Seems like youre going to do it no matter what sensible advice says otherwise.

"I tell him that I will trust him until he gives me a reason not to." That one reason may be too late.

 

WOW!

 

Hey Everyone! Thanks for all the great advice!
You all have very good points.

 

This is an interesting thread. I have two kids and to be honest I think it is my girl I'm going to have to worry about. She already has her eye on those Razor Scooters and is all into the bike.

Anyway, what would I do when she is 16 and comes calling for two wheels?

Well initially I'd be like no freaking way your getting a two wheel death machine!! LOL

But seriously what do you do?
If they want to ride bad enough and have friends that do they'll probably do it behind your back anyway. So are you not better off dealing with it head on and under your supervision?

Lot of chatter that they safer in a car. I agree 100% on that but are they really that much less likely to have an accident or does the car maybe make them a little too lax in their driving after years of riding in the car with you. Not to mention the distraction of the radio, cell phone, text msg etc...

Someone said they'll find the keys and take the bike if you try and control it. Well maybe you need a chain through the wheel with the key for the lock on your key chain? Pull the plug wires? I'm sure there are options.

Is 16 too young? We'll they can serve their country at 18 and jobs like the flight deck of an aircraft carrier or front line infantry are pretty dangerous. They're old enough to drive a car at 16 which in my opinion requires a lot of attention and skill. You have plenty to pay attention to driving a car and a lot of distractions. Especially if driving friends.

Can't say I have any answers or even advise I'm just kind of talking out loud. Besides he's your kid anyway and only you can make this call.

 

I'm more worried about safety while he's with us. Again, maybe some people can't understand this, but I trust my son. He is honest almost to a fault. And, probably more responsible than a lot of adults. That may just sound like a proud Mom talking, but our family and friends think it's weird.

That being said, he definitely needs road time, even in a car. But, I'm not always with him in the car. We have always gone out riding the trails and he does well. Listens, follows the rules, etc. Put him in the middle of a group of 4 of us on the road, and I think he'd do OK.

A lot of you had very good ideas, and I appreciate them. I think I'll let him take the safety courses and see what happens. Maybe next year he can borrow the old '72 Sportster for a few runs and see how he does. (The thing vibrates like an SOB. )

 

Well...we've all been there before. I started out on a Yamaha myself about 23 years ago and it was smaller than the Honda Rebel. There's no shame in starting with something smaller and more practical until your son learns the riding skills which is the main thing.

 

I got my first bike that I could call my own when I was 15. It was a Honda XL 250 enduro that could be ridden on the street and the dirt. A great starter bike. I had been riding dirt for 4 years before that on my dad's 175. After I bought mine, my dad and I would take off early in the morning looking for trails on our bikes and ride all day.

I am now 51 and my dad is 71 and we still ride together on our Road Kings. Actually, I am riding up to his house Friday for a weekend of good times and hard riding.

 

I think I was all of 7 years old when my dad bought me my first dirt bike and I've been riding ever since. When I was 14 he bought me a moped and I got my license for that and I was all over the place on that thing. At 16 he bought me a Ninja 250R as my first motorcycle and at 17 he upgraded me to a Yamaha FZR1000. Neither of my parents ever rode and so I was pretty much on my own. Sure I made mistakes and I learned from them, but if a person never gets a chance at something you're never going to get the experience to get good at it.

 

GO FOR IT, I DID !!!

2 years ago I made a deal with my son, Travis, "Keep a B average in school, don't get in trouble, I'll get you a Sportster for your 16th B-day." I paid up with an 883L. He's been riding dirt since he was knee high to a grass hopper, so no worries there. The deal we have is "His bike does not leave the garage unless mine is with his. It will stay this way until Dad feels comfortable that he can ride alone." He does not have a problem with that so far (since June).
With these rules, he still gets to ride (He's 16 and is an assistant coach for Pop Warner so we get to ride to practice daily) and on the weekends he rides with Mom and Dad and friends of ours.
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. Be sure he goes to a motorcycle safety course to learn all the basics all over again. Riding dirt and street are 2 different monsters.

 

Maybe that's where my mentality comes from. I spent a good half hour struggling to pick my dirt bike up out of soft sand, out in the woods by our house, after I dumped it when I was 10. My Dad pretty much said, "Jump on, take it for a spin." I had to stop my Dad from telling my son to take his Heritage for a spin around the block. Kid has to go through the safety courses first. Yep, different strokes and all that.