My 21 year old son wants to buy a new rice bike

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only two types of riders, those who fall and those that are going to fall!

i had an 04' 750 gixxer. i'd ride with alot of friends every weekend. i cant tell you how many crashes i've seen. went to the hospital 4-5 times for some of my close friends that wrecked. stitches, broken bones, road rash, concusions, all part of the game. i heard of two deaths from the groups we rode with. and i only rode for two years.

fun as hell to ride. but you gotta take the good with the bad. i know im itchin to get back to riding, and if i do, i doubt itll be a sport bike.

tough decision, especially when you want to make your son happy.

one more distrubing story. had a friend in really bad wreck, actually bedridden for a little over a year. but while he was in the hospital, all he heard was the guy in the room on the bed beside him, crying his ass off cause had went off and bought a bike against his parents wishes, crashed and lost both his legs on the first day.

but i can tell you, even thoughout all these horror stories i know about. and all the people i know who have fallen, will still ride. including myself.
 
Go for a cruiser

I would try and get him interested in a nice used cruiser to start with and then he can see just how much use it will get and also they are not crazy quick like the rice bikes.

And I have just the bike for him too!:biggrin:

I almost bought a new cruiser a few years ago, but then I thought about just how much I actually ride now and was that really going to change with a new bike?.........uhhh, doubt it.So I decided against it as I couldn't see all that money just sitting there and me not riding anymore than I do now. I just ended up buying a little better, bigger and newer used bike for less than 1/2 the price of a new one.

Started with a $500.00 1980 Honda CB900

Went to a $2800.00 1984? Honda VT1100

Now have a $4000.00 2003 Kawasaki Vulcan Mean Streak 1400
 
Give him a hug,kiss, and tell him you love him every time he rides off.
I had one for about a month,almost killed twice by other people.
Sold it!
The other thing with the newer bikes is these kid(not sure about yours)
are doing stupid ass tricks 80mph wheelies and ****.
Doesnt always end well.
Just my .02
 
You have to make a judgment call. How responsible is he? How about his friends that he'll be riding with, how responsible are they?

I've been riding my whole life. Started with rice burners and now a Harley for 10 years. I always ride on the defense. It's just second nature to me now.

I must avoid 2 to 3 accidents every time i ride because i automatically assume the other person will cut me off.

If i'm on an open road with no side streets I'll rip thru the gears but in the city? that's a whole other kind of animal.

There is nothing more fun than fast cars, fast bikes and fast women at that age. It's all in how an individual can handle it.

If you feel he doesn't have it in him to handle it then it IS your responsibility to say NO YOU CAN'T GET THE BIKE!

If you think he's has the brains to handle it then just give him advice.

You can't tell him to not speed cause that's why we by them in the first place.

Tell him to be smart and if he's going to speed or get silly to choose appropriate places for it.

the first time he has a close call, we all do, he"ll remember you're words of wisdom.

Good luck

D
 
Check the insurance rate on the new bike.Might steer him to a cheaper bike. It's hard to tell a 21 yr old that he can't start makeing his own mistakes.
 
I had 30 years of massive off road and motocross experience. Never interested in the street much. But friends talked me into it.

So 30+ years off road and now 4 years on the road with a Hayabusa and off road is not as much help as I thought it would be on the road. Indeed it teaches some things that were very hard to overcome on the street.

Yes, if ya get loose in some gravel the off road experience kicks in and recovery is like effortless, second nature but that is like focusing on 1% of the things one needs on the street. With my riding experience I thought I could do anything! I thought the road would be a joke for my talents - I was wrong. I have not wrecked or anything like that but do not let him kid you with the off road experience - MSF course! I am sure advanced course is good as the off road experience does obviously prep ya for the operation of a bike.

It comes down to two things, how cool/level headed can he be on the bike and how lucky.
 
4 days ago I almost got sideswiped by a ahole on a cell phone. Even if you are carefull you still can get nailed by someone. Derick is pretty responsible but he still would experiment the speed. I hope he thinks long and hard about getting a sport bike.
 
Suggest getting a used Harley Davidson. That way the fun will be riding and showing off the bike instead of trying to impress people by riding like a squirrel.

