Riding Motorcycles When You Have Young Kids At Home....

[Chet Rugg]

soap operas start at 1:00
couches have no motor
 somehow they take a lot of live's

[Luap McKeever]

Some of my best memories are also when I was my dads passenger.  When I had kids of my own, I bought them helmets of their own when they could sit still and maintain a grip for an extended period of time.  Some might say that's irresponsible parenting.  I call it bonding with my kids.  Some of my kids best memories to this day are when we went riding.  My oldest daughter, now 24 with kids of her own will tell you to this day that one of her favorite memories was when I took her to the 2003 Mo-Kan rally and turned her loose with a camera. She was 11 then.  Here's a picture of us together at that rally:

She has ridden with me since she was 6 and even at 24 she still rides with me on occasion. If my wife at the time tried to stop that, I would have found a new wife
More pics she took at that rally here: http://www.wildguzzi.com/Rallies/Photos/mokan2003/mokan2003.htm

[Scud]

couches have no motor

...but wait... we just got a couch with two (count 'em) 2 motors. Amazingly, we needed a power recliner on each end of the sectional sofa. Wish I could have got it with a manual mechanism, but no, our sofa is plugged in (in 2 places) and someday I'm gonna have to fix it.

On many occasions, when the TV comes on (especially if it's "The Bachelor"), the Guzzi goes for night-time blast through a canyon. Everybody's happy.

[Testarossa]

At 26, she still likes to ride with me.

[Cam3512]

"The bigger the truck, the smaller the penis".

Not true. I drive a smallish 2WD Toyota Tacoma, and am still hung like a light switch.

[lucydad2]

Cam,

Thanks for a belly laugh!  At least some people on this forum still have humor. 

Someone tried to bait me above.  Forget it buddy, wasting your time.  I will respond as I see fit, or not.

This discussion confirms why I have no interest attending meet ups with a general crowd. 

[Adan]

Similar to tonupracer, I'm 53 and have 2 kids under 4.  Late bloomer with the procreation thing, so if I quit riding until they are 15, I'll have missed the majority of my remaining riding years. 

I did give up commuting for the most part.  Might ride in to work one day a week still when practicality demands it. 

The thing that worries me the most is how having a motorcycle around will influence my son.  I'm fine with him riding, I just want it to happen responsibly.  My Dad didn't ride, and that had something to do with me coming to it relatively late, in my 20's, by which time I had acquired a modicum of common sense.  I'm wary of the idea of my son riding at 16, or 18.  But he's only 3 so I've got time to beat some sense into him yet.

[rocker59]

We should all respect each other's pathways.

The puppies and rainbows forum is down the hall, on the left.

This is the curmudgeon's forum.  Respect has to be earned, and even then it's only given reluctantly...

I guess you didn't figure that out on your first dance.

[canuck750]

Nobody EVER "disallowed" me anything.

Agree 100%.
My wife has not always been supportive of my motorcycle riding, at times down right hostile towards it. But we have survived 33+ years of marriage now and she accepts that I have a passion for two wheels.
Deciding to ride or not is the riders decision, period.
I hear so many guys say "my wife will not let me own a bike", "my wife won't let me take weekend long bike trips" etc....
I wish guys would stop using someone else as the reason they don't ride.

[swooshdave]

While my wife wasn't disallowing me to ride, she wasn't favorable either. So when I got back into it I started with trials, hey, it's slow, on dirt and no cars. What could possible happen? Then to vintage MX, it was still in dirt but sadly I wasn't much faster than I was in trials...  Then I started on a restoration project. Because it was in pieces I couldn't ride it on the street, right? But the time I got the bike done and could ride on the street we had been married long enough that she didn't care if I got ran over by a truck.  :the wife:

Just kidding, she would care and if I survived an accident on the street she has said that in no uncertain terms she would finish me off in the hospital bed... after she check with the life insurance. 

But she has also asked to go for a ride but not until she gets the proper gear!

[Red Dog]

Was not an issue for either my wife or I.

Having children did not stop us from doing the things that brought us together.
My oldest son was 3 or 4 weeks old when we took him camping for the first time.

I was riding a 71 Ambassador & a 69 BSA when he was born & continued to ride to work everyday until the roads iced up or the snow got deep.
I don't ever remember having a discussion over it, bikes have always been part of my life.  Geez my wife rode until she was 7 months pregnant.

I am a firm believer that when your time is up it is up.  When you're gone you are gone so what difference if I went out riding or got rear ended by a 59 Plymouth filled by nuns?  That actually happened & I was driving a 69 Buick LeSabre, gas tank ended up in the rear seat.

