kids riding pillion.

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kids riding pillion.

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wello
4 years ago

g,day last couple of days i had my granddaughter over for a visit, shes 9 years old and has kind of grown up around bikes .. has a couple of small dirt bikes and a quad .. her father rides a harley and he occasionally collects her from school on it which is a fairly short run, yesterday i had to take her back to her fathers place and she wanted to go on the big ultra ... i was fairly keen at first and started to get ready and she was pleased as punch !!! .. then as i was getting closer to being ready i started having second thoughts ..i hadnt quite scrubbed those new tyres in yet .. the route i had to take was always chockers with huge trucks etc .
im quite confident as a rider otherwise theres no way the wife would ride with me , i dont take chances and im always alert to whats goin on around me .. but just recently and locally a guy went and collected his son on his bike from somewhere .. apparently went into hiding but was seen speeding blah blah ... that created a lot of attention and a lot of the comments that were raised about it were very negative and that was what really made up my mind and decision not to take her.

the thing is i would say the majority of the comments were from people that dont ride , hence why i have posted this ..from more of a riders perspective , what are you thoughts on kids riding pillion ?

Mr.Mow
4 years ago

Quoting wello on 13 Jul 2019 01:33 AM
g,day last couple of days i had my granddaughter over for a visit, shes 9 years old and has kind of grown up around bikes .. has a couple of small dirt bikes and a quad .. her father rides a harley and he occasionally collects her from school on it which is a fairly short run, yesterday i had to take her back to her fathers place and she wanted to go on the big ultra ... i was fairly keen at first and started to get ready and she was pleased as punch !!! .. then as i was getting closer to being ready i started having second thoughts ..i hadnt quite scrubbed those new tyres in yet .. the route i had to take was always chockers with huge trucks etc .
im quite confident as a rider otherwise theres no way the wife would ride with me , i dont take chances and im always alert to whats goin on around me .. but just recently and locally a guy went and collected his son on his bike from somewhere .. apparently went into hiding but was seen speeding blah blah ... that created a lot of attention and a lot of the comments that were raised about it were very negative and that was what really made up my mind and decision not to take her.

the thing is i would say the majority of the comments were from people that dont ride , hence why i have posted this ..from more of a riders perspective , what are you thoughts on kids riding pillion ?

My eldest is 9, I’m super cautious on the bike with her and it’s generally not much more than round the block and down the street.. also she doesn’t have anything in the way of gear (she doesn’t live with me and her mum would lose her shit).
She loves it but yeah I’m just super cautious.. and also there seems to be pretty loose guidelines on what’s legal, I get pulled over all the time so that’s another thing I’m wary of.

Ratbob
4 years ago

I have a single test for passengers.
Can they can plant both feet firmly on the passenger foot rests?
No pass, no ride.

berserker
4 years ago

Agree with ratbbob completely. They pass that test then all is good.

tussuck
4 years ago

All my kids have been on the FXR. The footpeg rule, correct fitting fullface helmet, good shoes or boots and kevlar jeans were the entry criteria. Kids has no worries about the rules as they loved being on the harley.
Now my ex wife had a LOT to say about it though. I told her to fuck herself and suggested that the kids not mention rides around her to avoid stress (my ex is a total wack-job nutcase)

USH
4 years ago

Some of my greatest memories as a kid were riding pillion with my father.
Mostly it was on the back of a trailbike on private property and never at great speed.
The road bike was only around town under 60km/h, getting picked up from school, going to friends places, occasionally to Saturday tennis.
I can only remember one long run, and I would have been about 12-14 at the time and it was a local poker run, is one of my fondest memories as a kid that surrounds motorcycling.

Even now, still, my favourite riding partner is my old man, and enjoy every moment I get to go riding with him.

My kids aren't of "legal" pillion age yet, I've punted them slowly around the bush on the front of my enduro bike, and they aren't really showing a huge interest in getting on the back of the Harley just yet, but then again neither does the Mrs (I get more interest from the girls at work about getting on the back than I do my immediate family :rolleyes:) but the wife isn't against me taking the kids if they ever wanted to go.

There is a huge amount of anxiety surrounding pillions, especially children, but I love the fact i'm seeing some set 'rules' others have when it comes to taking passengers. I think i'm going to steal some of these and use myself.

