takes up racing ,,,
2nd he does the absolute everything course in rider training
3rd he races soo much that he actually doesnt want to drive anything during the week ( might work ????? ??? )

Finally with a bit of help if he makes it past 25 ...hopefully I can bludge off him when I am older ... Son can I borrow your bike ...has a nice ring to it .... .)

As for the wife... very supportive , though gets bored at race meetings


Stephen
No it hasnt changed anything..having a child that is,,, ( except I moved back into the spare room ,,,,,,on the couch ,,,somethings never change .....)

Stephen

[Wolf]

When hes a little bigger I will sit him on the tank and give him a squirt ....

Get one of those kiddy-carry packs (papoose). Taliesin went for his first bike ride harnessed to my chest - albeit slowly and around the lawn (I'm not a complete loony)

When I was regularly commuting, Taliesin would get quite upset if I didn't stop at the top of the driveway and give him a ride to the garage on the tank. He'd come toddling out, slither down the steps on his bum and toddle up to the end of the drievway just to catch a lift.

If it were raining and I rode straight into the garage he'd make quite a production of it.

He made the mistake one day of playing with the kill switch as we were heading for the garage and the bike wouldn't start again (needed a good long push start) so he missed out on his ride - ever after he'd wait until we were stopped in the garage and turn off the engine with the kill switch.

An afternoon's entertainment was taking the kids around the yard on the tank of the bike.

[vifferman]

My daughter worries about me crashing and yet she beams the biggest, proudest smile if i cruise in to pick her up from school on the bike!

When my two youngest were in primary school, there were a few times when I dropped one of them at school or picked them up. Major rep points from their classmates for that!

I didn't ride much when the kids were small - had no-one to ride with, and no reason to go anywhere. (Not too different to now, except my wife now rides on the back....)

Despite having three sons, and having had all three of them on my bikes (sometimes at the same time - must dig out the pix of that!), only one of them shows much inclination to ride bikes, but is a bit put off by having to do lessons before he can get one.
None of them have been on the VifFerraRi, and one of them hadn't been on my last bike (probably because we now have plenty of cars, and he has his licence).

[eliot-ness]

Always had bikes. Couldn't afford a car when the kids were small. (my excuse) when I did have the cash the wife got the car. She had a car license 20 years before I did. Wouldn't let the kids have cars at fifteen. Figured they needed some real road sense so got them a bike. Youngest took to it like a flea to a dog. Pissed me off when I couldn't keep up. The oldest. Sad case. He prefers cars. Wrote him out of the will. Now he has a 17yr old son and won't let him have a bike. Have written him back into the will. He gets all my debts.... The wife is still keen on bikes. Bought me my present one as a retirement gift. Said the G.S. 500 didn't suit me. Now she's buying herself riding gear so the clock is turned back to the 60s. Long live motor bikes


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I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous

[Brian d marge]

[QUOTE=Wolf]Get one of those kiddy-carry packs (papoose). Taliesin went for his first bike ride harnessed to my chest - albeit slowly and around the lawn (I'm not a complete loony)

Thats a plan...then we could attack those tabletops together ,,,father son ..and a 60 ft table .

No I will do that we have 2 of those things ...next time we are down the track I will take them ... see if he likes it,,,

Stephen

[Wolf]

The oldest. Sad case. He prefers cars. Wrote him out of the will. Now he has a 17yr old son and won't let him have a bike. Have written him back into the will. He gets all my debts....

I'll file that for future reference - though I doubt I'll need to use it.

Even with the kids aged 2 and 3, it's hard to see them not turning out hard-core bikers when they get older. The other day Taliesin was "Trials riding" on his velocipede over a spare car wheel which is lying on our lawn. Tangwyn got upset because his legas aren't quite long enough for him to do the same thing. Taliesin would get his "bike" (one of those black palstic trikes that looks a bit like a classic Triumph that I've modified to have only two wheels) up onto the car wheel, bounce up and down a few times, then ride it off - he's been learning from no less than the ELF Trials team.

"Quest for Victory", a lengthy documentary about ELF's involvement in motorcycle sport, gets a lot of plays in our house - at the request of the kids. Taliesin knows how to work the DVD player enough to skip through the long interviews and resume the race/Trials/MX/Paris-Dakar action. They watch avidly and chime "Oh God! Oh no!" when the riders bin, point at the river crossings in the trials and say "Water", and watch Paris-Dakar with rapt attention - when the time comes for us to do it, they'll know the route better than Neveu.

Currently I'm working on getting the GSX running properly (the LS will cost too much to get fixed and roadworthy) as it's been too long since I had a functioning bike.

Then work will begin on getting strayjuliet a bike she can learn on (she had a little off-roader and was getting quite good at gear-changes and cornering, but she had to sell it) and getting pocket bikes for the boys when they are big enough to ride them.

Honestly, if I could work out the logistics of sticking electric motors on their Wolf-modded velocipedes, I would. Taliesin's about ready for a motor - he already builds up speed and lifts his feet to coast... even coasts around corners leaning the bike (which is precisely why I changed it from a trike to a bike).

The next mod is likely to be proper wheels with rubber tyres so they can ride on slippery concrete without the bikes sliding out from under them.

[Krusti]

I ride, Mother of the other rides, Son out rides us both!...