Should I let my (almost) 16 year old son get a bike?

[TiNi]

i'm not a parent, but i was a kid

i had a scooter as my first means of transportation  [moto]

i was 16, and i was always a good kid, when i was being watched 

as soon as i was able to break the rules i did, 'cuz that's what most kids do.

[tommys67]

Just a couple of bullet points to concur with a bunch of other people.  (Perspective - I'm 38, been riding about 2 years total, AND I'm the divorced father of 2 little boys ages 3 and 5).

- He NEEDS to learn traffic management skills first.  Give him a number like 10,000 miles in a car before he can ride a bike on the streets
- I WISH I had learned on a dirt bike as a youngster.  I really wish I had some riding experience when I was a youngster so I could have a better idea of what kind of a rider I would be.
- Incentives are KEY!!  minumum grade requirements, no tickets, geographic boundaries, odometer checks, etc.

What I'm learning as a father (one who must negotiate with petty, vindictive ex-) is not to just give in or reject outright - especially with something as big as this.  Set parameters you're comfortable with, and stick to them.

Long story short - street bike at 16?  No!  however, you can compromise!

[Hawk_Duc]

What I'm learning as a father (one who must negotiate with petty, vindictive ex-) is not to just give in or reject outright - especially with something as big as this.  Set parameters you're comfortable with, and stick to them.

HA! leverage is essential!

[Stangman]

Yeah to clarify I would highly recommend a dirtbike if you have an area to ride it.  I learned on a dirtbike at the age of 13 and rode dirtbikes until around 18 or so and it really helped to have that background.  I didnt get a streetbike until I was about 27 though.  My first streetbike was a beat up Ninja 500 and I learned a lot on that bike too.

[Speeddog]

Dirtbike for a year, while he's learning to drive a car.

If he does good in the car, and on the bike as well, then a small HP streetbike.

Even big mistakes on a dirtbike are usually harmless.
Small mistakes on a streetbike can be lethal.

[dlearl476]

Hey y'all:

So, my 15 1/2 year old (step) son is very determinedly trying to talk me into letting him get a bike instead of a car for his first vehicle (he wants a 250.) 

Kids in Europe generally start riding scooters at 15-16.  If you've ever driven in a European metropolis, you'll understand why they're some of the best riders/drivers in the world.  I say go for it, AFTER the MSF and reading David Hough's "Proficient Motorcycling".

Here in California, once he turns 15 1/2 and does the MSF course, he can get a learner's permit from the DMV that allows him to ride during the day, on surface streets.  He's not permitted to ride at night, on the freeway or to take passengers.  These restrictions legally stay in place until he's 16 and can get his actual license.

I'd add the caveat that one moving violation and POOF, it all goes away.

[Airborne]

I may be beating a dead horse here, and I'm not sure how much I can contribute but here goes.

I am 21 years old. My monster s2r is my first street bike. About a week after my dad saw I could ride without training wheels he brought me home a PW-50, I was 5 or 6 years old. Grew up on the dirt, went threw a few different bikes, had my share of get offs on the dirt.

Crashed once on my bigger KX wheeling in front of neighborhood friends. I learned that showing off always ends up bad, I have never done it since. I beat my body up pretty good on that crash too.

I also had various other crashes on the dirt caused from either making n00b mistakes or just having fun throwing the bike around.

Fast forward to now and I'm on the monster. Even though I consider myself a cautious person (and so do my parents) I have gotten the monster into warp drive a few times and had to hit the brembo's pretty hard. I've locked the rear up once bringing it to a stop on wet pavement. I know 100% that if I didn't have all that dirt experience that I would have crapped my pants and dumped the bike right then and there. Since I've slide on the dirt more times than I can count, I didn't freak out and loose my head when it while everything was happening all too fast. Motorcycling is all muscle memory, there is no time to think and react in my opinion. Dirtbiking has taught my muscles to take over and to be very relaxed. That is something that can't be taught in the two day course that is MSF or by the best instructor available.

I didn't wind up with the monster until I was 20, primarily because I couldn't afford it until then. Even though my parents are comfortable with me motorcycling, they certainly were not going to help me with one cent for the purchase of a street bike.

I think the coolest thing you can do is buy him a decent dirtbike (which is still awesome for any kid to have) and have him ride the absolute crap out it. Then let him save from that point on for a street bike. He will get to experience riding and can make all the mistakes hes capable of and walk away laughing most of the time. When he purchases the street bike I can almost guarantee you he will treat it with more respect especially when its not "daddy's money" and he will be a step ahead when the poo hits the fan.

[Grappa]

How about you have him do some volunteer work with the local paramedics for a year while he gets a car license first.  A little bit of first hand experience      as to what can happen on highways will scare the $hit out of him, make him more cautious.

[factorPlayer]

No.

There, question answered.  Thread over. 

[55Spy]

Having grown up in SOCAL, Anaheim Hills, I would say find a happy medium that allows him to grow and learn at a well restricted pace and learn about the road, rules and how idiotic drivers in Cali can be.


