Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Hey,
So heres my situation. Im 17 and am saving up to get a motorcycle for my 18th birthday. I am going to take a bike safety course then and then hopefully buy a bike. The problem is not the money, but convincing my mom to let me buy a bike. She knows I am responsible but like most parents, she is worried. If you guys have any tips on how I should go about really talking her into this let me know. So far I plan on saving a lot of extra money to buy top of the line protective gear; maybe this will help my case.
Finally if you have suggestions for a good starter bike. My neighbor has been teaching me the basics and has suggested a yamaha seca or ducati monster.
Any feedback would be good.
Thanks

First thing I would recommend, Take the MSF course. This is the easiest way to get your Motorcycle endorsement, and you will learn a lot of things that can help keep you out of an accident. Not to mention they basically teach you how to ride from scratch. BTW with the MSF course they provide a bike for you to use.

As for good starter bikes. The seca is not a bad choice but there are better choices out there, the monster tends to be a bit pricey and is expensive to fix and may be a bit much for a brand new rider. The Kawasaki Ninja 250 and 500 and the Suzuki GS500 tend to be the most popular starter bikes and any one of them would work well, they also tend to be resonably priced and are cheap to fix and insure. Upside is they are pretty easy to find used too. If you want a cruiser you have a few other options as well.

There is a very well written beginners guide on this site. It makes for good reading and explains a lot of stuff like the differences between different styles of bikes and different types of engine.

yeah, take the MSF.

it's cheaper too if you're under 21.

what type of bike do you plan on buying?

anyway... people here recommend to keep it 60 horsepower or below for a 1st bike.

i recommend it too eventhough i didn't go that way.

I plan on buying a somewhat sporty bike. I know not to get a real powerful bike for the first one. I just want one to practice on for a year or so before I have to go to college. How old were you guys when you got into biking. Where your parents an obstacle at all?

new2biking wrote:I plan on buying a somewhat sporty bike. I know not to get a real powerful bike for the first one. I just want one to practice on for a year or so before I have to go to college. How old were you guys when you got into biking. Where your parents an obstacle at all?

too old, i was 25, turning 26 this year. thought about it before but don't have a car back then so i got a car 1st.

i wish i started dirt bikes as a kid like most people. i could have been racing by now.

and for sporty bikes, popular newbie bikes are the kawi ninja 250 and 500, suzi GS500F. they look sporty but the seating position is pretty standard.

true sportbikes, ones w/ the aggressive riding position, doesn't come in less than 600cc here in the US.

in europe though, they have more options. i love the aprilia RS125R, i'd buy one if i can and ride it like hell.

new2biking wrote:Hey,
So heres my situation. Im 17 and am saving up to get a motorcycle for my 18th birthday. I am going to take a bike safety course then and then hopefully buy a bike. The problem is not the money, but convincing my mom to let me buy a bike. She knows I am responsible but like most parents, she is worried. If you guys have any tips on how I should go about really talking her into this let me know. So far I plan on saving a lot of extra money to buy top of the line protective gear; maybe this will help my case.
Finally if you have suggestions for a good starter bike. My neighbor has been teaching me the basics and has suggested a yamaha seca or ducati monster.
Any feedback would be good.
Thanks

Read this page I made:
www.CaliforniaBikeNights.com/learn

As for a bike, I'd say get a Ninja 250. That is the smallest, least-expensive sportbike you can get (don't worry, it still goes 105MPH so it's not wimpy at all).

Convincing parents, I dunno what to tell you. Just do your best to research a lot of safety and show that you are very serious about protecting yourself. Get full-leathers. Gloves. Boots. The whole bit.

Most of parents fears stem from irrational emotions and not logic and reason. Therefore, it may not be easy to "sway" your parents with logic and sensibility. But, if you remain persistant and show how serious you are about being responsible, they may come around.

sounds like you are pretty responsible and have a good idea what you are getting into.

as far as convincing parents, if they don't ride they will always be worried about you on your bike, that's just the way parents are. what you could do is take them out to the MSF course sight and show them the stuff you will be learning a few weeks in advance and maybe have them meet one of the instructors.

the good instructors out there (if they have the time) are more than happy to give a bit of the spiel to parents or anyone else that shows an interest in what it is they do.

best bet there is to clear it with the instructor first, and then show up early, have them meet the instructor and then watch a few of the drills.

if they see it is all done in a safe manner and the instructors actually care about the students, some of their fears will disappear.

if they don't disown you after this point, take them shopping for a motorcycle jacket and show them how they have armored padding and back protectors and such who knows, they might spring for the jacket or some gloves since you are being responsible and this will help their child stay safe.

deep down though, you know your parents best and know what they will be okay with and how to best approach them, these are just my thoughts.

in any case be safe and have fun

ninja 250 all the way. as for the parents- most of them will never come around unless you just do it.

i am 21 but i was 19 when i decided i wanted to ride, and 20 by the time i took the class [msf] and bought a bike.

luckally i live on my own/pay my own bills so my parents said they thought it was a bad idea but obviously could not really "stop me". since you are a littl younger, you probably dont pay all your own bills, and its not worth loosing family over. you have the rest of your life to ride if they absolutly say no, eventually you will be out of the house.

check out dragonhawks website, he is a genius, and he speaks the truth about the 250. its all the fun of a "real motorcycle" but honestly it is sooooo forgiving when you do stupid things like dumping the clutch or missing shifts. it has aproximatly the acceleration of a camero Z28 so its a little slower than most ferraris but you can pretty much smoke any "family car" off the line.

it has full fairings (aka: full panty removers) because most people who dont ride wont know a ninjette250 from a gixxer1300haybusa. in their heads full fairings = must be super awesome.

Take the MSF, get one or both your parents to take it with you if you can so they will see the safety things you are being taught.

those ducatis are tight, but hella-expensive, not a bad first bike becasue of power/torque, but it would be a damn shame to drop one.

good luck.

Show your mom the power of your pimp hand, and then tell her to do your laundry and make you dinner. Seriously though, just explain that riding a motorcycle is safe when the rider knows what he is doing. Explain that the class you are taking will prepare you to deal with many situations that lead to accidents for uneducated people. Throw the stat at her that 80% of people injured in motorcycle accidents were uneducated (I think this is the stat, but it could be involved in accidents period... you can look it up, I am too lazy )

new2biking
PostPosted: Mon Jun 05, 2006 7:46 pm Post subject:
I plan on buying a somewhat sporty bike. I know not to get a real powerful bike for the first one. I just want one to practice on for a year or so before I have to go to college. How old were you guys when you got into biking. Where your parents an obstacle at all?

I started riding about 6 weeks ago, and I'm 17. As far as talking you parents into it, I had the same problem with my parents and gf. I just explained to them how serious I was about safety. Taking the MSF class, buying all the right gear, low power bike, and riding safely. I looked up alot of statistics, and showed them all the ones that were in my favor, that helped.