I'm 19 years old and I really wanted to stay at home for the next few years while i'm at university. I brought up the idea of getting a motorcycle and they know i've always been interested in anything motorsports but they shut it down immediately, they said there is absolutely no chance if your under this roof can you buy one. I told them I would start on a low cc bike full gear etc, still no budge, even said I won't ride after sundown and you can have me on life 360 to keep tabs on me riding, nope. I get the worry and all and my dad gave me the talk and he said how they would mourn me and have to live with that forever if I died, he called motorcycles a "temporary citizens device" lol. By the way coming from someone with a motorsports backround mainly cars but rode motorcycles for many years and occasionally rides on his mates CBR1100XX super black bird. Obviously I'm not thinking posting this on reddit is gonna change there mind but how true are they really. Of course motorcycles are ten fold more dangerous than cars but how bad are they really, I live in a reasonably quiet town in australia and don't wish to take the bike into the city where I feel like is the most dangerous, mainly for commuting to and from the gym, (10 mins away) where I might pass like 30 cars on the way there. Only other place I would ride would be my towns back roads where it's pretty uncommon to see more than like a car every 5 minutes. How dangerous are they REALLY, I would like to say I would be pretty responsible on one and I think i'm a reasonably smart person and wouldn't do anything stupid, thanks.
Yeh i fully understand, just sucks I guess, I love my parents and I would hate to put them through it if I did die + I really don't wanna die myself, but was just tryna add some more excitement in my life, pretty boring atm, I drive the hell out of my car though but thats just not as rewarding or challenging, oh well. I also have been watching a lot of dandanthefireman and yammienoob, just interesting watching the crash analysis and stuff, and was watching it because I did think I was gonna sway them, fully set on a ninja 400, but they did not come around how I thought they would ahah.
Don't get down about it lol. I waited 6 years to get my first bike and it was totally worth it, sometimes the situations we're in force us to wait on the things we want lol. You'll see people out having fun on bikes and you'll want nothing more than to join in but I always remembered that it's a toy, nothing other than a form of entertainment to be enjoyed. There will always be motorcycles and you're not missing out on anything.
It's fuckin tough. Trust me I know.
Honestly I think you should wait you're only 19 which is very young and I get your bored but there's so many other things you can do to add excitement to your life. I'm 20 and just got my first motorcycle (ninja 300) about a month ago and I can tell you that you're definitely not gonna be just taking it on the back roads or just to the gym and before you know it you're gonna be taking risks and putting yourself in stupid situations like I have đđso just wait it out
Yeh thats true, lets be real I drive my car like an idiot would probably be much worse on a bike ahah
Lol yeah I mean don't get me wrong it's alot of fun but there's just so much risk and that's why I kinda regret getting mine because I don't know when to stop I'm constantly doing stupid stuff
It would be. Motorcycles are VERY unforgiving of mistakes and inexperience. Modern cars flatter you and save you from your own stupidity very well, but motorcycles do not. At all.Â
Mistakes that you donât even realize youâre making in a car will instantly put your face on the pavement on a motorcycle.Â
I watched an older gentleman obeying every law while riding on my way home from work. We had a green light at an intersection but a semi didnât see him and thought it was clear to turn left. I saw that old man hit that semi pretty much at 40-45 mph. Dude was dead by the time I dropped the kickstand.
Dude was wearing all his gear. Wasnât speeding. Wasnât driving like an idiot. Using turn signals. Keeping distance from other cars. But all it took was an oversight from someone else to make him a statistic
If youâre in it for something thatâs fun, challenging, and exciting you are already looking at it the wrong way. âChallengingâ is not something you want when youâre on the same streets as buses and semi trucks. Iâd recommend getting a dirt bike because those ambitions do not mesh well with other drivers.
Yeh I mean't more for the winding quiet roads eventually when Im up for it but I get your point.
And honestly I just love motorsports, would probably scratch my itch enough to be able to just do track days, even In a car, but nothing near me to make that possible.
Same. Maybe check out SIM racing? Kinda expensive but it seems pretty fun, I've been wanting to get a set-up for a while now.
You send me that while i'm staring at my rig in the corner of my room ahah, nah got into sim racing like a year ago, heaps of fun really recommend it, thought it would scratch my itch and it does a bit but also makes me wanna send it on a real track even more because of how fun it is! Problem is the adrenaline you get from racing goes away when you know you can put it into a wall at 200mph and just press restart, heaps of fun though.
Well yeah man, but thereâs no restarts on an actual track.
From a rider's point of view, I get it. But from a parent's point of view, I also get it.
You're 19. Just wait.
