I'd love a bike but..

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..I've been purchased a car to stop me from getting myself a Bike, The reason being my father used to have a bike but had a very bad accident many years ago (due to an idiotic car driver).

He was in plaster for a year and still has a semi open wound on his leg (25 years later) and has vowed to never sit on a bike again which I can understand after his accident.

The first bike I rode was my friends 125 Dirt bike around his farm last summer and I absolutely loved, Neither of my brothers have expressed interest in Getting a bike which doesn't really help my case.

I really don't know how I can persuade my Dad to let me get a bike with his history so to go about it but I'd really love a bike and it'd save me so much money fuel wise.
 
Just be open and honest.

My mums a recovery nurse and see's the aftermaths of bikes accidents on a nearly daily basis so know how you mean.

I just openly discussed it and said id rather be honest with them than hide it. Theres nothing you can do about the stats. Id have thought him being an ex-biker he would understand...
 
Some parents are like that unfortunately, I personally believe once your an adult you should be allowed to make your own choices, thankfully my parents allow this while I am still at home others have the usual rule 'my house my rules' so unfortunately I doubt you could change their mind.

My dad also had a massive crash at the age of 18, car drivers fault also, and that left him with some horrific scars on his legs and has not been able to run since, fast forward 20 years and I had a big crash at 22 that could have ended me :p
Bikes are always going to be extremely dangerous, and I plan on having kids and letting them ride, but they will have to get proper protection and decent training!
 
If you live at home, I would suggest just living with it. I doubt anyone who has formed an opinion from an experience like your dad can have their mind changed by stats and persuasion. If you don't live at home, just buy a bike and hide it when they come round.

My mother is DEATHLY afraid of motorbike and would spend all her time worrying about me if she knew I rode one, so I don't tell her. I'm not willing to sacrifice the savings to allay her fears, but I do care enough to keep her in the dark about it.
 
I think the majority of parents especially mothers feel this way. My father is all for it as he rides a bike himself. My mum on the other hand hates the things said i would have to move out went ahead regardless and since then she seems to have warmed to it with me explaining how i use it etc.
 
My parents are the same as Leon's. My Mum hates it (even though she has bad injuries from horse riding and STILL doesn't wear a crash hat sometimes!) My dad was more interested having ridden bikes when he was my age but never had an off.

My friends think I am mad. My parents in law think I am mad, infact as above. My wife has grown to the fact I have a bike and seeing the protective gear she is happier.
 
My parents wouldn't let me have a bike @ 16 or 17 so when I moved out @ 19 the first thing I did was buy a 600 Bandit and smash it up, all my mates got it out their system on 50cc's @ 16 this was when they found out it was mostly wet, dangerous and cold on a bike and then didn't get anything bigger and bought cars.

I then last year some 10 years later bought a Funduro to commute with which was great, but riding in London is just plain dangerous and reminded me of the wet and cold, I moved jobs so now it isn't worth riding so I sold it.

If I buy another it'll be something off road, whether that be a track bike or a big enduro I don't know but I doubt I'll be back on the road any time soon.
 
my dad was the same - lot of accidents etc. Not as much physical issues thugh so not as bad.

they didn't want me to get a bike so i took the test in secret.... they found ou and just wanted m to do i proper.

so i did....

then i went out and bought a bike without them knowing.

the extent of my dads telling off was 'is it insured? nice bike...." :D
 
I have the same problem. I've been toying with the idea over the past few months, my parents both think riding is very reckless even though my Dad rode one back in Cyprus when we lived there.

I also however don't really trust myself,which doesn't help matters!

:Edit: In fact my Dad said to me just the other day "Promise me you won't do 2 things, the first is jump out of a plane and the second is get a motorbike". Well I'd like to do both thanks!
 
I got my second bike (a 7 year gap between first and second), last month, ER6-N, even though im 39, my folks were not happy about it, I just told them it was a 250 and not a 650 and they were happier but still worried.

Girlfriend was the same but you can only make your own mistakes.

Everyone always has a biking story about how someone they know or a friend of a friend is now walking with two stumps, the end of the day, you gotta go sometime and your folks cant tie you to a chair for 80 years.
 
Metalface Mark said:
your folks cant tie you to a chair for 80 years.
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Joseph Fritzl gave it a good go.

OP get a bike. Just remember that when riding you HAVE to think for everyone else on the road as well as for yourself.

