it would be hypocrytical not to, wouldnt it? and why would you not want to share one of the greatest pleasures in the world?

I only got into bikes because of some friends who actually loved'em and still do..My father bought a 2nd hand 1990 Yamaha XT600E with less than 1000miles on it in the US and shipped it back here to Portugal. Than he bought a Kawasaki Ninja 750 red and black which I loved but he finished up selling it

He kept the XT600E and now I'm the one who drives it...
When I started being curious about this bike [ I was 14y old ] I started asking my dad how to turn it on... how to shift it up and down... and eventually started turning it on [in the garage] and put 1st gear and letting the clutch bit by bit going about 4feet at a time stepping back a lil to get some room and doing that over and over UNTIL about 1 month later I started going out late at night with it around 4/5AM and driving around the whole island [yes I live in an island with 98square kilometers]... had my "rookie"crashes....

I knew I was doing that illegally hell I was only 14yo.. I finished up telling my dad I was riding and he argued with me telling me this bike is hard to drive and alot dangerous for a 14yo kid to be fooling around....

The thing is, he never prohibited me from riding it as long as I rode it slow, calmly PROTECTED and only off road on our lands by the house because of the cops..

I rode the XT until I was almost 16yo but than my dad bought me a Yamaha DT125R which I rode till I was 19..awesome beginner's bike that was power limited because of somethings on the exhaust but after taking that out the bike would top out at 90miles/h [almost 145km/h] in average about 15seconds.

Since then I'm riding the XT600. Now I'm 21yo and I understand his concerns and he was absolutelly right!

And someday if I have kids I won't disencourage nor encourage them to ride. It has to be something they want to do because it is dangerous...

Oh, and as you know the most danger doesn't come from us, it comes from the other people who is driving all around us because we know what we want to do but not what the others will do.

One thing my father tells me from time to time is: "O nosso para-choques é o corpo" ---> "The body is our bumper".....

Safe riding!

There is only one answer, that is yes Don't be so selfish.


Trophymick

I think I was told the best advice I know of on this subject 20 odd years ago.
I was told " I will teach my son to ride so i know he knows how to ride well, as if he is like any other child he will find a way to get on a bike with or without me..."

I say yes encorage him. Would it not be better to teach him yourself, or at very least get him proper teaching, then have his "friend" teach him who has not had any formal teaching himself?

It is like everything else. drinking, sex, drug, talk with him treat him like an adult and you will both be better off!


besides.. as a son.. I would have loved to ride with my dad. It could have been very special spending time doing what i love with him....(okay sorry that is getting sappy)

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2000 Africa Twin
http://two-up-ona-twin.blogspot.com

I have only recently got into bikes, and when I was under my parents roof it was very clear that they would not be up for me getting a bike. I think the phrase 'not while you live here' was used!

I didn't even touch a bike until I did my DAS, but was still totally bitten just the same as I would have been if I was 16 - difference being I could go and get a 750 straight away. Which I did - great fun those elefants (when you're not fixing the b*&%$ds...).

Despite keeping me bike free my parents still had to suffer my adolescence spent in emergency rooms - if the kid needs danger he will find it somewhere! You can't stop it, you can't control it you just have to cross your fingers and hope. Don't encourage or discourage, just support - and do what you can to make sure that the dangers are minimised whilst keeping the rush. I reckon track days or off roading are the way to go... let him stack a bike on a track a few times and it should teach him to keep away from the ragged edge on the road

good luck!

My father never encouraged me to ride despite me being around bikes since before I was born. All the men on both sides of my family are keen on motorcycling and some of the women too, but none of them bought me a bike or encouraged me in any way which effectively meant that I spent about from birth to the age of 26 I spent roughly 20 minutes in control of a motorcycle. This wasn't because I didn't want to, it was just that I hadn't been given the opportunity and I was too polite to ask.

Now I'm 27 going on 28 and I've been riding for 18 months in which I've notched up probably over 10,000 miles mostly around London and including one overland to Italy. The wallpaper on my PC is my bike at the top of the Passo Del Stelvio. I wish that someone had put me on a bike when I was younger as now my life revolves around bikes. These are experiences I wish I had earlier instead of wasting my life worrying about unimportant crap. Give the lad a bike goddammit!

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"On that? You're nuts!" - My cousin's boyfriend

Current Bikes - Kawasaki KLE500 '05 (May 06)
Previous Bikes - Hyosung GF125 (Oct 05 to May 06)