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Curious_N_Concerned
Registered Member

Date Joined Dec 2011
Total Posts : 3

Posted 12/14/2011 9:47 AM (GMT -7)

I was wondering if anyone here could tell me their thoughts on a 15 yr. old having a Dual Sport bike, or a "street legal" bike before the age of 18. Please . . .

jon
Registered Member

Date Joined Aug 2004
Total Posts : 5959

Posted 12/14/2011 11:04 AM (GMT -7)

having the right training and frame of mind and being able to meet all the street legal regs, it could be done. if those criterias are met, i really don't have much of an issue with it.

Meanie_Intruder
Posted a Pic of a Man Thong

Date Joined Mar 2003
Total Posts : 2099

Posted 12/14/2011 11:34 AM (GMT -7)

What he said.

"A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people"

GAJ
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2007
Total Posts : 6845

Posted 12/14/2011 12:07 PM (GMT -7)

I would start a youngster off with strictly a dirt bike for a year or two and let them out on the road after they've proven they can drive a car safely on the road for a few years, (ie. with no crashes).

Learning to ride in the dirt gives a rider a huge leg up when they finally move to the street.

GeoffG
Instant Classic

Date Joined Jun 2003
Total Posts : 10791

Posted 12/14/2011 2:09 PM (GMT -7)

What GAJ said.

Casper
The teddy bear of doom,,,

Date Joined Sep 2006
Total Posts : 4099

Posted 12/14/2011 2:11 PM (GMT -7)

I started on dirtbikes at 11 and moved onto the street when I turned 16 with no problems. But I was a fairly mature youngster with a strong sense of self preservation. And that first streetbike was a 350 with maybe 15 horsepower.

It can be done - but there are a lot of things you can do to improve the odds. You know your kid better than we do. What to do you think?

The world's a funny place,

full of funny people,

doing funny things.

Bullet
That guy

Date Joined Apr 2008
Total Posts : 720

Posted 12/14/2011 4:08 PM (GMT -7)

GAJ said...
I would start a youngster off with strictly a dirt bike for a year or two and let them out on the road after they've proven they can drive a car safely on the road for a few years, (ie. with no crashes).

Learning to ride in the dirt gives a rider a huge leg up when they finally move to the street.

Exactly. Car first before letting them on the street with a bike. I rode off road for about 20 years before I got on the street. It makes it alot smoother.

"Of all the things i've lost, I miss my mind the most!"

el SID
merely a man equipped with a bag a seedless grapes

Date Joined Nov 2010
Total Posts : 1947

Posted 12/14/2011 6:25 PM (GMT -7)

I would say dirtbike,scooter and then road.

Best bike out is the one Im on,sod the rest lmao
current hacks

1996 honda vfr
2012 tuono rsv4 aprc on order baby.... march 2012
1973 kawasaki h1
1998 suzuki rm 125 I have broken her back. I feel guilty. she may have to be laid to rest.

Andy VH
Where is the earth shattering kaboom!?

Date Joined Apr 2005
Total Posts : 4952

Posted 12/14/2011 7:26 PM (GMT -7)

I started on a dirt bike at 14, back in 73. My dad was a motorcycle mechanic in Holland before we came to the states. So I had that background to begin from. I was also a very responsible kid, started working at 15. First bike was 100cc, two years later a 350cc street bike, three years later a 750cc street bike, then a 1000cc 78 Suzuki in 84, and up to my current rides. So it is a great way to start. I took the MSF Experienced Rider Course in 90, and became a MSF instructor in 93. So it was a good way to start at 14.

Training, the best safety and performance "equipment" you can get!

Get MSF trained, check out: http://www.msf-usa.org

Smitty
Registered Member

Date Joined Mar 2003
Total Posts : 22123

Posted 12/15/2011 10:19 AM (GMT -7)

Only if someone can get him to the dirt & be willing to pick him up again to get him back home, for if the bike is legal to standards in the State or Province, the rider still has to be 16 yrs of age.

He/she should be riding with fellow dirt riders, for if he takes a bad spill & is with a broken leg, then he will have to crawl out to some home or public road to try & wave down some help.

Though riding in the dirt is the best way to learn about riding.

I was so despirate that I bought two sick 175cc three speed Coventy Eagle two strokes, of 1934 MY FIRST BRITISH IRONS.

Made one into a scooter & finally go the other rolling ins a weak manner. Prior to that I blought a number lof Briggs & Stratton or Johnston Irlon horse motors to lean about what made the tick. You slo so many farms had no electricity & the above did he job of milking a clow, washing machine & such. It was my start at wrenching.

Remember all the others on the road are crazy & out to kill you.

Post Edited (Smitty) : 1/7/2012 8:13:15 PM GMT

mrmarklin
Registered Member

Date Joined Feb 2011
Total Posts : 299

Posted 12/20/2011 12:22 PM (GMT -7)

Curious_N_Concerned said...

shakehead I was wondering if anyone here could tell me their thoughts on a 15 yr. old having a Dual Sport bike, or a "street legal" bike before the age of 18. Please . . .

Gave my oldest son his first MC when he was 15 for Xmas many years ago. It was a 250 Honda Rebel and he had his first crash on it. A relatively safe way to learn. jumpin

2008 Harley-Davidson Crossbones

[IMG]http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u114/mrmarklin/motorcyclepic-1.jpg[/IMG]

Curious_N_Concerned
Registered Member

Date Joined Dec 2011
Total Posts : 3

Posted 12/29/2011 4:53 PM (GMT -7)

I just want to thank everyone for their thoughts and advice. I sincerely appreciate it. Knowing absolutely "squat" about all this kinda stuff, it really helps give me things to consider and/or follow up on. :)

Easy Rider 2
Central Illinois / Central Florida

Date Joined Dec 2009
Total Posts : 2259

Posted 12/30/2011 12:10 PM (GMT -7)

Curious_N_Concerned said...
I just want to thank everyone for their thoughts and advice. I sincerely appreciate it. Knowing absolutely "squat" about all this kinda stuff, it really helps give me things to consider and/or follow up on. :)

Sorry I didn't reply sooner.

I think maybe the most important consideration is whether or not you/he will have a place to ride it legally before he gets a license.

All the other considerations aside, teaching him to break the law is NOT a good thing to be doing.

'06 Suzuki S50 (VS800)

'07 Honda Shadow VLX 600

Treefort
Registered Member

Date Joined Jan 2006
Total Posts : 2468

Posted 1/4/2012 9:33 PM (GMT -7)

In my opinion, inexperience makes teenage drivers ignorant and thus more susceptible to injury. Four wheeled mistakes are less costly than two wheeled mistakes.

War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children.

Jimmy Carter

Smitty
Registered Member

Date Joined Mar 2003
Total Posts : 22123

Posted 1/5/2012 6:40 PM (GMT -7)

In all of the Provinces of Canada & probably most of the States one has to be 16 yrs of age.

Remember all the others on the road are crazy & out to kill you.

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