If you feel he is responsible enough he's ALMOST responsible enough....he won't be truly responsible until he's over 20.

Is there a budget in mind?  If there is then it's your negotiation tool.

One car at the budget price at 16 with the option of a bike at graduation or whatever milestone you feel is appropriate...or...

Or a scooter now with some serious boundaries and then a car at 16 or a real bike at 17 after a year and a half of accident and ticket free riding up to the budget amount.. 

The scooter would intro him to the difference between bikes and cars and the how vulnerable you can feel on the road.

The enduro thing is a bad idea,,,anything around 250cc on a dirtbike is a hooligan machine in the hands of a kid.

H'e gonna find out that dating with a bike is a pain anyways.  Mt dad wouldn't let me get a bike as a youth, I wound up buying 2 and keeping them at a buddies house bought and paid for on my own with me paying the insurance It was a bad idea I crashed both of those bikes my first year of college, luckily I was not hospitalized in the freeway wreck because my folks woulda killed me off.

My dad is now a rider and understands the drive that guys who ride have but he still doesn't know about those first 2 bikes, he'd probably still kill me!

[slyfox]

almost everybody says NO ........ I have a 17 years old son & I say NO as well ....

he got his driving & motorcycle license now but I only allow him to drive the car & once in a while my small little 125cc moped ..... STRICT NO for my 2 SBK

[DY]

It seams 'NO' is wining so far...
A lot of good advices from personal experiences that ought to help you.

Here's mine:

If it were not for my fathers' restrictions about driving when i was younger, I would probably be in moto-sport today...Or dead. It makes me sad when i see guys my age  wining F1, MotoGp, WRC ...
I still can not afford a motorcycle at 22.
I hate my father for that one.


Cheers

   seeing a therapist?

[MonsterLove]

It seams 'NO' is wining so far...
A lot of good advices from personal experiences that ought to help you.

Here's mine:

If it were not for my fathers' restrictions about driving when i was younger, I would probably be in moto-sport today...Or dead. It makes me sad when i see guys my age  wining F1, MotoGp, WRC ...
I still can not afford a motorcycle at 22.
I hate my father for that one.


Cheers

I'm sure your dad is like any parent, including myself. 
He'd rather have you hate him than have you dead.

 I couldn't afford a motorcycle until I was 27. And that was ok with me. I wasn't mature enough for a bike until then either! Some would say I'm still not...LOL!!

Celeste

[mcgalinmd]

I am in the same boat - with twin 16 year old boys.  They both can ride a dirt bike, and they want a motorcycle desperately.  The have their driver's ed done, and most of their on the road driving experience.  MD has a graduated licensing system, so they can't get their full license until they are 16.  If they want their MC license, the state requires them to take the MSF class.  Both their dad and I have our license and have multiple bikes.  I also teach the MSF class, So I do know how to mentor them after their license is obtained.

BUT, The $$ layout:  $300 for drivers ed, $2000 +/- for insurance, $3,000 +/- for two bikes (way old ones), $100 + for just the license in this state, plus fuel, gas, etc.  Total:$5,900.00

This is financially unobtainable for them.  That helps. It also helps that I took both of them out in my clutch car for a driving lesson.  They eventually got it, but were so distracted by the shifting, I can't imagine them riding on the road on a motorcycle.

That said, we/I might allow them to get the license, but ONLY ride with us parents, not alone.  We would keep the keys under lock and key and the forks locked - not allowing them to ride at all unless we knew of it, and only with us in tow.  This would be in force for 2,000 miles or 2 years when they turned 18.  Both my husband and I ride over 6k a year, so this is a reachable goal for them.

This maybe a way to satisfy the hunger of a 16 year old??

[triangleforge]

The answer is no.  Getting used to traffic is hard, and he'll make mistakes -- I was painfully, pathetically responsible as a teenage driver, but driving home from a breakup with my first girlfriend I made a left turn I shouldn't have. A life lesson in a car, a life-ender on a bike.

But...

We're debating the future for our 13 year old daughter (who says sport bikes scare her, but REALLY loves big cruisers  ); in the next couple of months her grandfather is going to pass along a 1961 Vespa that's been sitting probably since 1962. We're all looking forward to many fun hours ahead restoring the thing, and I know she'll want to ride it. We're going to need to lay down serious, explicit rules about it. Starting with a continuation of the conversation we're having about an incident last week when she went out on an ATV with her biological dad who just doesn't happen to own any helmets. 

Maybe a restoration project like that of a vintage scooter would give him: a) pride enough in the final product so that he's not willing to trash it, b) parental ownership of the final product, so it can be taken away at a moment's notice, and c) not a crazy amount of power while he's learning to live in slow traffic?

Another option worth considering, while he's getting used to traffic in a cage -- do you have a track nearby? I know some awfully small folks are getting on motorcycles at local tracks, and it might be a decent way to introduce him to two wheels under highly controlled conditions, re-enforce lessons about good safety gear, and be a HUGE potential reward for good behavior/grades/shows of responsibility. I'm just throwing that option out there for discussion... Any response from the chorus?