Is it wise for couple's with kids ....?

[SDRider]

I've been riding for about 6 years now and around 30,000 miles and I've always ridden solo until recently when I took my wife for a ride.  She loves it and honestly, I enjoy riding with her.  We don't ride at night, we don't drink and ride ever, I have my license and I am cautious when we're both on the bike together.

We have a 10 year old son.

[justinrhenry]

i ride with the whole fam.  maybe someday i'll get them helmets too.

[scduc]

Ya ain't living if your too scared of dieing. That being said, you have to be able to live with the choices you make. I know the risk's therefore I wear the gear, if by the grace of god I am involved with a crash that hurts me or another that is something I will have to live with. Not in fear of but knowing the consequences. Single with no kids. If it were the opposite, I would think that they would come first.

[koko64]

And one must not underestimate the conjugal benefits of taking the good lady wife for a ride on a Ducati! 

[techno]

I have had a couple of accidents that have put me off work for a while. None of them were on the bike. They were around the house. I was also recently told I have a congenital heart condition that requires surgery in the next few months.

My attitude is that there are several other things in my life more likely to kill me than riding.

My wife and I ride 2 up but our kids are teenagers. Didn't do it when they were younger as I had a period off the bike trying to pay for other life necessities. I have never really thought about it until reading this thread.

Everything in life has its risks. The question is whether you let the risk override the benefit in your head.

[boatguy]

My friend died diving for sea urchins last week. His body washed up on an empty beautiful beach. He dove for a living for 35 yrs in one of the most beautiful places on earth , the Channel Islands off calif. He lived an incredible life. At his ash scattering yesterday  3-400 people were there and maybe 50 boats loaded with friends and people he knew.  The boats and fellow divers shot off about a hundred flares. It was something we will never forget,he was a legend. After this ,there was a barbecue and paella for 400 with flamigo dancers....does it get any better than that . LiVE IT UP!!

[Desmo Demon]

Is it wise for couple's with kids to ride 2-up?

I have always been a huge advocate of people with small children to ride separate bikes, just because if there is an accident, there is less of a chance that your kids will be orphans.....BTW, my wife is still recovering from a woman turning left in front of her. She was in a wheelchair for 9 weeks and after 14 weeks still is not using her left arm. While she has been out of commission, I had to alter my work schedule to get my 7-yr old daughter to-and-from school. Had we both been on the bike, we would have had a very tough time with everything.

There's also another flip side to the situation - if both of you are injured while on a bike, chances are the medical bills will be double (naturally). With most people carrying low coverages and not having anything to sue them for, one person vs. two people leaves better odds of some finanical compensation if the accident was caused by someone else. For the record, a broken left shoulder/arm and broken right fibula nad ligamant damage for my wife is over $100k and still climbing. Her crushed left hip and leg from a 2003 accident was over $500k in INITIAL medical bills in 2003. Ongoing medical costs from both of these accidents should place her over the $1,000,000 in about 2-3 more years or probably with only one more surgery.

Edit - On the topic of flying commercially, I have met many couples with small children who actually take two different planes when flying. It is all about mitigating those risks that you are not prepared to deal with.

[Desmo Demon]

I think it totally depends on what kind of riding you are doing 2-up.  But I don't see an issue with riding 2-up when you have kids.

The two up riding that we used to do typically involved solo riders not being able to keep up as we were dragging hard parts all the time. I never dragged a knee riding two-up, but was told I was awefully close on a lot of occasions. Also, our riding, solo or two-up, is typically 95+% mountain twisty riding. Since getting on sportbikes in 2000, I've had two life flights in air ambulance helicopters. In the same amount of time, my wife has been hit by two cars (not my wife's fault). Due to our riding environment, how we ride, and the idiot drivers around here, we opt to err on the side of safety and choose to ride separate bikes. Interestingly, prior to the 2003 accident, my wife was one of the faster riders around, wearing out knee pucks, and once had a guy offer to sponsor her if she wanted to try some club racing.

[Scoober1103]

My wife and I used to ride two-up before we had our munchkins, my wife had her own bike till then as well and I took a brief hiatus from road bikes too.  But to be honest there were greater risks in life then both of us on the one bike at the same time! My work had greater risks and people have died in the past doing that, I chose to give up the best job I have ever had for my children but I am still riding but my wife chooses not to!

On the other hand my eight year old daughter wants to ride with me now and my wife and I aren't sure! It is legal here but still.........!   

[Kev M]

Do you ride in the same car? Fly on the same airplane?

+1 Brazilian.

We also dive (scuba) together, ski together, fight in martial arts tournaments (ok, not at the exact same time usually) etc

HONESTLY, we do NOT ride 2-up MUCH, cause she has her own bikes.

That said, we DO NOT HESITATE TO on occassion.

Our daughters have a huge extended family, fantastic god-parents/guardians, and would receive about $800k in life insurance benefits.

Bottom line, life is a terminal condition and though we do take what we feel are reasonable steps to minimize risks we're also not going to stop living based just on the fact that we have kids.

One problem I see with many married couples is that they forget the kids wouldn't be there if not for the relationship between the husband and wife. As such, they forget to maintain that relationship just cause kids have entered into the equation. The first step in providing a happy/healthy home for those kids is to give them two happy parents in a healthy relationship.

[PhilB]

... Bottom line, life is a terminal condition and though we do take what we feel are reasonable steps to minimize risks we're also not going to stop living based just on the fact that we have kids.

One problem I see with many married couples is that they forget the kids wouldn't be there if not for the relationship between the husband and wife. As such, they forget to maintain that relationship just cause kids have entered into the equation. The first step in providing a happy/healthy home for those kids is to give them two happy parents in a healthy relationship.

+ freaking 1!

PhilB

[koko64]

+2
On a warm Summers evening, a ride thru the local hills or valley vinyards for dinner or down to Melbournes Little Italy for  gelati or affogato. A great date night!

[GK]

+2
On a warm Summers evening, a ride thru the local hills or valley vinyards for dinner or down to Melbournes Little Italy for  gelati or affogato. A great date night!

Hussan like, Hussan liiiiike! 

GK

[Desmo Demon]

Our daughters have a huge extended family, fantastic god-parents/guardians, and would receive about $800k in life insurance benefits.

Many people don't have family that they would trust to raise their children with the same values and attention that they can provide themselves. In some families, the extended family is so messed up with convicted criminals, total opposite value systems, and complete different work ethics (not to mention ideals and values of raising children), that parents have no idea who they'd want to raise their kids. Consider yourself fortunate.

$800k, huh? Ask anyone who grew up without a parent if $800k would make up for it. I seriously doubt any of them would tell you they'd rather have the money than their parent(s) back.....well, unless it was an abusive parent. I know my cousins who lost their mother in '75 and father in '82, and were left millions and a family machining business, would have gladly given it all back to not have been motherless at ages of 3, 8, and 10 and orphaned at 10, 15, and 17. Their live-in maid raised them until they each reached 18, and their trust funds disappeared pretty quickly afterward. My youngest cousin wishes she had one, just ONE memory of her mother.

[muskrat]

unfortunate accident your wife had Desmo Demon.  Glad she's around to enjoy the family.  My wife and I always ride together and for that reason we carry very high insurance and long-term disability to boot......just in case.  BUT we will never stop riding unless circumstance dictates otherwise; we will then start flying experimental aircraft.