Riding with Small Kids!

Ok here is the deal. My lovely wife is afraid of letting me drive our 3.5 year old around the yard and on the street. As you all know kids have a fascination with motorcycles and always want a ride. For 15 plus years I have been giving kids rides after church and at camp etc etc.

My question for those responsible parent types out there. Do you feel comfortable giving your own kids putt putt rides around the yard/property/block? My wife has posted this question to a forum she frequents and most of the responses have been way negative. Things like I'm not even letting my son ride a motorcycle till he's 18....or I heard about this guy who crashed and broke his leg etc etc.

What do you guys and gals think?

lukachuki wrote:

....Things like I'm not even letting my son ride a motorcycle till he's 18....or I heard about this guy who crashed and broke his leg etc etc.

That part is absolute crap.


I honestly don't know how young I would go. My son was 8 when I started taking him around the neighborhood. For him...that's as far as I would go. He just doesn't really have the knack for being a passenger. Now my two nieces...age 11 and 13. WOW, they are the perfect passengers. I took the oldest out for about an hour around town. First times I actually had fun with a passenger on the back.

I started when my son was 3. I didn't have a bike, but I did have the quad and rode everywhere with him. He did ride on the sportbike and loves riding on the R².

I am more at ease letting a young one with a small motorcycle than riding with them as passengers.

No that my younger son is 14th, I feel at ease with him as a passenger.

The kind of ride is also a consideration. To go put-put at 10 miles an hour around the neighbourhood isn't that dangerous. I did that qith my granddaugther and my daughter didn't feel bad about it at all even though she's a real hen.

Thanks for all the comments.

There are a couple of thoughts that jump to my mind.

First of all it seems like if danger is what you are worried about then a dad put putting around the yard/block with his small kid is kind of low down on the list. Assuming he's qualified of course (next point) It seems letting a kid ride his bike on the same road is MORE dangerous or swinging them in the neighbor's tree swing, or letting them eat hot dogs, or going swimming with them in the pool, etc etc.

Secondly it should be determined if the adult is capable or not. I can think of people that I wouldn't mind my kids riding with, cause bikes are extensions of themselves, and people I def. would have a problem with.

My riding history;

Age 4 - Lawnmower engine minibike
Age 6 - Honda 50
Age 9 - Harley 90 (YES a Harley Davidson!!!)
Age 11 - Yamaha YZ 100
Age 13 - Honda XR 200
Age 16 - Honda XR 250
Age 19 - Yamaha YZ 125
Age 21 - Honda Shadow VT 700 (Still have!!!)
Age 21 - Honda CR250
Age 22 - Suzuki Quad 250
Age 26 - Yamaha YZ 250
Age 30something - Newer Honda CR 250 (Just sold to get my WRR)
Age 35 - Suzuki GSX 600 (just sold to get my WRR)
Age 41 - Yamaha WR250R

Dumped my bikes (dirt bikes) MANY times and woke up sore, but never had any major accidents or broken bones because of any of my bikes. I would let my kid ride as soon as he/she could ride a bicycle if he/she was interested. (My youngest daughter has no interest, and my 19 year old daughter just told me she wants to learn to ride -a street bike). I've ridden my kids around on the back of my shadow for many years around the neighborhood, no problems.

Good luck in convincing your wife that riding is a way of enjoying life!!!!!

Mine started to ride at 5 & 8 on a honda 4x4 atv
my son while he was very small rode in front of me and held the bars,
some times he'd nod off to sleep and I'd justs cradle him one arm,

maybe on issues is the weight of the helmet
the pediatric neck is not very strong

I'd sure would go for it,
balance the ride to just under the end of there attention span and leave them wanting more...
children are way over protected these days

Good luck
my two are 18 and 21 now and drive great,
espicially the girl one!

I may not see too much of my bike at the cottage!

I was riding my kids around on my tank as soon as they could hold onto a crossbar. Maybe 18-24 months or so.