I last rode 20ish years ago and am now in the process of going back to it. Part of the reason I stopped riding was a reasonably bad accident when some woman decided she didn't want to give way to the right on a roundabout

"Sorry, I didn't see you"

The main reason was needing a car.

I hadn't really given bikes any thought, other than still looking at them when they ride by, whereas I never look at cars unless they are Aston's, but a month or so ago something just clicked in me as I saw a nice example, not sure what it was, ride by.

Then someone at work got back from her honeymoon and as her car's MOT had expired she rode one of her bikes in. That was it for me.

One thing I will say about bikes vs cars.

I have never jumped in the car and just gone for a drive for no reason. I did it almost daily when I last had a bike. I look forward to doing so again.
 
Many years ago I used to ride a small bike, then I passed my car driving test and had a long think. The conclusion I came to, although I was always a careful rider, was that there were a number of times I could have been very seriously injured or perhaps killed. Bikes can be useful but they aren't worth risking your health for.
 
philip2009 said:
Many years ago I used to ride a small bike, then I passed my car driving test and had a long think. The conclusion I came to, although I was always a careful rider, was that there were a number of times I could have been very seriously injured or perhaps killed. Bikes can be useful but they aren't worth risking your health for.
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Yes they are.

If you enjoy something then you should do it regardless of risk (though riding a bikes a relatively low one) otherwise you'll live a probably long and boring life and die unhappy.
 
philip2009 said:
Bikes can be useful but they aren't worth risking your health for.
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You could say the same thing about extreme sports, hand gliding, white water rafting etc. but people do all these things because they enjoy them.

If you are considering a bike only as an economical method of transport, not because you actually enjoy riding, and you can afford to use a car then I can understand your point of view. However with the greatest respect it doesn't really belong here.
 
Quite amusingly another of my friends has a Yamaha 125 and I was riding it around the same field that I've ridden around on the previous bike, I'm not quite sure what it was but he told me to ride with the choke down/on, I slowed down to turn the corner and slid right off (about 5mph) I'm not sure what happened but it seemed like the engine stopped and the wheel locked.

Anyway that's put me off riding a bike until I get proper instruction.
 
Tbid said:
Quite amusingly another of my friends has a Yamaha 125 and I was riding it around the same field that I've ridden around on the previous bike, I'm not quite sure what it was but he told me to ride with the choke down/on, I slowed down to turn the corner and slid right off (about 5mph) I'm not sure what happened but it seemed like the engine stopped and the wheel locked.

Anyway that's put me off riding a bike until I get proper instruction.
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You stalled.
 
Do you live with them? If so then their rules apply until you move out. After that do what you want (unless they are bankrolling you).
 
This is the problem with riding a motorbike on the road. When an accident happens, no matter who's fault it is, you are the one that is going to get mangled and have to live with the consequences.

I would love to get a bike and learn to ride it, but I value my life too much to put it in the hands of the muppets on the public road. I see too much shenanigans from people who can't drive/are oblivious to everyone else/don't care about anyone else to risk my own personal safety by getting a bike.
 
OP - Talk to them and be honest. Tell them you appreciate their position but impress that you really want to and have been thinking about it for a long time. Don't expect them to change their opinion overnight.

Over time, if you keep calm and talk about it with them like an adult, they will come round. If you get angry and end up coming across as a little kid, then they will not let you. If you can be the rational one then eventually they will realise you understand the risks, but are grown up enough to make the decision yourself. Even if you end up having to wait until you move out to actually get a bike, spending time talking to them about it will save you a lot of grief in the long run.

My mum and dad both had mopeds at 16, then "grew up" and got cars at 17. Mum's brother had a really bad bike smash in his early 20's and completely messed his body up (found out a couple of years ago he was actually doing 90 in a 30 past traffic and hit a traffic island - being an idiot cannot be blamed on the bike!). Mum was adamant that she never wanted her kid on a bike but by talking to her about it for a few months, she allowed me to get an AR80 and I took my CBT on my 17th birthday. I'll have been riding 19 years in November and she still doesn't like the thought of me on a bike but she appreciates how much it means to me and so doesn't go on about it so much anymore.

It will be frustrating, but talk to them and accept it may take months for them to come round. Don't lose heart, don't lose your temper and you will get them to come round enough eventually.
 
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