17yr old step son wants an R6

[bone]

my step son and me have a hate hate relationship.  we tolerate each other.  my wife knows this and we have a semi happy home.  the boy is fixin to be 18 and wants an R6.  the wife is like if he pays for it its fine.  the boy has a CR125 MX bike that he rides a few times a year and on those  rides that i watch he cannot turn the bike and wrecks on every lap.  this is no bull ****.  the boy has no skills.  more of a image thing than a can you ride thing.  

i tell her that he will kill himself on the R6,  but her rebuttal is that i dont like him and i'm an ass.  right now she is so screwed up that she'll let her son buy this bike even though i tell her that he will kill himself because of his lack of experience.  

i tried to explain the insurance thing and shes not listening.  she is gonna have to pay for college soon and he wants to spend 8 G's plus i dont know how much for insurance for the bike.  

his driving record is far from clean.  his friends have done drugs and drink beer.  can i say again i have seen him ride a dirt bike and it aint pretty.  

i guess a divorce is in my future, cause the boy will not park a bike in my garage and i will not deal with a crippled kid due to a crash because my old lady is to friggen stupid to understand right from wrong. let him leave the nest then get stupid.  he will be a squid for sure on a street bike.  

where do i go from here.  

bone

and yes i'm an **shole, but i've been riding for 29yrs and i know what i see.

 

[Mr Brown]

Offer to take the kid to an MSF class and if he completes that, at least he'll have more riding knowledge........

 

[V8N3T]

couldnt say ignorance is bliss, cause you have told her about his experience problem......so its now stupidity.

 

[Lota Fun R]

Why not take him to a super bike school? Maybe you two could get along for a day?

That's what I would do.

 

[bone]

an MFS course is nice. but do you want a 18 yr old riding a brand new R6 for his first bike???

this is typical step kid and step dad stuff. i'd rather him buy a used XL250 and drive it around town for a year then step up. but the kid getting everything he wants, wants the best or nothing. i'm at a loss for words here. its an imagine thing with him. i'm out

bone

 

[The Big Red One]

(bone @ Sep. 21 2006,20:44) my step son and me have a hate hate relationship.  we tolerate each other.  my wife knows this and we have a semi happy home.  the boy is fixin to be 18 and wants an R6.  the wife is like if he pays for it its fine.  the boy has a CR125 MX bike that he rides a few times a year and on those  rides that i watch he cannot turn the bike and wrecks on every lap.  this is no bull ****.  the boy has no skills.  more of a image thing than a can you ride thing.  

i tell her that he will kill himself on the R6,  but her rebuttal is that i dont like him and i'm an ass.  right now she is so screwed up that she'll let her son buy this bike even though i tell her that he will kill himself because of his lack of experience.  

i tried to explain the insurance thing and shes not listening.  she is gonna have to pay for college soon and he wants to spend 8 G's plus i dont know how much for insurance for the bike.  

his driving record is far from clean.  his friends have done drugs and drink beer.  can i say again i have seen him ride a dirt bike and it aint pretty.  

i guess a divorce is in my future, cause the boy will not park a bike in my garage and i will not deal with a crippled kid due to a crash because my old lady is to friggen stupid to understand right from wrong. let him leave the nest then get stupid.  he will be a squid for sure on a street bike.  

where do i go from here.  

bone

and yes i'm an **shole, but i've been riding for 29yrs and i know what i see.

Show her some of the gruesome bike wreck pictures and vids readily available on the net. That alone oughta scare a little sense into a mother. Also let her know just how fast these new bikes are....and maybe show her some bike wreck statistics showing that more youngsters die on bikes than anybody else. And maybe explain a little about the principles of evolution and the survival of the fittest theory. She can either help her son be one of the "fittest" who survives to spread and strengthen the species......or one of the weak links that might have to die, which she (being the parent and legal guardian) will play a BIG part in.
Then do whatever else it takes to stall until the kids 18....then let him have at it knowing you did your best.
You could also videotape him and his mothers reasoning to play back later after he gets his bike and the proverbial shid hits the fan. Or make an audio tape if they don't wanna commit on cam lol
Either way your a VERY stand-up guy for caring enough to try and help, even tho the boy aint' yours and doesn't like ya ta boot. You get an A+ in my book  