Ratbob
4 years ago

Quoting tussuck on 13 Jul 2019 06:02 AMedited: 13 Jul 2019 06:04 AM
All my kids have been on the FXR. The footpeg rule, correct fitting fullface helmet, good shoes or boots and kevlar jeans were the entry criteria. Kids has no worries about the rules as they loved being on the harley.
Now my ex wife had a LOT to say about it though. I told her to fuck herself and suggested that the kids not mention rides around her to avoid stress (my ex is a total wack-job nutcase)

Tussuck, you have stricter rules, Kevlar jeans is a tough one but yeah, I kinda thought a correct fitting helmet was a given but you’re right, I’m sure there’s some dum asses out there who’d take a kid out in a shit helmet. A right rated helmet that doesn’t fit is a shit helmet.

Ken in Cairns
4 years ago

I take my two youngest on the back fairly regularly, but only short 15 to 20 minute stints, I have a bit of a triangle loop I usually go.
Always ride safely and keep lots of room around us when possible.

Full face correct sized helmet, proper riding gloves, proper armored riding jacket, jeans and boots, I also make them wear a neck brace I had when I raced karts to stop or at least reduce any neck trauma if it does go to tits up.

My youngest is 12 now and has been on the back since I got the bike 2 years ago.
She really loves it, and that's what counts for me, not what some soccer mum thinks.

My wife actually encourages me taking em out for a lap, even though she has no interest in doing so.

brucefxdl
4 years ago

Quoting Ken in Cairns on 13 Jul 2019 10:24 AMedited: 13 Jul 2019 10:24 AM
I take my two youngest on the back fairly regularly, but only short 15 to 20 minute stints, I have a bit of a triangle loop I usually go.
Always ride safely and keep lots of room around us when possible.

Full face correct sized helmet, proper riding gloves, proper armored riding jacket, jeans and boots, I also make them wear a neck brace I had when I raced karts to stop or at least reduce any neck trauma if it does go to tits up.

My youngest is 12 now and has been on the back since I got the bike 2 years ago.
She really loves it, and that's what counts for me, not what some soccer mum thinks.

My wife actually encourages me taking em out for a lap, even though she has no interest in doing so.

good stuff ken,quality time with family is priceless,no matter what your doing.all the responces here point to a good time ,but safe.cheers.

Smokey61
4 years ago

Give 'em good basic gear and don't worry about them unless you're a crappy rider. I try to keep things smooth with passengers in cars or bikes, if they feel at ease, they're a lot easier to transport, kind of like cattle.

wello
4 years ago

cheers for all the replies : ) ... yeh i agree with most of them but i still somehow feel that as much as i want to take her out riding that the roads have become way more dangerous nowadays ..as stated in other posts , people just not paying attention and being distracted a lot of the time . it worries me much more nowadays than it ever used to.
ive had more near misses since being back on two wheels and the roads are waaaaaaayy more congested than ever .. but the wife and i love riding so we still go and we know the risks involved ... but i think if we ever stacked it that would be the end of her riding with me.
riding with my granddaughter on the other hand is something and just the thought of anything happening whilst she was riding with me really puts me off it , at the end of the day when you take kids on bikes they just sit on the back and have no control of anything , very little protection even if they are wearing all the correct good gear, its not like they have seat belts and air bags and so on .
as i said previously i do trust myself .. i have 3 daughters and all of them have ridden with and i never really had these issues ... but somehow my granddaughter feels entirely different .. something in my mind is telling me dont risk it .

berserker
4 years ago

At the end of the day wello gotta do what feels right for you. If you have doubts then I suppose you answer your own question. There are risks involved in any form of motorised transport unfortunately. All we can do is our best to minimise them. Me personally, I feel a lot safer on my bike than a cage. With the smaller profile and manouverability my motorcycle offers I have gotten out of more accidents than I can count over the years on my bike. Many wouldve been catastrophic or even fatal if I had been in a car. Each to his own anyways