[Tom]

I had a Nun turn left in front of me.  Fortunately, it was only 5-10 mph.  She was picking up a Rabbi.  No joke.    They were going to an Ecumenical Council meeting in Honolulu.  The Rabbi wanted to stick his nose into our business.  I told him that it wasn't his kuleana. (responsibility)  I had to deal with the Mother Superior of the convent after that for the insurance claim.

[Stevex]

My future wife was riding a Z650 when we met, and when she was expecting our first, in '88, she gave up riding.
We have 2 children, adults now, and my wife decided to start riding again just over a year ago, so I bought her a Ducati.
Never did she even hint that I should ever stop riding because of the children...in my 20's, 30's and into my 40's, biking was indeed a way of life for me; now a full time hobby.

One post I have to make a reply to...

G John,
You missed a lot of life's most meaningful joys.

...have you any idea how condescending and patronizing that sounds?

[Lannis]

Quote from: lucydad2 on October 31, 2016, 11:34:05 PM
G John,
You missed a lot of life's most meaningful joys.

...have you any idea how condescending and patronizing that sounds?

___________________ ___________________ ___________________ __

I understand the sentiment - but it could better be said like:

"If I had not had children, I would have missed out on what I consider a lot of life's most meaningful joys".

That way you are only saying what has been good for YOU and not saying what would be good for someone else ....

I certainly am glad I didn't miss out on my own children!

Lannis

[oldbike54]

 We all have our own lens .

 Dusty

[ScepticalScotty]

Yeah its an interesting discussion - while I have never taken my daughter on the back of the bike I have never stopped riding either. Jill knew I was a biker when she met me and that was that. And a bit more in the story is that when I first met her she was keen to have a ride pillion - she had never done it. So we tried that and being the person she is (unlike me she has never flown sailplanes, surfed, been in caves not open to the public, sailed a Laser, or indeed ridden motorcycles on and off road) she absolutely hated it. In fact so much halfway into the ride I had to leave her at a cafe, ride home and get the car.  So yeah....that was a bit sad but bikes are not our entire life. Its what one of us does. Together...we do other stuff.

Would I love to take Amelie on the bike? Hell yeah. I think she might love it.

[Penderic]

I thought it was because motorcycles causes delinquency in young children.


"Pops left his keys in the ignition again. Lets ride!"

[jas67]

Not true. I drive a smallish 2WD Toyota Tacoma, and am still hung like a light switch.

OMG, just about sprayed beer all over the screen!    Thanks for the laugh!

[Guzzistajohn]

OMG, just about sprayed beer all over the screen!    Thanks for the laugh!

Yep, that's some good stuff!

'99 Tacoma here............... .....thumb tack

[Beaver]

I started riding minibikes/dirt bikes when I was 13 and bought my first real motorcycle when I was 22. I gave that motorcycle to my brother-in-law shortly after I got married back in the early 80's.  It had problems and I wasn't a mechanic and we had no money, and I didn't really miss it after a while.  Then I had my daughter, got divorced and stayed single.  I never even considered getting another bike while she was growing up, not because of the risk, but because I needed a car or minivan to haul lots of kids all the time!   One day in 2005, my friend asked me if I wanted to buy her motorcycle and I did and I haven't stopped riding since.  Can't wait til my grandkids are big enough to ride with me! 

Oh, by the way, I have a 4 x 4 Toyota Tacoma Quad Cab, long bed.

Beaver

[oldbike54]

Yep, that's some good stuff!

'99 Tacoma here............... .....thumb tack

 What about guys that drive a pink '59 Rambler American station wagon 

 Dusty

[Guzzistajohn]

I started riding minibikes/dirt bikes when I was 13 and bought my first real motorcycle when I was 22. I gave that motorcycle to my brother-in-law shortly after I got married back in the early 80's.  It had problems and I wasn't a mechanic and we had no money, and I didn't really miss it after a while.  Then I had my daughter, got divorced and stayed single.  I never even considered getting another bike while she was growing up, not because of the risk, but because I needed a car or minivan to haul lots of kids all the time!   One day in 2005, my friend asked me if I wanted to buy her motorcycle and I did and I haven't stopped riding since.  Can't wait til my grandkids are big enough to ride with me! 

Oh, by the way, I have a 4 x 4 Toyota Tacoma Quad Cab, long bed.

oOooo. Quad cab................ you get better lookin' all the time Beeve!   :

Beaver

[Guzzistajohn]

What about guys that drive a pink '59 Rambler American station wagon 

 Dusty

You mean like, salmon pink?

[oldbike54]

You mean like, salmon pink?

 No , like "pink" pink , as in baby girl pink 

 Dusty

[adventurelounger]

On the Data - - - Nothing is absolute, it is about responsibility, and fate.

