Sharing my love of motorcycling with...

[pirana]

my (almost) 8 year old daughter. A while back someone started a father/daughter thread at advrider.com so I thought i'd try & start a similar thread here. I'm grateful to my dad for getting my brother & I into bikes when we were young. I'm trying to get my daughter into motorcycles too. I'd love to take her to the Texas hill country for a weekend when the wildflowers are in full bloom during the spring. Anybody here have experience with short touring with their kid(s)? Post your pics & stories. By the way, my dad's 79 & still enjoying his 1200GS.http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb245/bigolgs/angela006.jpg

[SheRidesABeemer]

Great picture! Several of us on the board have such experience. I have a few stories on my blog. My advice is start out slow, make sure she's having fun, no forced marches! Enjoy, repeat.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1216/927457744_40fdf2afce.jpg

[glurkus]

You should read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"

[rocketmanli]

I've posted here before about me and my 10 year old son, Eric. I bought my '82 Suzuki brand new, and rode for a few years until my wife got pregnant and my son was soon to arrive. Rather than taking any chances, I winterized my bike, and place it under covers in the corner of my garage for 9 years. My son, (and daughters) grew up wondering what that lump was in the corner of the garage, that they weren't allowed near. 2 years ago July, I rebuilt much of my Suzuki and started taking my son on short rides. Then I bought my BMW mostly for the need to take longer cruises with more power. I made sure my son had appropriate gear, which I actually purchased from a children's motorcycle gear specialty store in the UK. Since then, my son has accompanied me on a 4 day trip to Vermont, sometimes putting in 7 hours a day. He's gone with me to Clark's Summit, PA for a 3 day rally with the crew from Backroads. The one day trips to Bear Mountain, NY, Marcus Dairy, CT and points North and East of New York have become commonplace. I could not ask for a better riding partner or friend. Last year when we went to the Int'l Motorcycle Show at The Javits Center, I was pretty much done with the show within an hour; Eric had to sit his butt on EVERY SINGLE BIKE there for the next three hours. He has certainly been bitten by the bug. Where we live is not conducive to dirt bike riding, but I'm relatively certain, that soon enough, he will be riding next to me, rather than sitting behind me. The following photos have been here before, and each time I see them, I love my kid even more (as if that were possible).

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k245/82Suzuki850/KidsandtheBMW.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k245/82Suzuki850/LarryandEricbytheBridge-1.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k245/82Suzuki850/dadanderic.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k245/82Suzuki850/Busa2.jpg
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k245/82Suzuki850/eric-bmw.jpg

[Bob1100RTC]

My son is 15 and loves to go for day rides with me. He is chomping at the bit until he can get his own bike. He's thinking Ducati I'm thinking Honda 125. When the time comes he will have to take classes and work his way up. Maybe when he's 30 or so will that Ducati end up under his butt. lol:bottle

[widebmw]

My son is 15 and loves to go for day rides with me. He is chomping at the bit until he can get his own bike. He's thinking Ducati I'm thinking Honda 125. When the time comes he will have to take classes and work his way up. Maybe when he's 30 or so will that Ducati end up under his butt. lol:bottle

You both could be happy with a Ducati 125.

[john1691]

My youngest is the pillion rider in my family. He is 13 and will ride in almost any weather, as long as there is the promise of a hot meal somewhere along the way. I bought him a leather jacket at first, but later got a First Gear mesh jacket for warmer weather. I have a backrest on the K12RS and we use Chetterbox GMRS intercoms most of the time so we can communicate. (Check other brands, the Chatterbox are so-so). My older son was 14 when I got the BMW and had ridden on my 600R Ninja, but didn't like being a passenger. He opted to not ride (too cool to hug the old man) and bought his own bike when he turned 16, a Suzuki GS 500E. The older son likes the idea of having a bike more than riding it, where the younger son truly loves to ride. His goal is to get a bike as soon as he turns 16 and be ready for a ride out to Yellow Stone with me for a graduation gift.

I know a guy in his 70's that rides with his "boys" who are in their 40's and 50's, pretty cool way to bond if you ask me!

[2beers]

I told my daughter Katie that when she graduates College I will buy her a Bike. That doesn't prevent her from asking me for one now! I hope this is motivation for her to finish college soon.

[Stuff2C]

S828 GENERAL BILL by Bennett Motorcycles or Mopeds/Young Riders [EPCC]; Prohibits a person from operating a motorcycle or moped while carrying a rider younger than 12 years of age, etc. EFFECTIVE DATE: 07/01/2008. 12/18/07 SENATE Filed 01/24/08 SENATE Referred to Transportation; Criminal Justice

www.flsenate.gov/Session/index.cfm?Mode=Bills&SubMenu=1&BI_Mode=ViewBillInfo&Year=2008&BillNum=0828

Maybe he needs some e-mails to read:evil

[DougGrosjean]

My son Jean-Luc, now 13 y/o, has ridden quite a bit with me, from our home in Ohio, to points as far as New Jersey, Deal's Gap, the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

I actually wrote a book (Wheels) about many of the trips, starting with his first ride on mine at age 5 (picked him up at K-garten), and ending with him taking an MSF dirtbike class for kids at age 8 in Troy, Ohio.