I'm 19 I wanna have fun! all jokes aside I get it though, of course I get my parents point of view but it just sucks cos it looks like a lot of fun.
I know it looks fun but do your parenrs a favour, if you do it against your parents will, which is exactly what I did - do them a favour...
Understand it is fun, but the kids doing wheelies down the motorway are the ones that end up being scraped off the road with a call to their parents saying their young child they raised for 19 years' brains are currently being cleaned off the concrete.
Buy the gear before you buy the bike. Full face helmet - most impacts are on the chin, so don't buy a half face or one of those ones that slide up. Buy good gloves, again nearly all impacts you default to your natural instincts of putting your hands out, so if you want to wank again, buy gloves. Buy boots which go over your ankles - your bones will thank you. Buy the jacket and the trousers. THEN buy the bike. You can't afford a bike if you can't afford the gear, end of.
Treat all road users with respect. Cyclists, cars, lorries, horse riders. Don't buy a nutcase bike, statistically speaking it's extremely unlikely you're just naturally talented, don't be prude, understand you're a new rider and you need a bike that you won't brake your neck in an accidental wheelie trying to hill start at the lights. Stick to the speed limit, if you want to ride around like Valentino Rossi then go to a track day, the guys are usually nice, again don't be proud and try to win against better riders. On the road, your right of way doesn't mean shit when your head is through someone's windshield, swallow your pride and let the death machine overtake you or budge in your way. You won't win.
You don't have to do anything I say, it's your life to throw away, riders have an extremely higher chance of dying in a crash than a car. It's also fairly unlikely you'd manage to never crash once during your life, your fault or not. You're legally for the most part, an adult, do what you want, but it's your choice to be smart or stupid. Be smart, do your courses, buy the gear, ride respectively, watch videos on 'defensive riding'.
Wait for what? Death?
My sister the MD calls them âdonorcyclesâ.
According to the micromort data, motorcycle rides are ~38x more likely to cause death than car rides of the same distance.
60 miles on a mc = 10
230 miles in a car = 1
230/60 = 3.8, and obvs 10/1 = 10
Thatâs global data I believe. Data for different age cohorts and geographies is probably⌠harder to come by.
I've had 0 fatal car crashes. 38 x 0 = 0. Therefore there is 0 chance of having a fatal crash on a motorcycle. They're perfectly safe.
This guy knows how to math
Damn, now they really aren't gonna let me on my Mountaineering Ascent to Mt. Everest.
Doesn't matter how dangerous they really are. People aren't rational about risks.
It's the same bullshit about how you are way more likely to die driving to the airport than you are on the airplane - but people still get more anxious about the plane flight.
I said the same kinda thing, I know there dangerous, but I guarantee you the shit that I already do at the moment probably just as likely to somehow die in my car or whatnot.
Yeah dude - doesn't matter.
My mother didn't care that I rode downhill mountain bikes, went skydiving - but still doesn't know I have been riding motorcycles since 2008.....and I'm 42.
Basically everyone else knows including my father - but she can't know because she'd never accept it or handle it well. So she'll never know...
She just thinks motorcycles are super dangerous and even as a driver when she sees someone riding one gets uncomfortable - as if it's magically going to just go off road into the wall or some shit.
No amount of statistics will sway people who are making judgments based on emotion.
Yeh exactly, also the "my cousins best friends aunts son died on a bike" even though they probably know so many who have died in a car. Honestly thought my dad would be more accepting of it based on his backround, thought I would just have to fight my mum, but no he's just as set in stone, even though he is overly supportive about me joining the army lol
My fathers only comment about the bike was "Your mother doesn't need to know." - so he's very far from 'supportive' - just isn't fighting it.
But yeah, it took moving out and getting my own house to get a bike because there was just no way I would have ever been able to ride and live with my parents.
Move out first, then bike is frequently how it goes...
Seems that way, maybe when that time comes I won't want one anymore, I doubt it but maybe
I think the expectation was that I'd grow out of it as well.
Fun story, at one point when my parents were over at my place they wanted to go for a walk around the neighborhood, dogs needed a walk and so on...
They walked past my motorcycle sitting out on the street a few houses down.
My mother scoffed at it and said "I remember when you used to want one of these stupid things....hope they're not riding it at night - they're so loud!"
I assured her that my 'neighbor' was a very respectful rider...
Ahahaha, that made me smile, my mum would say the same, however I don't know If i could keep a straight face I would probably give it away.
For e.g, in Germany 30% of motorcycle accidents are without other vehicle involved - only the rider. So cars shouldn't your only concern.
