Kid along for a ride
- Thread starter The Dane
- Start date
STark1050
Garry Franklin
I used to take my sons on rides when they were younger. Make sure he understands what is going on.
--Garry--
--Garry--
My daughter is 12 now and has been riding with me since she was 6.
She regularly gets dropped off to school on the bike and has been on runs up to 400miles/day. She is currently clicking up miles at about 5000/year and has probably done about 20k miles total.
She has all the gear and knows how to use it. She has ridden in rain, snow, hail and 105'F days.
She has the bug and would not give riding now, she wants her first bike to be an ST! I think I will start her on something smaller.
The bottom line, treat their gear the way you treat your own. Once you know they are going to ride regularly they will need a full face helmet mesh jacket, winter jacket (if not the same), rain/winter pants, good boots and gloves. The only "problem" is they grow out of it quickly and it will need updating. Try and find buddies with kids that ride too.
Start them on short trips at first. Always build in extra stopping time on longer trips until you know how well they will cope with it. Like any road trip they will likely get bored, bring along an mp3 player, and look for stops of interest to them.
-- Mark
She regularly gets dropped off to school on the bike and has been on runs up to 400miles/day. She is currently clicking up miles at about 5000/year and has probably done about 20k miles total.
She has all the gear and knows how to use it. She has ridden in rain, snow, hail and 105'F days.
She has the bug and would not give riding now, she wants her first bike to be an ST! I think I will start her on something smaller.
The bottom line, treat their gear the way you treat your own. Once you know they are going to ride regularly they will need a full face helmet mesh jacket, winter jacket (if not the same), rain/winter pants, good boots and gloves. The only "problem" is they grow out of it quickly and it will need updating. Try and find buddies with kids that ride too.
Start them on short trips at first. Always build in extra stopping time on longer trips until you know how well they will cope with it. Like any road trip they will likely get bored, bring along an mp3 player, and look for stops of interest to them.
-- Mark
Kids have ridden with me since they were 12. Used to pick them up from school one at a time so I could ride more. They really enjoyed it and had they're own gear. Let them know how they were suppose to act when they rode have them an mp3 and all was great. Both want their own now when they can own one.
Also make sure they can reach the footpegs. This is a requirement in the state I'm in, not to mention it makes sense. If they can't reach the pegs, modify them in a way so that they can put both feet firmly on the modified pegs as it'll give them a sense of security.
Tom Mac 04a
Site Supporter
As a side note, there was a company that even sold a belt ( driver ) with handles on the back (youg rider)
Both of my kids ride with me(not at the same time). My daughter is 12 and son is 15. They have been riding with me for about three years. They get taken to school or picked up and go with me to visit my mom. My son got picked up at high school soccer practice most everyday. There school is 20 miles from our house(they go to private school) so 40 mile rounds on the bike save tons of gas and money. My son went with me on a four day trip to New York City last summer "the Suicide Run". We had a blast, although my wife says she gets to go this year he had so much fun.
+1 that was the limiting factor for Emma to start.
Most of the bikes have had passenger backrests which helps with passenger confidence. My Magna also had a drivers backrest, this was very useful as a forward grab rail for Emma. Other than that I used to use fat zip tie in my jacket waist adjust - this acted as convenient grab handles in the same way as the commercial grab belt solution worked.
The biggest problem has usually been with mount/dismount. Short 6yo legs were just enough to get onto my CB650, but she did catch a heal at one point and stumbled the dismount. Switching to the Magna and the ST both had issues because of negotiating luggage. Took a couple of rides to get her used to it.
Also teach them a few hand signals e.g. for "stop soon" (tap shoulder and point at tank), "Look" (shoulder tap, point) and "stop NOW" (two urgent thumps on the shoulder).
"Stop soon" is good for bathroom break, stretch, or they are too cold/hot and need to adjust clothing.
"stop now" was very useful when the tent was slipping off the back of the bike and Emma noticed it.