There's an Addendum in the back on riding with kids, as it's such a rare activity, there's little in print on how.

Got good reviews everywhere except in the MOA ON; currently some BMW dealers and Aerostich carry it. I like the Aerostich summary the best.

A lot of good times.

Here's Jean-Luc on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Spring Break 2006:

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h33/DougGrosjean/Spring%20Break%202006/Day06-JL-06b.jpg

Our most recent trip wasn't by bike, though. Was a Jeep trip down all of Route 66. Motorcycles became normal to him, I think. But he's getting older, and he learned to drive the Jeep on a friend's MX track, and we unicycle together.... so it's all good.

Enjoy while you can, and be careful. Even more than normal.

[dlowry]

While I didn't start my two as early as I would have liked, they both loved even the short jaunts we took to take up the habit. My 19 year old daughter rides a Honda Shadow 750 Aero, and my 17 year old son a Suzuki GS500F (shhh, don't tell him it's not REALLY a sport bike). We've done a couple of "family" rides, but our schedules seem to prohibit a vacation trip on them. I'm thinking of springing for a couple 650's next year and taking my son on a summer long odyssey across Canada and parts of the US before he starts college, kind of a bonding thing.

I have to admit, Gail's adventure is what's inspired me to consider it!

Cheers!

[KGT1200]

My best bud in life. This pic was taken a couple of years ago, and now he's a foot taller, but still my numero uno. Good biker too!

[ironMan]

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h33/DougGrosjean/Spring%20Break%202006/Day06-JL-06b.jpg



Jean-Luc or James Dean? The Kids got spunk and tude

COOL !!!!

[BradfordBenn]

Jean-Luc or James Dean? The Kids got spunk and tude

COOL !!!!

And probably more saddle miles than people twice his age. :thumb

[DougGrosjean]

Jean-Luc or James Dean? The Kids got spunk and tude .... COOL !!!!

James Dean? I'll pass that on to him. :):) Though I'll have to explain who that is. Wait a sec - no I don't. We visited the James Dean museum in Indiana when we drove to Indy to check out the Airhead GS I eventually bought.

He's a unique individual (aren't we all?). Before an adventure he'll grumble about it, ie, he'd rather find a web-cam of the Grand Canyon that hike into the place himself. Then during the adventure, not much complaint. After it's over, he's 10' tall. We're both still on Cloud 9 from the 3-week (Jeep) trip down Route 66 this past summer, following some abandoned remnants, hiking, photographing, visiting Radiator Springs (Peach Springs, AZ).

Currently, we're in a unicycle class over the winter (we do that each winter), and he seems to have a small crush on a classmate who rides a Trials unicycle. Kid is growing up.

He's now 13 y/o, and tall - about 5'-9" last time we checked. Couple inches taller than me already. See above about growing up...

You're prolly right about spunk and 'tude. Easy to forget those are cool things when you're around somebody all the time.... ;);)

And probably more saddle miles than people twice his age. :thumb

I'm guessing he's at somewhere between 20,000-30,000 miles seat time at this point on a streetbike, so Bradford Benn's about right. We've had a half-dozen respectable LD trips (1,000 miles each, more or less) since he began going on the bike with me at age 5 (he was tall then, too), plus lots of commuting / errands / short trips. For many summers, my car wasn't much to speak of, and the bike was transportation everywhere as long as the weather was above freezing.

Probably our roughest day together was a 350-mile day together on a Suzuki DR-350 dual-purpose bike, down to a southern Ohio dualsport ride (exploring Moonville, a ghost town) back to northwest Ohio. Lotta miles on a small bike, and at the end it was *cold* (around freezing). Memorable, but not necc. pleasant.

He's pretty adamant that he hates that bike, partly because it's a kick-start (if I stall it, he has to dismount), and partly for the lack of comfort.

[DougGrosjean]

Here's a shot of a younger Jean-Luc. Age 6, outside Warm Springs VA.

Can tell you it's tough to dismount with a sleeping passenger....

[DADODIRT]

Here's my son Ethan on one of our local rides....Last Dollar Road connects Ridgway to Telluride in the summer months.

[roburnmc]

Great photos everyone. I love to ride with my kids. Here's my youngest trying my F650GS on for size, as his favorite stuffed animal hangs out on the cross bar.

[roburnmc]

Here's one of my twin boys. We were on our way to Bill's Old Bike Barn in Bloomsburg PA last August. www.billsbikebarn.com

[roburnmc]

The other twin. Maybe I should mount a hack on the GS. What do you'll think? This shot is from French Creek State Park last October.