Yes... They had a very small child's helmet. Same MINIMUM protection rules apply jeans, LS shirt and good shoes would be a recommendation.

Yes... They had a place to hang on i.e. a crossbar (Ever try to remove a baby bottle from a kid ? It's almost impossible. With an element of fear the kid will not let go I can guarantee it).

Yes... They had a competent pilot (Me).

Dangerous ? Sure.. About the same danger element as negotiating stairs at most any early age.

Is it more dangerous if riding behind the pilot ? I think so. I wasn't riding my son two-up until he was able to get his feet to the buddy pegs (about age 6 or seven as I recall). I would NOT ride a child on the back until then.

Can S^*#%$ happen ? Sure. Anytime, anywhere doing just about anything.

Also please make sure when you are around very little children that they have no access to a hot bike. I was two. Dad just finished a race on his Matchless (open chrom pipes). I found the bluing on the pipe very intriguing. You can imagine the rest.

Also of danger around children is a bike on a stand (fallover obviously) and/or with the ability to spin the rear wheel (which kids will do just because they can) and chains and sprockets take fingers off very quickly and cleanly.

I rode both my girls around neighborhood when they were toddlers quite frequently.

I had sportbikes and they would sit in front of me. I would scooch back on seat and they could slide down between the tank and myself quite comfortably. I could trap their legs against the tank, they would lean over on the tank and look through wind screen. I could effectively "cage" them in with my legs and arms that way and there was no way they could really fall anywhere. If they started to wiggle I could squeeze my legs against theirs and prevent them from doing much of anything.

Not that they ever wanted to get off. They loved the ride.

Not sure the wr would offer the same "control" as the seating position is so much more upright.

Now my kids are big enough to ride on passenger seat so it's not an issue.

Call me reckless or whatever, but I never made them wear helmets either - hell....I didn't wear a helmet doing that.

But then, I grew up before bicycle helmets were invented and before seat belts were ever used.

I do it all the time. My daughter (7) isn't a huge fan of motorcycles, but she will go for a ride to the end of the cul de sac every once in a while. My son (4) will climb on my bike every chance he gets and ask for a ride. Who am I to tell him no?



Mama doesn't have to like it - they're my kids too, ya know.

Krabill wrote:

Mama doesn't have to like it - they're my kids too, ya know.

Hahaha, so true.

*I use that one VERY sparingly thou. LOL

I only had to point that out the first time. Now she sees the look on the kid's faces when they get to go for a little ride and just smiles

Some key points....

Can the child reach the passenger foot pegs
so they can balance themselves with their legs?

Does the child
understand the rules of riding as a passenger, as in, stay still, lean
with me, pay attention?

Is gear available that fits? One
unexpected dump without a helmet could be devastating.

Three yes
answers mean more to me than a given age. Kids are all different, and
while one 5 year old can ride just fine another 7 year old may not be
able to cover the second one.

A last consideration is that laws
vary from state to state. You might verify what applies in your state.

laws???? gear???? damn....talk about a buzzkill

My son started riding with me only after he could easily wear a street motorcycle helmet and after he could reach the passenger pegs with his feet. When we ride, he wears a FF helmet, MX gloves, one of my armored mesh riding jackets with the sleeves rolled up (the elbow armor is long enough to cover his whole arm), jeans and leather hiking boots. I've taken him to school 2 or 3 times this year, and we've done rides in the city up to about 15 miles round trip, always with a destination (like Smoothie King or something fun). I usually have a soft bag mounted behind him so he can't just slip off, but not always.

I continue to be more impressed by his bicycling ability -- especially sliding the back tire and climbing hills that boys a year old walk up -- and I want to encourage that more than motorcycle riding.

lukachuki wrote:

Do you feel comfortable giving your own kids putt putt rides around the yard/property/block?

What do you guys and gals think?

To be clear....my response was to this part and this part only.

Been giving my boys rides around the yard since they were 3 & 5. (Now 4 & 6). They love it so much. Got them a 50cc quad now. They are both motor sport mad. Gotta love it.