How old was your kid when you started riding him on the back of your MC ?

[fastfredracing]

I quit riding 30 years ago when I started my biz. I had a couple of scooters, a 250 r 3 wheeler, and a few quads in that time frame, but barely rode them .
I have a few friends who ride a lot and they have talked me into jumping back in . They are all harley guys, and thats not my bag, but Im still gonna grab a big KTM or XL 600 and ride with them this summer .
The one wrench in the whole machine is my boy, he will be 7 this summer . Im a single dad, and there is no one to leave him with, so he is stuck with me wherever I go .
I looked it up , and there are no laws as to age In Pa. He just has to be able to reach the foot pegs, and I can make that work.
He is a little guy, not even 40 pounds . So far, he seems to enjoy rides in fast cars and I am always dragging him out on tows with me which he loves, so I am thinking he may really like this .
Its been a while , but I was a pretty strong rider, I was fast in the woods, with strong self preservation instincts . I rode on the street a little, but never really enjoyed it as much but I feel pretty safe abou it for the most part.
Full riding gear for him and I . When did you start ?

[Scott Douglas]

I quit riding when I found myself splitting lanes going home one day when traffic was only moving 55mph. I had two little ones at home and I decided I wanted to live long enough to see them grow up.
I sold my Honda to a friend at work.

As I look at it now, I wouldn't put either of my kids on the back if I had kept the bike. I couldn't have lived with myself if something had happened to either of them while I was riding. It's not my choice to put their lives at risk like that when they're too small to understand the life changing possibilities of a crash.
For what it's worth, my dad had a car turn left in front of him while on his way to work one day on his BMW when I was little. I remember coming home and finding him on crutches with an arm in a cast and I was expecting to go for a ride with him after school. Motorcycles were not allowed in our house from then on until we (my brother and I) could afford to buy our own insurance.
Now days I'd love to have a motorcycle but I don't trust the people who live around here enough to get one. They didn't grow up with cars for the most part and don't drive all that well to risk it.

Good luck with your decision.

[wswartzwel]

My son and two daughters learned to ride motorcycles off road at the age of 5. As far as riding on the back of mine, on the highway, I never felt comfortable doing that, other than maybe around the block. A friend of mine was a single dad and he got a side car to solve the problem.

[911 Rod]

I'd never do it.

[Flatbutt1]

My daughter was 12 when we rode two up to W Va on my R80RT.

[JavaBrewer]

Zack was 8 years old when he first rode with me.



Fun short ride, 30 minutes or so with a stop for a soda. Things progresssed in a safe manner over the following years. You can read about it HERE in the old NATO garage thread.

[Zeke]

I took a few girls out on one. Just for a short ride, no destination. I never liked having a passenger. Once in awhile you might find one that sits still. Otherwise they are a liability.

I only rode until I was 25 or so. Lots less cars around in those days. I rode on the freeway once and that was enough. I was doing 70-80 which didn't mean anything to me but the damn grooves were unpredictable.

They're bad enough today on low aspect profile tires.

[Scott Douglas]

My wife would ride with me at times before we had kids. Took her all the way up to the Rock Store one weekend, this after finding I had a flat rear tire that morning when getting ready to ride. A can of Fix-a-flat solved that problem and it worked great all day long. Thanks to tubeless tires it was a great day out on the bike, 1980 Honda 750F.

[gumby]

I would drop off my stepdaughter at school every day, rode on the back of my Yamaha SR500
10 miles one way she was 7-8-9

[Baz]

Don't see an issue as long as you are careful on all levels.

That covers it right there.

Have fun!

[Mike80911]

When my son was 10 years old, I surprised him and picked him up from school with my new to me Harley Softail. We rode home without issue. Later that night my wife told me he had a bad burn on his ankle from the pipes. He was afraid to tell me thinking I would not give him a ride again. I took him out several times after just making sure to tell him to watch out for the hot pipes. He loved that bike.

[Eric 951]

In South America I saw lots of full families all riding on a single scoot.

[unclebilly]

Never on the street bike - I sold my Indian when my son was about 3. On the dirtbike and quads, my kids rode lots. I used to put my daughter between me and the tank when she was about 3 and my son would ride his Honda 50.

The kids both had quads or dirt bikes when they were 4.

Other drivers here are why I quit street riding and those reasons are wouldn't take my kids on a street bike.

[masraum]

My dad had a small Honda around the time I turned 6. I rode on it a couple of times, probably <5 (I think we only lived in the place where he had the bike for 6-8 months). From what I remember, when he took me out, I sat in front of him so that his arms were either side of me. I don't think there's any way that I'd have been able to hold on riding behind him. This would have been 1975/1976.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

. So far, he seems to enjoy rides in fast cars and I am always dragging him out on tows with me which he loves,

Stick with that.
Ridin’ in the truck with dad, doing real work, learning what real life is like, sounds like a lot more fun than sitting on the back of a motorcycle while dad rides with his buds.
But that’s just me.

[MMARSH]

This is one of several trips my daughter and I have taken. This was a 4 day camping trip up the coast. Out of all my motorcycle trips, and I've had a bunch. This was my favorite. She's wearing my wife's gear and we could talk to each other the entire time. We both loved it. She was probably 12 when she first rode with me. My other daughter has ridden locally with me and loves it as well.

[Jeff Higgins]

Wow, Michael, I am so envious of you and your daughter. That is so awesome.

I have two sons, now both in their 30's. Neither one picked up the motorcycle itch. I guess that makes their mother quite happy, but I think it would be fun to ride with them. Oh, they both followed me head over heels into the Porsche hobby, and we drive together often, so I guess I really should count my blessings.

Both of them got introduced to motorcycling on the back of my '76 Sportster (maybe that's what made them think better of it). Both as soon as their feet could touch the passenger pegs. Never on the freeway, just lonely backroads. Neither one got the bug, though.

I'll never forget one day after church right after my youngest's first ride (he must have been around eight). Everyone is hanging out in the narthex chatting, when this excited eight year old voice called out at full volume "guess what gramma? Daddy took me out on the motorcycle and we went a hundred miles and hour!!!" The place went silent...

[unclebilly]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

I'll never forget one day after church right after my youngest's first ride (he must have been around eight). Everyone is hanging out in the narthex chatting, when this excited eight year old voice called out at full volume "guess what gramma? Daddy took me out on the motorcycle and we went a hundred miles and hour!!!" The place went silent...

I love this!

It reminds me of the time I strapped my son’s bucket car seat into the passenger race seat in my 911 at the end of a PCA HPDE that I was running and took him for a hot lap. That kid was imprinted for life.

[Bill Douglas]

Don't have kids but, I remember at the age of six or seven riding on the back of my mom's Vespa. Even at that age I knew it wasn't a good idea

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by unclebilly

I love this!

It reminds me of the time I strapped my son’s bucket car seat into the passenger race seat in my 911 at the end of a PCA HPDE that I was running and took him for a hot lap. That kid was imprinted for life.

That is so cool.

Back when my boys were pretty young, our local PCA and other clubs still allowed us to take passengers out on track. There was a minimum age, and both my boys were much younger than that age, but they were very big for their age. and everybody knew us. I bought them both helmets that fit, and they would stand off to the side of the staging area with their helmets on and thumbs out, "hitchhiking". Boy, did they get rides in some awfully cool cars. GT3, Carrera GT, Caterham, Cobra, Viper, Noble, and on and on. Everybody loved giving them rides. I was actually envious of them, because I never got to ride in those cars. And, as you discovered, talk about "setting the hook".