I'm a typical 47 year old dude whose been repressing his dream of owning a Harley for 30 years.

Finally got the money together, took Rider's Edge course, rented multiple bikes and am considering pulling trigger on just the right model for me.

What is stopping me is while I'm totally comfortable with the risk and have read all the stats and have some military combat experience in distant past so that it is not just academic when I consider risk. But what's stopping me is if my teenage sons were to take up biking later in life and die or get seriously injured, I would consider that my fault for introducing that into their lives by example.

I realize this is probably a very douche like posting, but anyone else ever grapple with this??? I may end up waiting till they're off in college or renting a storage unit or something, but that would be flat out crazy.

Thanks.

 

i have a 20 yr old son, who rides. very carefull driver for a kid!
I and you have to make the decision for ourselves, if you believe you raised um good the will be as safe as we are, good luck with that wrestling match
my kid ride a 06 street bob

 

Hi and welcome to the forum. There is no shortage of opinions to questions asked here and the bottom line is that you have to be comfortable with your decision. I am a father of 2 grown sons that both have bikes and I have no problem with it. My only request was that they both take safety courses prior to getting their bikes.

You would be really unfair to yourself if you based your decision on getting a bike on this issue. Did you do the same thing when you bought a car? Not the same risk I know but you get the message. You raise them to make good decisions, turn 'em loose and hope for the best....

Get the bike, be responsible with your safety gear and riding habits and down the road you may have a great father / son activity together. I know I do when we have the chance to be together....

Hope this "ramble" helps.... Just my 2 cents...

 

The part of the brain that controls risk accessment, judgement, logic does not fully develop in the male until age 19-20. This is the reason there are more fatalities in this age group than any other and why insurance for a teenager is so high.

 

Not just bikes.... Applies to all phrases of life,,, I encouraged both of my sons to take courses and training for LE... and Now they both LEO's... If some thing every happened then thats just the way it is....

"vell" anyone could get wacked so many ways,, it not in our hands......

 

I echo having them take the Motorcycle safety course. I also have two sons and I have rode most of my life but quit riding to raise my family. Got them out on there own and started riding again, now my boys want to ride. I lead by example with them. I consider myself a safe rider when operating my bike and I only hope my boys take the same approach. Ride with them as much as you can and hope they pick up your "good" habits when riding.

 

Tough question. I learned to ride, in and around a small town. I now live in a large city. I probably would not be a rider, if I'd grown up in the big city and learned to ride on these streets, but I feel like I did my learning in a much safer environment and grew into the skills I need to survive here. Regardless of my skills, it only takes one idiot or accident to ruin my day/life and those of my loved ones. I selfishly take that risk, for my own rewards. Again, being selfish, I don't want my son or daughter to take the same risks. So, if they had the opportunity to learn as I did, maybe I would be OK with it.

There, I think I effectively avoided answering your question.

And, welcome to HDF.

Bear

 

Just out of curiosity... would/did you feel any different if/when you taught them to drive a car?

 

When I turned 14, I got a motorcycle permit, so I could learn to ride a bike while my dad was on his. At 16, I took the safety course and got my own license. I learned alot from riding with my dad those early years. All though my 20's, I was on some very fast sport bikes (lucky for me I survived those years). Now in my mid 30's I have my Road King. My dad and I still enjoy our road trips. Some of the best bonding a father and son can have.

I now have 2 sons of my own and some day if they want to learn, I will be the one teaching. They already want to ride, but they are 6 & 2, so they still have to wait.

 

We all know a car is a whole different animal. Safety glass, crumple zones, intrusion resistant steel, seat belts, air bags, size & weight, 4 wheels, ABS, several headlights and brake lights, windsheild wipers, etc. I was scared to death, when I sent my son out to drive solo. He's 18 and hasn't had a single incident, but I still worry about him. The difference is that he has a much, much better chance of avoiding or surviving an accident in a car.