In fact one of the best things might be to wait until a few more experienced riders (who are prolly also parents) reply here, then have her read this thread...might be an eye opener

 

[gat0r]

+ 1 for MSF course
as well as showing gruesome pics
make it a reality for her to understand

 

[TIMMYDUCK]

Dear Mrs Bone.
Motorcycles are wonderful machines when used properly by an experienced and trained rider.
I for one grew up on mini-bikes and motorcycles from the age of six.
I am currently 42 and still alive.
In my riding experience from 6-18 I was allowed any off-road M/C that I could afford.
But Street bikes where totally off-limits.
My first mini-bike at age 6 was a birthday present and that is where it ended.
All maintaince,gas and oil cost where my responsibility from then on.
So by the age of 8 I needed some gears instead of those silly centrifical clutches.
That brought me to having to get a J-O-B.
So what can a 3rd grader do to support his riding habit, but take on a paper route.
My first one was a afternoon route which greatly cut into riding time, but it got me my Honda Z 50.
It did me fine till 10 but bigger faster bikes where out there and I was ready to move up again.
I won't bore you with the whole time line but rather concentrate on the responsibility that I had to maintain to keep my parents trust and approval of the sport.
At 10 I moved up to the big time delivering 120 morning papers a day 365 days a year for 4 years.
This again taught nothing but responsibility and a brand new Bultaco 350 Alpina.
There was a series of 125cc, 185cc, 250cc machines in between but that is getting off track.
In my 12 years of riding the dirt I must have wiped out 500 to 1000 times.
But I always wore gear and never hit a tree to hard as not to make the dinner table with anything more than scratches, abrasions or a sprained whatever.
So now here I am 18 and in the big time, I can register and insure my own bike because I am at college and no longer under parental control.
So off for a new 1982 Yamaha 650 Maxim.
That lasted all of 4 months before I was totalled out and left for dead by a drunk driver on Martha's Vineyard.
Obviously I survived and healed well at 18, but I just did not have the street experience to be riding as much as I did at that time.
Of course insurance paid me off as the driver was caught trying to leave the island the next day with my bike paint all over his car.
So right back into the saddle for me.
I had some reservations about the inline 4 style and switched to a single cylinder 500cc Honda Ascot, sort of a predecessor to today SuperMoto's.
So I make season 2 on the road with no incidents.
Then comes the end of season 3 and out of no-where is a 26,000lb truck coming to T-bone me.
That guy sent me about 160 feet and a direct ride to the Hospital again.
The worst part of that accident wasn't the pain, broken limbs, or lost bike but the look of terror my mother had coming into the emergency treatment room to hopefully speak with her only son 1 more time.
But at 20 you still heal pretty well thank God.
So here come the spring of 1985 and I have this nice insurance money in the bank so I get a new bike again.
This time it's big it's bad and a truck will never be able to run me over again.
I stayed safe from that Oct day in 1985 right up until Dec 24th, 2005.
When on a morning group ride a very ignorant women rushing around on Christmas eve day decided to pick on me and take me on my Busa.
I was 4th in a line of 7 bikers and she zeroed in on me for whatever reason.
I was lucky for a whole bunch of reasons that day but a picture speaks a million more words than I can say now.
You don't want to be called to this kind of scene ever or worse the hospitals emergency room.
Riding Motorcycles is a lifelong learning process to be taken in gradual steps.
Buffers and safeguards must be in place before any ignition key is turned.
Do your son and husband a solid and listen to your husbands advice here.
He is the one with 29 years experience.
And trust me when I say, no true rider ever discriminates against another rider for any reason.
Photo will be in next post.

 

[TIMMYDUCK]

Look at these expression.
I was in the meat wagon getting field stripped to access injuries at this time.

 

[300Busa]

 

[300Busa]

You really had a Busa in 1985?

 

[TIMMYDUCK]

(300Busa @ Sep. 21 2006,22:41) You really had a Busa in 1985?  

No, I bought a leftover 1984 Ninja 900.
Your read something between the lines ?