Soapbox2627
4 years ago

there is not that much cotton wool in the country

dress the kids in what you were dressed in when you were introduced to riding, if that is not good enough, give you parents a big strawberry, you have survived this long

if your area is so dangerous to have the little ones, perhaps its time to sell the bike, your kids safety is more important with you there to provide it

wello
4 years ago

Quoting Soapbox2627 on 14 Jul 2019 02:48 AM
there is not that much cotton wool in the country

dress the kids in what you were dressed in when you were introduced to riding, if that is not good enough, give you parents a big strawberry, you have survived this long

if your area is so dangerous to have the little ones, perhaps its time to sell the bike, your kids safety is more important with you there to provide it

Actually my area is quite congested , but not enough for me to warrant selling the bikes as I only just bought them .. my 3 girls are adults now and they don’t live with us any longer .. it’s more the granddaughter that’s the issue .. as tough as it is to say no I prefer to hand her back to my daughter in one peice .. I’m sure I will take her at one stage but just maybe on a quieter day :)

HOG63
4 years ago

I reckon the foot peg rule mentioned above is a good one.
I hate see little kids on the back of a bike with oversized helmet, clinging onto the rider in fear, with arms not long enough to hold on safely. I just want to report them to the cops.

Oz Dan
4 years ago

I reckon if the grandchild is keen and can reach the pegs/boards, has gear, and you’re straight it’s all good. Also reckon lots of replies re ex missus here are fn funny as.
A bit of topic but I also reckon I wanna meet (in my dreams) the mature date bitches I see in the adds here lol

wello
4 years ago

Quoting Oz Dan on 14 Jul 2019 01:22 PMedited: 14 Jul 2019 01:43 PM
I reckon if the grandchild is keen and can reach the pegs/boards, has gear, and you’re straight it’s all good. Also reckon lots of replies re ex missus here are fn funny as.
A bit of topic but I also reckon I wanna meet (in my dreams) the mature date bitches I see in the adds here lol

and if u could reply to every post that would be great .. just so i can keep watching your avatar lol

TobyOne
4 years ago

Its a great question, and as above, if there is a doubt then there is no doubt: these little ones are too precious. My little one however will ride with me in a few years when she can reach the pegs: as much gear as I can give her and only local riding, we should be fine but there is risk, just like every time I go out :)

wello
4 years ago

Quoting TobyOne on 14 Jul 2019 08:44 PM
Its a great question, and as above, if there is a doubt then there is no doubt: these little ones are too precious. My little one however will ride with me in a few years when she can reach the pegs: as much gear as I can give her and only local riding, we should be fine but there is risk, just like every time I go out :)

yeh true mate, life certainly is true precious .. ive seen to many of my mates get seriously hurt or killed in my younger days .. ive always been a fairly cautious rider , that stemmed from watching one mate loose his right arm at the shoulder , and another mate that was his pillion die whilst trying to pass a car .. still sticks with me to this day.
thats without all the other mates that have been seriously hurt or killed as well.
i still like a bit of speed and have had several sports bikes over the years and a sports tourer ( fjr1300) .. all my daughters love riding bikes , quads or anything with an engine.. im pretty sure they should have been boys lol .. but i must admit that since i have bought the harleys i just dont feel the need to race around .. theres nothing i seem to enjoy more than just cruising along .. and quite often i look in my mirrors and realize im holding up a trail of cars lolol .
As for my granddaughter i forgot to mention that she is profoundly deaf .. she wears a cochlear implant and a hearing aid , so when she puts the helmet on she has to take them both off and then cant hear a thing , i dont suppose its a huge drama but its just one other thing that worries me .. hopefully i will take for a few short rides and maybe she will loose interest , or maybe one day in not to distant future i will move to somewhere with a bit less traffic : )

offbeatmammal
4 years ago

when she was younger I used to take my daughter to/from school most days on the Harley (about 15-20 mins depending on traffic). She had a helmet (and the school found us a place to keep it safe), leather jacket and chaps over her jeans (we were in the US, people didn't look as you quite the same as they do here with chaps... but that's another story!) ... now, as a 20yo, she's less interested in being on the back of a bike, but at least I know she knows how to be a good pillion (and great at reminding her friends, and Uber drivers, to keep their eyes open for bikes)

Topics

1/2

kids riding pillion.

kids riding pillion.

wello

Mr.Mow

Ratbob

berserker

tussuck

USH

Ratbob

Ken in Cairns

brucefxdl

Smokey61

wello

berserker

Soapbox2627

wello

HOG63

Oz Dan

wello

TobyOne

wello

offbeatmammal