Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

Should be the same with cars.

My kids both did motorcycle courses (I didn't consider myself to be competent to teach them in those days and my superbikes were too big for them), AND advanced driving courses before they were allowed to use the roads.

I wish I'd known more about riding and driving when they were growing up; then it could have been something we could have done together.

A neighbour of mine who was a safety officer once commented that one hospital admission for a child coming of a BICYCLE would pay for a CAR.  Prevention is better than cure.

I am a bike mechanic ( 15 years now ) and I have seen a lot of accidents due to kids being deprived of motorcycling . They grow up to become succesfull people that earn enough money to buy the biggest and fastest machine possible and because they are old enough the parents cannot stop this and with no biking background 9 out of 10 crash at high speed . So I agree , let them start on a PW50 and work their way to a 400 cc when they leave home ,not only will this make safer bikers of them , they will be safer drivers too!!!

Responsible parenting!!!!!!!!!!!!! With respect to my parents (the silent generartion) were just that, silent.

What I hear you guys saying in your mail is FANTASTICALLY GREAT.

Well done, to all those parents who are empowering and encouraging and nurturing parents.

Slowly slowly we allow our kids to do many things (incl riding bkes) and achieve much more than us. God Willing!!!

Your biking friend and parent

Rusty

I couldn't agree more with you Andy..!

Shana driving my manual Prado

Shana after quad accident

At eight she already knows that quads are bad news..!

PARENTS SAY AFTER ME.....

"I'll never let my child ride a bike!!".

Without proper gear

Without the correct license.

Without the correct rider skills and training.

Without a correct licenced bike with enough power to get out of trouble when needed.

Without a proper biking support group.

Hey lets start a business and aim it at kids wanting to ride responsibly!!!!!!!!

PARENTS WAKE UP AND BE RESPONSIBLE AND ANSWERBLE TO YOUR KIDS.

YOU NEED A BILL WIPPING WHEN.....

I see kids lifting on scooters with sandles, no helmets AND HEAVEN ONLY KNOWS WHAT ELSE IS MISSING OR WHAT MIND ALTERING INTAKE THEY HAVE AD etc, etc..........

PARENTS SAY AFTER ME.....

"I'll never let my child ride a bike!!".

Without proper gear

Without the correct license.

Without the correct rider skills and training.

Without a correct licenced bike with enough power to get out of trouble when needed.

Without a proper biking support group.

Hey lets start a business and aim it at kids wanting to ride responsibly!!!!!!!!

PARENTS WAKE UP AND BE RESPONSIBLE AND ANSWERBLE TO YOUR KIDS.

YOU NEED A BULL WHIPPING WHEN.....

I see kids lifting on scooters with sandles, no helmets AND HEAVEN ONLY KNOWS WHAT ELSE IS MISSING OR WHAT MIND ALTERING INTAKE THEY HAVE AD etc, etc..........

Great - welcome to the new generation.  But isn't the "I'll never let my kids ride motorbike" call exactly the same as "Why would anybody want to wheelie a bike - it has two wheels and they should both be on the ground?"

Think about it, then come apologize

Let's leave that for another discusion for another day.

Please understand that my bike and my skill is not exercised enough and therefore I have massive pent up testoseron that needs to escape, My release valve is maybe not the same as  the next guy. Once I've settled down I do ride OK. I do however wish you could wheelie then we could feed off each other.

I do believe this escape is less harmful than  having an affair.

Please nobody need reply as I dont want o discuss this further under this thread, this is one of responsibility etc, etc........ 

Interesting comments Andyman but must say I disagree , unless the child is very stable and mature .

When I was a teen I begged and begged my dad for a motor bike but he always refused saying that I was too much of a firebrand , and would write myself off . Today I am thankful for his protection of me and I know I am alive today as a result of his decision .

I used to race my bicycle down Kloof Nek without applying brakes at all , and would have done the same or worse on a motor bike. I had no sense to ride either slowly or carefully  . As it was I had to wait a very long time to get on a motor bike and by the grace of God and some maturity have managed to be more careful as an adult and stay alive . Children don't always know their boundaries and maybe a motor bike is too a powerful tool to give to the immature . We only have one lilfe . And as a child one does not always know this .

Rynet,

Well, parents need to use judgment on a case by case basis.

My three kids each have their own unique characters and behave differently.

That's where parenting  in the old sense comes in.

The new sense of allowing SABC TV to bring up your kids (or lately DSTV)  is causing many young people to skip out on proper growing up and experiencing life as we did.

But it's up to the parents to make sure they nurture their children and temper the 'wild' side with proper training and development.

Of my three kids, my daughter was the most adventurous, wild, sporty and...sassy.

But we got her asride a bike at 16 and she graduated from my Yamaha 100 (badged 50cc) to a Honda XR 600 at 18.

She knew how difficult it was for us to 'let-her-loose' in the 'burbs on 2-wheels with a motor, and rode with responsibility.  It was giving her the trust and power that developed her responsibility.

As for CH's mention of wheeling....

You have to let your devils' out the bottle now n then, just keep those times away from where you are expected to set an example.

You do kids no favours allowing them to control you with their moods n tantrums and wild side.

You do them no favours trying to protect them in cotton wool.

The real world is a rough topugh place, best they learn how to cope younger, rather than by accident later.

There is a really wise adage:-

"you cannot make a gun child-safe.

Make the child gun-safe!!"

The same applies to bikes.

and the earlier you teach them, the better they will be.

We all know people whose kids had their first "of"f soon after learning to ride after been forbidden for years by their parents.

And kids who fell pregnant in their first year from home becasue sex was a taboo subject at home.

Do the maths, get real and give them a jump start earlier in life, rather than a jump start by a paramedic at the accident.

I think the golden thread here is involvement.  From day one kids are going to do things that turn parents' hair grey.  They start with first steps towards the coffee table and we let them do it, ready to catch them if they look like they're going to bump their heads and then we eventually guide them out of the house with an armory of carefully guided experience that their particular natures have determined they need, in order to go it alone.

Some kids distain bikes and want a car, but whatever direction they take, parents should somehow be involved in making sure they can handle the situation once they're in it.

Spoken like a true sage.

That's exactly it Peter.

nicely put.

..... and if they do want a bike and are set on it..... then it s only a metter of time, and once free of you they will go ahead anyway and get a bike in all likelyhood.

So probably a better plan to equip them for this eventualltity, if you cannot convinve them a bike is a no no.

How do you prepare them for drugs if they are set on it?

Or smoking?

Involvement..!

(Just pace yourself Charles please)

Teach them how to spot a reputable dealer. The guys on street corners are a no-no.
 

Good subject Andy, On turning 21 (that magical number in one's life) what does one give the child that will last him a life time? We concluded an advance driving course, he passed with flying colours.

Teach your children to ride a bicycle from an early age, that will teach them balance, coordination and hopefully some road sense with parential guidence. There are a lot of children out there that can't even do that.

I wish I had the means to share my love for riding with my three boys...I dreamt of three Dakars...