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erik_26

Taught my boy how to ride

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So my 15.5 year old son doesn't do much outside. If left to his own devices, he would stay in his room, play video games, eat sugar and drink soda, for eternity.

 

I love being outside. I cannot sit in the house all day, especially with the beautiful San Diego weather. 

 

So, I have tried taking him fresh water fishing, meh. He caught a couple fish, got frustrated though that I caught way more and it was too slow and boring for him.... ugh. Too bad for me because I love fresh water fishing. So I took him salt water fishing off a pier, meh. He wasn't digging it. I caught 10 fish, he caught 2. Too slow, too boring.... ugh. Too bad for me because I love that type of fishing too. I have tried taking him out on light off road trails in my truck and 4Runner. Nope, he doesn't like it..... ugh. Too bad for me because I love going out on trails, exploring, seeing nature and enjoy the seclusion. I have taken him shooting. I am big into shooting. He likes that. He likes to shoot too, but, sometimes, he rather stay home then go out shooting.... ugh. Too bad for me because I like to go out shooting.

Since he is 15.5, I have offered to help him get his learners permit. Nope, he isn't interested.... that floored me. I just don't understand. When I was 13, I was counting the days to 15.5 to get my permit and harassing and persuading everyone I could into letting my drive around the block. When I turned 16, I got my license and then I was gone, as much as my parents would let me.

 

Well, with a knot in my stomach, in fear of spending a lot of money with him only to hate it, I bought him a nice helmet, riding gloves, boots, jeans and a riding jacket. I went over the basics with him while he was perched on my little TW200 and coached him to getting the bike moving. So, the 1st time we had about 45-minutes, most of that was spent going over controls and discussing the theory of riding. The rest of the time was him stalling the bike, getting frustrated with little glimmers of success, just enough to keep him interested.

 

So the next day, I loaded up the bike and got him out to a nice open parking lot with no one around and cut him loose. Started with very basic, go in a straight line to X, turn around and come back to Y. Then started adding the turning and shifting and braking and slow speed tight turns. All with the cover the clutch, feather the clutch, keep your head up, look through the turn and so on reminders needed. It was a huge success. I couldn't get him off the bike. He road 30 miles over the course of several hours and wouldn't stop. He kept getting better and better and smiling ear to ear. He talked his mom's ear off later that day about riding, wouldn't stop talking about it. By the end of the day, he was asking about how to get his Motorcycle permit. That shocked me.

 

I took him riding again today, he is catching on very quickly and doing a great job. He learned how to start from a stop on a slope. He got a little taste of street riding in our quiet neighborhood and wants to ride more. Maybe I found something he and I can both do together beside shooting. I am happy to get him outside. I really hope that I can get him to come out on the trails with me. 

 

Anyone else have a teenager near the same age new to riding? It would be nice to pair up and get the kids out riding. Are any of your kids wanting to take the Motorcycle Safety course? Maybe we could get our kids to go together so they know someone?

 

 

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Well, my kids are grown up and moved out of the house but we did a lot of binding time on two wheels.  Both of my kids took the MSF course and got their motorcycle license.  It's a good skill to have, even if they don't decide to be motorcycle riders.  I hope you are successful in finding something that brings you together, it's great to see how much effort you're putting into it.

 

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I am going to second what Tom said; great to see you have found a common bond.  

My son was (still is!) a video game junky but he did not have a hard time being out of the house either.  I bought him his first bike when he was 8 and I got back into riding again at that time.  Now he is 26 and riding together is still something that we both enjoy (and every season I hear "hey old man-think you can keep up with me this year?").  

Good for both of you!

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I have three kids (16.5, 15, and 12). They all started riding at 3 years old. It's been an awesome adventure for all of us and we all look forward to our desert trip weekends, where we camp and ride as much as we can. My kids do regular kid things too, like video gaming for hours upon hours, but they will gladly set that aside to go riding for weekend. It has been a amazing bonding experience for my kids and I.

My oldest just got his driver's license and motorcycle endorsement a couple weeks ago. He took the MSF course a week or so before that. It's a two days course and was well worth the money. With the course certificate, he avoided having to take the riding portion of the motorcycle test at the DMV. So in an hour or so he took the driving test for his regular license and the written test for the motorcycle endorsement and walked out of the DMV with both. He's very excited to starting doing dual sport rides with me and will basically do anything I ask him to do without complaints (I have an extra KTM he has his eye on). Motorcycling is a powerful motivator for my kids.

I would highly recommend the MSF course and to continue getting your boy out there to ride. Maybe try Ocotillo Wells and get him in the dirt. That's where the real fun is.

 

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