Life is full of danger. Responsible people take realistic precautions and ENJOY!

https://rideapart.com/articles/what-the-latest-nhtsa-fatality-statistics-reveal-about-motorcycle-safety

http://www.webbikeworld.com/Motorcycle-Safety/motorcycle-accident-statistics.htm

Having spent some time digging into the links from Bulldog9's post, and trying to parse what the NHTSA data actually say, here's my super-reductive take on making it home to kiss the spouse/partner/significant other/kids, or to just crack a beer and toast your ongoing (post-ride) presence on this earth. To be clear, I'm not proselytizing ANYTHING. Just trying to boil the data-sap down to reveal the stickiest data truths:

1) Wear a helmet (many more killed without one)

2) Don't drink & ride (shocking number of deaths associated with booze)

3) Slow it down (speed correlates with dying)

4) To the extent possible, avoid cars, or ride like they intend to kill you (because most motorcycle accidents involve another vehicle, rather than an unforced hooning error)

5) Two-lane, undivided rural roadways are big on joy, but are surprisingly higher risk (guessing this is related to #4—you drifting and hitting a car, or drifting/turning car hitting you)

6) Oncoming left-hand turners are a lethal enemy (related to #4, too). This is why I find the classic American commercial strip—four lanes, stoplights, stores and restaurants on both sides, and the chaos of drivers on whatever urgent spending mission they're on stopping, starting, or turning—to be THE WORST. A Saturday mid-day ride on something like Route 1 (the Boston Post Road) anywhere in the Northeast is like a suicide mission.

BTW my wife hates my riding habit as much as I love it. And we still get along famously.

[Red Dog]

5) Two-lane, undivided rural roadways are big on joy, but are surprisingly higher risk (guessing this is related to #4�you drifting and hitting a car, or drifting/turning car hitting you)

Majority of my riding is rural.
Biggest hazards are:
Older folks who ride on the center line & cross over on the curves.
Slow moving farm equipment on blind curves.
Animals: Bear, Buzzard, Deer, Dog, Hog & Gator in my area.
Rare but happens are the crazy pick up truck & 4 wheelers on a dirt road that crosses the blacktop without stopping or slowing.
Sand washed across the road after heavy rains.

[Beaver]

"5) Two-lane, undivided rural roadways are big on joy, but are surprisingly higher risk..."


#5 is my favorite kind of road.  I've ridden the lower 48 states, a lot of it by myself, parts of Canada, and crossed into Mexico on a hand drawn ferry across the Rio Grande in Los Ebanos, TX.  I've only had one minor crash and that was because I went into a long curvy tunnel with the road under construction (dirt/gravel/rutted), discovered my headlight was out (socket burned up) panicked because it was pitch black and I couldn't see a thing and fell over while I was slowing down.  I hate riding interstates or big highways because I think you miss so much.  I've been on some pretty scary roads with Tex - one mistake and you're a goner.  I've ridden a Jackal, 1100Breva, and now a 750 Stone, travel at my own pace and know my limits!  As many of you know, I'm short and can barely touch tiptoe!  I have a flip phone that is used for calling only, but often there is no service way out in the boonies.  I use a redneck GPS (tape directions on my windwhield), carry maps, and talk to locals.  Everyone has favorite roads and I like to try out some of those.  When I'm out on a trip by myself, I call Tex and my daughter to report in at least once a day if I have service on my phone.  Of course it's risky, but I've enjoyed every minute of it and will continue as long as I can!   :)  Nobody has forbade me to go. It wouldn't do any good if they did!

Beaver

[rocker59]

5) Two-lane, undivided rural roadways are big on joy, but are surprisingly higher risk (guessing this is related to #4�you drifting and hitting a car, or drifting/turning car hitting you)
 

I would like to know how they determined that.  At higher risk of what? 

Here in The Ozarks, most of the riders can be found on rural 2-lane roadways.  Most of the accidents are single-vehicle, "Rider Failed to Negotiate a Curve", and many times with the words "riding impaired".  Those accidents don't make our 2-lane roadways "less safe" for other riders.

[Scud]

Reducing the data to the single elements, as adv-lounger has done very well, helps with clarifying, but it sometimes does so at the expense of over-simplifying and causing us to focus on one factor. Typically, there are several factors involved in an accident. So the two-lane roads could be more dangerous if people have a drink before they go, then remove their helmets, go faster, and hit an alligator.

You want to make it back home to see the kids?  Manage multiple risks simultaneously, don't do stupid stuff (like drink alcohol) that introduces unnecessary risk.  While you're at it, set a good example by wearing adequate gear all the time.

On a related note: My daughter, who is in college in Arizona now, recently sent a group text to my whole family with a picture of a helmetless male rider and helmetless and sandal-wearing female passenger on a KTM 450. She said: "Dad would kill us if we did this. Unless the driver killed us first..."

[MotoG5]

Guns man........ dont forget the GUNS! 

Got that covered too!