Start 'em young....

[FreezyRider]

Yesterday (Father's Day here in the US) I gave my 4 year old grandson his first m/c ride. He LOVED it. After riding about 15 minutes, grandma asked if he was ready to go home...he said "NOT YET" very emphatically.

Got a feeling he'll become pretty familiar with the back seat over the coming years.

 

Pix:

http://picasaweb.google.com/wingriders/KyleRide

 

Joe

[GigaWhiskey]

That was kewl, I take my twins around the block once in a while - both 5 1/2 now. They really dig it.

[mini-muffin]

Looks like competition for that back seat in years to come. He certainly looked very happy sitting there.

 

Margaret

[utadventure]

Mom says grandpa has to wait on giving rides until the kids can plant their feet on the passenger footboards.

 

Anybody have something to make them temporarily higher???

 

My older two grandsons want to ride all the time, but, at 4 and 2 I think it's going to be a couple more years.

 

Dave

Edited June 16, 2008 by utadventure

[FreezyRider]

Question:

 

What do you all think about strapping a young rider on? Good idea or bad idea?

I've always thought that in an accident the rider probably would fare better by staying on the bike. I know that won't hold true in 100% of cases, but in general I'd think it would.

 

I know it's hard for people on this site to express their opinions :rotf::rotf:on a subject, but give it a shot. Let me hear from ya!

 

Joe

[eagleeye]

Let me be first------I think that is an unthinkable idea. I'll stop here.

 

But last year I took my 5 yr old grandson for his first ride--He loved it.

 

Steve

[FreezyRider]

Let me be first------I think that is an unthinkable idea. I'll stop here.

 

But last year I took my 5 yr old grandson for his first ride--He loved it.

 

Steve

 

Care to expand on why you think it's unthinkable? Seriously, I'm just looking for opinions and am open to all sorts....but would like to hear the reasoning behind those opinions. Any documentation of bad results from doing this? Or just a gut feeling??

[eagleeye]

It's a feeling that imediately comes up when I think about it.

Can you imagine a motorcycle falling on top of you (or my little grandson) and you didn't have the ability to get out of the way? Moving or standing still. My bikes don't have a passenger seat (86 sold) and I don't think anyone will be strapping me down.

There might be someone out there that has a reason to discuss this further, but in my opinion, it just plain defies logic and common sense.

Just my opinion,

Steve

[1rooster]

My 6 year old twin grandkids love riding the bike.............in the sidecar.

[rod]

To temp risers on the floorboards strap 2x6 (or what ever size is needed) to the floorboards. No strapping the kid on the bike. My sons rode at around 3yrs around the block (they sat in front of me). Grandson had to wait till he could reach the pegs (Mom and Grandma rule). Rod

[FreezyRider]

To temp risers on the floorboards strap 2x6 (or what ever size is needed) to the floorboards. No strapping the kid on the bike. My sons rode at around 3yrs around the block (they sat in front of me). Grandson had to wait till he could reach the pegs (Mom and Grandma rule). Rod

 

I don't want to be contentious, or start a flame war or anything like that....but...I have read that the absolute worst place for a child on a motorcycle is in front of the rider. If you hit something head on, or even have to break hard in a panic stop, that child will be through the windshield before you can react fast enough to grab him. Plus, in an emergency situation, what are you going to chose to do....grab (secure) the child or properly control the motorcycle with 2 hands? Nope. After reading that and thinking about it, I will never set a child in front of me.

 

The reason I asked about strapping a child down is that I have always read that passengers should be trained to stay with the bike if it goes down (as much as is possible). Especially on touring bikes with crash bars, staying on the seat with legs held close to the bike will offer some degree of protection to the passenger.

I do know of one case where this seemed to be proven. A friend of mine riding an 1800 Gold Wing was on his way home from supper one evening with his wife on the back. Both wearing helmets, armored jackets, and chaps. A deer ran into Dan's bike at the front right of the fairing. Even though the bike eventually went down, Dan stayed on it until it stopped. He had a couple cuts on his face from hitting the windshield, a lot of scrapes and bruises, but no serious injuries. His wife came off on impact and tumbled head over heels down the asphalt and berm. She ended up with a broken shoulder, broken leg, broken rib, and many cuts and bruises....and was laid up for a couple months before returning to work. In this case, staying with the bike seemed to protect Dan. I know that there are instances where coming off the bike would be better, but I have to believe that unless the bike flips you'd stand a better chance staying in place.

 

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who actually has experience in staying on or coming off a bike during an accident, and how that affected their injuries or lack thereof. We can all have our "gut feelings", but often those are just plain wrong.

 

Any experiences to share?

[Stratcat]

Yesterday (Father's Day here in the US) I gave my 4 year old grandson his first m/c ride. He LOVED it. After riding about 15 minutes, grandma asked if he was ready to go home...he said "NOT YET" very emphatically.

Got a feeling he'll become pretty familiar with the back seat over the coming years.

 

Pix:

http://picasaweb.google.com/wingriders/KyleRide

 

Joe

 

Very sweet and fun, I see a sidecar in your future

[Stratcat]

Question:

 

What do you all think about strapping a young rider on?

Joe

 

 

Here is a couple of links ...

 

http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/streetsurvival/riding_with_kids/index.html

 

http://www.buddybelt.com/