My heart breaks everytime I read about a 16 to 18 year old that gets killed on their bike.  Mostly because of inexperience or have no fear.  My son is 18 years old and he talked about getting a motorcycle.  I told him he could, if he took the California Highway Patrol sponsored class first.  I truly believe young and inexperienced riders NEED to take some type of hands on class before getting on that bike.  Moms would feel much better too! 

I agree 100% wth having your son take the course before he hits the road.  The problem is motorcycles are actually very easy to ride, especially if you "have no fear".  But the fact is being able to "ride" a motorcycle is a lot different then being and to safely go out in traffic.

 

The course will be a big plus, but nothing can replace experience.  Even the simple things like backing off the throttle, pulling in the clutch and shifting gears, need to become second nature and not something you need to think about.  As soon as you take your concentration from the road there is going to be trouble.

 

Hope your sone has a safe and enjoyable experience!!!

I think everyone should ride a dirt bike for a couple years before getting on the roads. They should be limited to size and power also until they have experience.

I love motorcycles, even though I only ride on the back, but I hope my son doesn't want to ride one while I'm still alive. Go ahead call me a hypocrite, he does :)

in scotland u have ta take a test called the c.b.t ,after that u can ride up to a 125 cc for two years then u have to go for ur big test ,but if under 20yrs old, i think ,ur bike is restricted .to 30 horses .

it's the same we ure car .only allowed to start off with no larger than a 1.3 liter

I agree. Very Cool , G did not know that!

HDBEECH,YOUR SO RIGHT,i'm giving my nephew a motorcycle for christmas and it scares the hell out of me to think what can happen to him,exspecialty when i look at my HISTORY!!!

i agree with this, dirt, mud, sand, water all gonna screw with the handling of the bike and teach reflex responses that can't be learned any other way. and after a couple of face plants, a little respect for the machine.

Hey Laura, Having taught my daughter to ride and insisting she take the MSF safety course I still had some trepidation. With a boy it might have been different. Most young guys are full of p*ss and vinegar and are untouchable as far as they see. There is the problem as I see it, being fearless. So I guess education that gets through their thick skulls is what is needed. They have to know it is not a video game, you can not just push restart if you screw up.

I agree it is scary I just had my 17 year old daughter take the saftey course and it does make me nervice to think that she will be riding. We have talked and talked about it. She would like to get a ninja 250 to start with and I told her if I even think she has done something stuped I will take the bike. I know I can not protect her but I will do everything I can too. In the spring I will get her out on my wifes vstar around the nabourhood. Then when she is ready I will follow her on the main streets to give her a safe zone. I don't know what else I can do. She rides good on my bike I don't even know she is there. and she did good with the course. But it still scares me.

i had a 125 for 2 years ,was good for me ,i was on it in all weather ,i wid say thats when i learned to ride bikes .

My husband and I took all 3 of our boys through the local safety course as they each turned 15. Just as a standard with their driver's permit. With the permit they can ride with a fully licensed buddy for a year before moving on to solo. Not adequate--I know, but for us it worked because we were the buddy's they had for that time period. As they have moved on in life, only one ended up buying his own bike and the other two are not really interested, but I know they all have the ability and the knowledge to do it safely.

Hey G , for the young riders that think they are bullet proof, that might be part of the answer. I don't want to restrict anyone with rules and such but starting out slow is a good way to learn to respect the dangers while still enjoying the riding. Most 'off the shelf bikes' today are capable of much more than a novice can handle, heck more than I can handle.

if u bring up ur kids the right way they will go about it the right way ,their is loads of kids in aberdeen flying about on mopeds n off road bikes ,they just dont know the dangers involved .loads of crashes with young kids and bikes ,the safety course sounds good .

ma wee girl come's on the back with me ,she's only 11 yrs old .she's been up the lech ski ressorts and loads of other plasce's ,i want her to learn from a young age how to ride and respect bikes ,not just bike but other dangers on the road ,she also wants a bike of her own ,and yes i will get one for her one day soon but its for her to decide not me ,wee can only do ur best when i come to looking after our wee ones .she is at that age were she has no fear ,its good to have fear it keeps us sain .

I didn't buy or even ride my first bike until I was 45. The Army requires and even sponsors and pays for the MSF course. My bike actually sat in the driveway for a couple of weeks until I could get the course, but it was so worth it. All of the safety gear is required as well. I don't know why I didn't do this years ago.

aye its all good .try tell folks that dont ride ,they dont understand what bikes can do to u .u will never look back .

My buddy just let his son out on a bike, my kids are a long way from it yet.
My buddy got his son lots of training and advice and some training you don't get on the road from us. He is a sensible young lad and he has been riding now on the road for about six months and still my buddy's fear is written all over his face every time the young lad goes out on his bike, tis the joy of being a parent I suppose.