 

[300Busa]

So here come the spring of 1985 and I have this nice insurance money in the bank so I get a new bike again.
This time it's big it's bad and a truck will never be able to run me over again.
I stayed safe from that Oct day in 1985 right up until Dec 24th, 2005.
When on a morning group ride a very ignorant women rushing around on Christmas eve day decided to pick on me and take me on my Busa.
[/Quote]

 

[frisbee]

(Mr Brown @ Sep. 21 2006,20:47) Offer to take the kid to an MSF class and if he completes that, at least he'll have more riding knowledge........

+1

 

[Aquaman]

Just have your wife read this...I witnessed the whole thing! This kid shouldn't have been on a bike either...
Story

 

[mofuggahere]

Snow on the ground and you decide it's a good time for a group ride

I am surprised the whole group didn't get carried away by "the meat wagon"

 

[Tool]

I agree with everyone on the MSF course. Offer to take it with him. You two just might get along or find something in common. My oldest just turn 16 and started driving. I'm going to let him by a bike, but told him for the at least the first 6 months he can only ride with me until i feel confident in his riding. He has grown up on dirtbikes, so he is familiar with bikes,
He is also my stepson, which I never refer to as a stepson or intruduce him that way. We get along better and have more of a father son relationship than his biologocal father. I have raised him since he was 2. I do not know your whole situation, but remember what you were like at 17.

 

[Don Hardcastle]

If she is determined to let him have a bike, then see if you can find a used bike and +100 on the MSF course.

Don

 

[VaBusa]

Ahh, a topic that is near to my heart...hubby and I actually discussed this last weekend and will continue to do so for years to come...our sons are just 4 and 6, but already racing around in go-carts and have 50 cc dirt bikes...

As "motorcycle oriented" as we are in our family, I don't believe we will allow our sons to own street bikes while they live under our roof (something my husband's Mom insisted upon for my hubby as well).  It's my extremely personal feeling that it takes way more to operate on two wheels than an M endorsement on your driver's license.  It takes years of just riding IN A CAR on the streets to master manuevering through traffic, anticipating what others do, avoiding disasters, honing defensive driving skills...I feel like all the years of just driving in a car greatly prepared me for riding on two wheels in traffic and there's very little else to prepare someone for that other than YEARS of driving...

I read an enlightening article in recent weeks in Autoweek... Teen Drivers

The stats are frightening for teen drivers...5,500 kids killed behind the wheel of the car, 300,000 injuries IN A SINGLE YEAR...this alone shows just how unprepared many teens are to operate cars, yet we send them out in droves every year.  They eye the prize of getting licensed at 16 and slip through the cracks only to be involved in accidents.  Parents need to take the reigns for their own kids, heeding the general consensus that at least 100 hours behind the wheel of a car BEFORE handing over their endorsement is a great idea...my husband and myself were comparing notes; we were fortunate to have Dads that encouraged us to drive with our learners' permits OFTEN, taking us to those empty parking lots to learn the skills we'd need to operate a car...it paid off for us; neither of us were statistics in our day...

Think handing over an endorsement to a kid for a motorcycle, ANY motorcycle, is a good idea?  It's not going to be a good idea for my two boys, and they are avid motorcycle enthusiasts even at their young ages, so I know I'm in for a battle down the road...

Best of luck in curbing his appetite for an R6...he hasn't been driving long enough in my opinion to even consider operating a bike, but I know that there are some amazing riders at young ages and everyone's different.  I can't personally judge your son, but I know that I'm already gearing up for what my two sons will want to do and how I'll attempt to handle it...I say the insurance rates alone will deter what he finally opts to do, but if he were living under my roof, he wouldn't own a motorcycle...too many 17-18 year olds find themselves to be invincible; they learn the hard way that indeed they are not...I wish you the best and hope he'll make the right decision...

 

[captain]

Have her watch him on the dirt....... If he is that bad he should be able to display his inabilities quickly.... Tell her that you dont like him but dont want to see him dead either...... If that doesnt do it, point her to a friend that can observe his riding skills when he doesnt think anyone is watching..... If that doesnt work, let him buy the bike and make him go to an MSF class so at least he has the best chance possible to survive....

CAp