[DanL]

My daughter is 3....we keep it to rides less than 1 hour - cause sometimes she wants to go home....and she means NOW. She can ride on any bike with me around town but if we leave town she has to be on either the Goldwing (I have mounted a seat belt up for her) or the Ural sidecar. She has a tendency to fall asleep....which is also why I keep rides to less than 1 hour. On either of these two bikes shes safe from falling off.

Taking daughter to dance class this summer....

Picking them up from school just the other day....

My son is 8....same deal with him....given enough time he WILL fall asleep so long rides mean out comes the Goldwing and the seatbelt again. He can ride with me anywhere, any distance though.....Ive had him far away from home and he never gets concerned or growly. We went on a 3 day ride this summer, it was great fun.....crossed three states and saw some good stuff.....he really enjoyed it. I made sure I read up on state laws before we left (took a whole 10 mins) and encountered no problems on the trip.

This is him riding the bike across the Mississippi river on a ferry during our 3 day trip....

So when are they ready???

For me they are ready when they can hold themselves upright on the bike and arent scared of it.....

My daughter was NEVER scared. She LOVES riding on the back of my Ninja (she actually prefers it).....while my son is timid of my noisy, scary motorcycles and prefers to ride only three or four of the more "stock" bikes.

Its a morbid thought.....but your safety is in there hands, period. Are you gonna feel any better if you get in an accident and kill your 10 year old vs your 4 year old.....no, its gonna be horrible and unthinkable either way.....so really, the difference is???? None that I can see.

No helmets or protective gear for them? Or are those posed pictures?

I don't care if an adult rider decides not to wear proper gear, that's your own choice and you live with that decision. Kids need to be geared up with properly fitting gear and need to be big enough and strong enough to reach the foot pegs and brace themselves when they have to, like going over bumps. My opinion only and I'm sure you don't care one way or the other, just speaking what's on my mind.

 

[DanL]

Rural pavement is as hard as city pavement. You have a beautiful young daughter. It'd be a shame if you went down and her nose got ground off or she got torn up with road rash because you didn't think it was important enough for her to be geared up. Totally irresponsible as a parent, regardless of what the applicable laws say. The people who make the laws aren't going to nurse your kids thru skin grafts and plastic surgery.

 

[DanL]

Well I hope nothing ever happens, regardless if I'm of no significance to you or your daughter. You are of no significance to me either, but I can only hope that with your idiotic ideals, that your kids don't suffer from your stupidity.

 

[DanL]

Didn't you know that here in America, it's considered a God given right to tell everyone else how to live?

It's really a matter of common sense, and apparently some people have little to none when it comes to the safety of their kids. I'm not telling him how to live. I really could care less, but the day he wrecks and his daughter is disfigured or killed, I'm sure he won't be on here posting about how it was his right as a parent to allow her on his bike without proper gear. If someone wants to ride without gear, that's their choice. To make that choice for a child who has no say in the matter is just stupid. I get the idea that he thinks its cool for his kids to ride with him and that takes precedence over common sense and safety.

 

[DanL]

I care about his kids, not him. If I saw him on the road with his kids like that he'd hear it directly from me. Same thing goes for people who let their kids bounce around in the back of the car with no seatbelt, or the dumbasses who hold their baby instead of putting it in a car seat. I don't care about them, I care about the kids.

 

[DanL]

never mind. One parting thought:

Kids don't care what they are doing. They are not excited about being on a bike- they are excited to be with Dad. There are a ton of things you can do with your kids that they will enjoy just as much simply because they want to be with you and get attention from you. This is nothing more than an exercise in "look at me" for you. Riding down the road with your little girl strapped to the bike, thinking people are saying "Aww, how cute is that" when really they are saying "What a [email protected]***"

 

[DanL]

Nice edit Ed.

 

[DanL]

Thanks Box. I knew I couldn't be the only one.

Scrambler, you ever see pee wee football? Those kids are covered in properly fitted protective gear which sets them apart from most of our motorcycle riding tots.

 

[DanL]

Aaron, I never claimed to know everything, but I've raised 2 kids that are much older than yours and have gone thru things you haven't seen yet, so I might have a little more experience in that area. Trying to be their friend by letting them tell you they want to ride the Ural to school in the snow is something you should be able to say no to, and if they get upset, so be it.

I'm glad to see them geared up as they ride their toys in the yard. My nephews ride dirt bikes too and their father always has them geared up. Why you can't do that when they ride with you is beyond me.

As far as the sherriff thing goes, cops make bad choices all the time.

We'll never agree on this so no amount of justification, pictures of smiling kids, or anything like that is going to make me believe you are doing the smart thing here. Enjoy your kids while they are kids, they grow up fast and at some point they will not want you anywhere near them. Eventually they come around and you will hopefully have a great adult relationship with them.