I got my HD in rough cond when I was 17. It was rideable. That was 25yrs ago. I still have it today,and it is a showpiece. No,I have never been down on the bike.

With most Harley Riders,they are more interested in the ride. Plus,they have respect for motorcyling.

Also,the HD won't depreciate like the Jap cr*p.

Steve from Upstate NY. '87 GN t-tops. ...an 8 1/2 out of 10.
 
Also,the HD won't depreciate like the Jap cr*p.

Steve from Upstate NY. '87 GN t-tops. ...an 8 1/2 out of 10.

Jap Crap

OK- I'll bite and play your game- Look at my sig please- new '72 Kawasaki H2 750 2 stroke triple bought new was $1800 new- nice restored and/ or original examples currently bring $11,000- $14,000 on the market.
I have mine insured with Hagerty at a stated value of $12,000 They didn't flinch when I sent pics with policy. :confused:
Case #2- '84 RZ350 sold new for $2400, restored examples sell in range of $6000- $9000 These are just 2 examples.... Yep, that's Jap crap! :rolleyes: Many parts on new HD's are also made in Japan and other countries other than the USA. Now, let's look at depreciation of new bikes INCLUDING HD's......:rolleyes: Sorry for the thread 'jack but generalizing bikers due to what they ride isn't right. This leads to lots of unnecessary bashing all the way around. :mad: I've also seen many HD riders ride irresponsibly just as squids perhaps even more so with the bar- to- bar pack/ crowd which seems to involves drinking and riding. I can't call that respect... We had one recent incident where one brother hit another showing out and one was killed due to stupidity. Yes, alcohol was a factor and they had been bar-to-bar. As riders, we are ALL in the brotherhood.
 
I had 30 years of massive off road and motocross experience. Never interested in the street much. But friends talked me into it.

So 30+ years off road and now 4 years on the road with a Hayabusa and off road is not as much help as I thought it would be on the road. Indeed it teaches some things that were very hard to overcome on the street.

Yes, if ya get loose in some gravel the off road experience kicks in and recovery is like effortless, second nature but that is like focusing on 1% of the things one needs on the street. With my riding experience I thought I could do anything! I thought the road would be a joke for my talents - I was wrong. I have not wrecked or anything like that but do not let him kid you with the off road experience - MSF course! I am sure advanced course is good as the off road experience does obviously prep ya for the operation of a bike.

It comes down to two things, how cool/level headed can he be on the bike and how lucky.

Yeah, def not saying that off road experience teaches you everything..but it really did help me with awareness of the road conditions in general.
 
Sounds like he has enough dept for a young man or anyone else.

You do realize that bike will run a 10 second quarter mile. In my opinion that is way to fast for the street and I don't think he should buy a bike just because he could get hurt way to easy.

Now if he does get it buy him full riding gear. I've know a few people that have gone down with full gear. They still got hurt(broken bones) but the gear saved them a lot of pain and suffering.

Scott
 
Agreed on the riding gear - I am a sneakers, jeans and t-shirt guy. Nothing is more comfortable to hangout in, but for riding, proper gear does make the ride even more comfortable - and that is just better all around.
 
...and if he does change his mind and get a used Harley Davidson,make sure he puts a set of drag pipes on it. Then tune it for the pipes. Maybe he'll have more fun setting off car alarms than doing something unsafe.

Saw one of those plastic zippers riding a wheelie on the hiway the other day. Not good.

Loud pipes save lives!

..now back to the brake job.

Steve from Upstate NY. '87 GN. ..and an old black HD in perfect cond.
 
This isn't even difficult. :rolleyes:

He's 21... legally an adult. So when he pays you for the truck and moves into his own place he can buy any bike he wants.

Simple.
 
This isn't even difficult. :rolleyes:

He's 21... legally an adult. So when he pays you for the truck and moves into his own place he can buy any bike he wants.

Simple.


LOL word for word what my dad told me when I wanted to get a bike.

I was ready to buy a bike about a year ago, started to look and my dad was asking me if I wanted to buy another muscle car just to get me away from the bike.
 
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