Looks like we may have a future member

[Anonymous]

My nine old and I decided we would go out to dinner last night instead of cooking, under the pretense of checking out a restuarant that just reopened under new management (in reality we were just being lazy). When he asked about riding the bike I told him "Sure", but reminded him that it's getting cooler in the evenings and when we dropped in the river valley where the restaraunt is it would be another 5 to 10 degrees cooler yet.
He said "No problem!". So off we went.
When we got back I asked how it was, personally I was quite chilled, he said "Great, no problem". The chilly ride didn't bother him at all. Looks like he's a lover of the ride and not going to let a little discomfort stop him.
He's already told me that I needed to give him one of the bikes when he turns 16 (to which I told him I'd prefer he started off on something a bit smaller to learn with). And he's mentioned several times he wants a new helmet for Christmas.
He doesn't know the difference between a GS or an HD or a BMW yet, but I'm working on it.

Think I've got some real interesting times ahead. I not terribly worried about him on a bike. He's always been a good "driver", one of the first kids around to be able to handle his bicycle and good with one of those scotters and I've let him handle the steering on our four wheeler rides for last couple of years (I do keep it lugged down in third gear to avoid any unexpected acceleration and keep my foot hovering over the break pedal).
But still, there are so many things that go wrong in just a split second...
I guess that's all a part of being a parent, letting them find their own wings (or wheels in this case).

[Anonymous]

I understand your situation. I have a 12 year old boy, and an 11 year old girl. The boy had worn the rubber off his training wheels by age 4, and was basically running down the sidewalk on two wheels, with the reminants of the training wheels sparking once and a while when they happened to touch. He has gone on the back of the motorcycle on numerous occasions, and can hardly wait until he is 16, to get a motorcycle. My daughter demands equal time on the back of the motorcycle, and expects to own a sport bike, to show up those anoying boys. There is a plan for my riding buddy Rick and I to take our two daughters out for icecream on the motorcycles. EVEN IF IT IS ONLY 8 CENTIGRADE. Even with all that talk of beating the boys, she is the more sensible one, and I am not as worried about her on a bike before the age of majority.

[Anonymous]

Feed him a steady diet of rice and teach him to say Horgato and he will be a Suzuki man for life! Nippon Seiki!

[Hotblack]

You know I love that quote in your signature Michael. It sheds some hope, if only I will be patient (and survive long enough). :mrgreen:

[Anonymous]

and can hardly wait until he is 16, to get a motorcycle.

My youngest has been saying for the last year and a half that when he's "6 and up" he's getting a motorcycle.

When he we almost 4 he'd ask when I'd get him one of the smaller bikes at the local Honda shop. I told him they were marked "For riders 6 and up." He hasn't let me forget.

Santa got him a PowerWheels Harley when he was 3. I have it from a good source -- one of the elves -- that Santa paid just a little less than half for the plastic Harley that I paid for the full-size, metal Suzuki.

I'm also aware that it took longer to assemble the plastic Harley than it does to disassemble, clean and reassemble the Suzuki's carbs.

[Anonymous]

thats awesome to get the kids involed.. and teach them proper riding safety and etiquette while they are still impressionable. i will never forget my dad always talking about wearing a helmet and berating his friends for riding without one, or drinking and riding.

a few months ago i went up to Joes Cycle in Dayton, OH for a Triumph dealer demo.. and there was a 15 1/2 year old girl there on a Ninja 250 with her dad... quite awesome.

[mdole]

I had my son ride with me on many rides with our CMA group or with other groups that I road with as well as sometimes just going out and putting a hundred or more miles because we felt like it.

I got him started riding trials with me on a TY-80 Yamaha before he was 8 so I wasn't too worried about his wanting a bike when he turned 16. We got a Honda CM-400E for him to start with but just after that he had a growth spurt and shot up past me so the bike was a little small for him and after a trip to El Paso he decided he needed another bike. We found him a 500 Vulcan that was a better fit for his size and he has been riding it ever since. He has been riding for about 6 months on the Honda and almost a year and a half on the Vulcan with no problems.

We both went down and took the beginner MSF course together before I let him ride on the street at all. I took the course because I was curious about it and I had to give my son a ride so I was there anyway. I thought that it was a much better course than most of the courses I had attended in my riding career. The only course that I thought was better was on that I took while I was in the Navy in San Diego, it was a course given by CHP at the Miramar Naval Air station and involved both riding on the street and riding on gravel and dirt.

My son hasn't had any problems riding and is possibly a better rider than I am in some ways.

Mike

[Anonymous]

I went on the 1997 ride for kids out of Maryland With a friend of mine.
He also brought his 16 year old daughter. I rode a 1978 GS550E,He rode a (1986 I think) Yamaha Virago 1100,She rode a Yamaha Virago 750.
I don't remember what year her bike was.She had been riding since she was 11 on her own.I Marveled at her Expierence and the way she handled the bike just as well as i did at that time. She got her MC endorsement at age 16. Goes to show you if you teach them well, it can pay off.