The Boy...

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Willopotomas · #1 Post by **Willopotomas** » Fri Dec 27, 2013 3:59 pm

Got a new hat!

Eldest lad, Nate, with his first motorcycle head cover.. Pleased a punch he is.. Just can't wait to get on the bike now!

BikerGran · #2 Post by **BikerGran** » Fri Dec 27, 2013 4:29 pm

Nice!

fatboy · #3 Post by **fatboy** » Fri Dec 27, 2013 7:11 pm

Cool

lazarus · #4 Post by **lazarus** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 5:05 pm

My father rode bikes when he was young back in the days of British 350s, so he "bought me off" with a car when I got to my late teens rather than let me have a bike. I did the same with my kids. Like it or not , bikes are dangerous so whilst I am happy to risk it for myself, I do all I can to avoid my kids riding. At least until they have learned road craft in a tin box and got rid of teenage stupidity in the same way.

I can understand others taking a different view. So I wish you luck Willo. Ride safe and keep the lad safe too. You are a braver man than me.

zoidberg · #5 Post by **zoidberg** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 5:09 pm

I've rode since I was 16 after a couple of years on 125's I'd learn that pretty much every road user is intentionally trying to kill me.

I still maintain this mentality and it's served me well.

randomsquid · #6 Post by **randomsquid** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 9:48 pm

He looks chuffed

Wish I'd been started young rather than trying to work it all out myself on a complete shed of a moped amongst all the lorries and buses.

Willopotomas · #7 Post by **Willopotomas** » Sun Dec 29, 2013 1:07 am

Never did me any harm. All my old man had/has is bikes. Never had a car in the family until I passed my test after the second sprog popped up on the radar. My works for the railways, and has done since he was 16, so used the trains everywhere we went.. Didn't need a car. However, I don't work for the railways and having the car is the cheaper option.. Although I'll sooner get rid of the car than the bikes. Suppose we could say it's in our blood as my great grandfather had a bike, and my granddad, and uncles of a long linage.. Motorcycles and trains is pretty much what our family is made up of. :D

D-Rider · #8 Post by **D-Rider** » Sun Dec 29, 2013 1:41 am

Looking good young Nate ..... you're going to have your work cut out when Rufus, Eric and shortly to emerge "bump" are also demanding rides.

Watsonian are on standby ....

#9 Post by **mangocrazy** » Sun Dec 29, 2013 12:21 pm

lazarus wrote:Like it or not , bikes are dangerous

I think the word you're looking for is 'vulnerable'. If bikes were intrinsically dangerous the government would have banned them years ago. It's rather sad when someone who is themselves a motorcyclist continues to propagate the myth that bikes are somehow dangerous in and of themselves.

My old man, thankfully, took a different tack. When I wanted to buy a decrepit and seized motorbike he said 'You can have it if you can fix it and pay for it. I won't be reparing it or paying for it'.

That was probably a test to see how much I really wanted it, but it served me well. I learned how to fix bikes and also learned how much they can cost.

Cheers, Dad.

fatboy · #10 Post by **fatboy** » Sun Dec 29, 2013 7:05 pm

Well put Mr Crazy.
A bike is an inanimate object, therefore, on its own cannot possibly present any danger to anyone or anything....
Unless its a falc falling off its standard sidestand

D-Rider · #11 Post by **D-Rider** » Sun Dec 29, 2013 8:56 pm

I've been far more damaged by someone in a car than anyone on a bike. I know which I consider to be the more dangerous.

lazarus · #12 Post by **lazarus** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 9:06 am

" dangerous" or " vulnerable" is a question of semantics. What is unarguable is that the death rate for bikers is a multiple of that for car drivers. The cause doesnt matter though more than half of bike accidents are single vehicle accidents.

Its a difficult issue for any biking parent isnt it. You cant wrap your kids in cotton wool and its awkward at best to try and stop them doing something you yourself really enjoy. At the same time you might not worry about yourself on a bike ( I dont) but you could easily worry yourself daft about your kid out there on a bike.

Not just motor bikes though. Horse riding isnt that safe and neither are pedal bikes on public roads. For that matter most parents round here seem to use a car to take their kids to school - paedo fear?

In the end I guess its a personal decision

D-Rider · #13 Post by **D-Rider** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 10:50 am

The decision for me was simple.

To stop my kids from doing something that I do and really enjoy would make me the world's greatest hypocrite.

Current situation: 1 rides, 1 used to ride and talks of doing it again, 1 has never ridden (except pillion)

My better half isn't happy and has told me she will hold me responsible if anything were to happen to them.

BikerGran · #14 Post by **BikerGran** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 2:31 pm

I broke my leg in a bike accident and it tok 2 years and a lot of operations to heal though it will never be what it was.
People asked me whether I would ride again and I always said yes, which most found quite amazing. (as it happens I wasn't able to hold a bike up so went 3 wheels but that's a different issue)

I met another woman in hospital with exactly the same kind of injury as me, and exactly the same non-healing problems - only she got hers falling downstairs carrying a basket of washing. Apparently most accidents happen in the home - but no-one suggests that people shouldn't live in homes/ use stairs/ carry washing..............

fatboy · #15 Post by **fatboy** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 7:09 pm

The sad reality is by using a 2 or 3 wheeled form of transport which is smaller and a little less visible ( to blind and asleep drivers ) then you are more at risk of becoming involved in an RTA.
Depending on what you read, the figures vary wildly as to the percentage of bike accidents being single or multiple vehicle RTA's.
If you ride a horse, then it can be a long way down IF you fall off.
There is a price to pay for everything.
I understand a parent's fear, I understand D-R's sentiments.
Every daily activity presents a risk...