Yeh I could be wrong but I would assume rider only crashes would have a lot lower fatality rate than a multiple vehicle crash?
??? Why would you assume that?
Whoops meant to say multiple vehicle crash
No. Rather more.
Move out and get your own place
Yeh man not really an option, question was more geared towards how dangerous are they really when riding responsibly, cheers.
People ride 50cc scooters all the time, everywhere, nobody even cares other than joking about them.
You have the same protection on a scooter, as on a motorcycle.
Then you go the next step, a 125cc motorcycle that usually only barely reaches enough speed to actually be safer by not being a hinderance to cars in traffic, people will claim just sitting on them means you will die.
You may be able to convince your parents to get a scooter, but I'd expect a 19 year old to make decisions about their life for themselves without asking their parents for permission.
I would of course make the decision for myself however I prefer to live in a nice house and not thrown onto the street with just me and my new bike, wait, that doesn't sound all too bad!
I just read the headline (text is too long). Your parents are right
How can you get trapped on a motorcycle? They donât even have seatbelts.
They are deathtraps
As much as we all like riding, we can all a agree they are in fact probably one of the dumbest fucking things you can do if you care about living
cant get enough of it
my parents said the exact same thing. bought a â23 ninja 400 last summer, hid it in a storage unit and rode it for about a month before they found out. by that time they werenât as mad
Considered doing this but I know my parents, if they found out they would probably kill me, and they would find out somehow.
The cars are what makes it dangerous, not the motorcycle. Very car-centered (mis)understanding your parents seem to have.
I donât think the reason why theyâre dangerous matters in the context. Just because it wasnât your fault doesnât mean it wasnât the bike that killed you. If you were in a car with a seatbelt and air bags the story is likely to be different.
It's not the motorcycle. It's how you and others drive. Where I live, in most crashes between motorcycle and car, driver's at fault.
Doesnât matter. The rider is the one in most danger here, and that is the point. The driver being at fault is totally irrelevant when youâre dead.
Youâre not gonna change how other people drive.
You can change the vehicle you drive/ride. One of them is inherently more dangerous regardless of fault.
Many times a fatal accident on a motorcycle would be a sore neck in a car.
They are dangerous, but a lot of the danger can be mitigated by simple safety precautions. Like never riding beyond your skill level, being attentive, wearing gear, not being intoxicated, and not taking unnecessary risks. Following this advice, I've been riding my first 2 years without ever being anywhere near a close-call situation in a state where everyone complains about bad drivers. The only situations outside of your control are red-light runners, rear-endings, and cars merging into you, the latter of which can be reduced by minimizing time spent in blind spots.
If you don't like your parents rules and options then move out their house
They are ⌠and I ride one . 38 times greater chance of getting in an accident . You want one ⌠it has to have antilock breaking system, you have to wear a full face helmet, you have to ride with armor.. In the summer I have a white armor jacket with pads and shoulders and back. Itâs mesh, the air goes through. Because it is white it is cooler than most T-shirts. you have to ride like everyone is out to get you because not everyone is paying attention. Iâm terrified of people on cell phones. No matter how good you are you canât control assholes looking at their phone instead of driving
My dad and his best friend have been riding all their lives, and when I talked about starting they both acted squeemish and hesitent. People unintentionally to look down on people they lack confidence in rather than act as thier mentors when it'd actually help you more. You'll get a bike if you want one eventually. The difference is that you could learn under the best circumstances and oversight, which could save your life from avoidable accidents.
How did I learn? MSF, and then alone by myself. Thanks to the life long riders who didn't support me. I recommend you get this point across and that they support you as a young adult before you do it your self later. You're not a kid anymore.
Theyâre not wrong. More than a few of the guys I rode with as kids ended up dying on motorcycles. Itâs a very high risk activity.
You have to accept that youâre orders of magnitude more likely to die doing this than almost any other legal hobby, or just not do it.
It doesn't matter how many CCs your bike is or how fast you ride if it's a Pickup truck that hits you. I've been riding for 20 years and it's truly deadly. I'm cheating father death.
It's simple.
Their House. Their Rules.
Their house, their rules.
People keep saying this, but this isn't illegal activity or degenerate shit. It's just the parents being controlling.
Still applies.
And breeds resentment.
I'm not sure where you live or if you have a way to haul one somewhere to ride one, but I recommend starting on a dirtbike.
You learn a lot of relevant skills and it's a great time. It could hold you over till you are in your own place and can get a street bike.
Yeh I thought the same but not many tracks around here and would need a 4wd and a trailer to get me there, but good thought.
I get that. There is a lot of logistics involved in dirtbike riding.
Riderplanet-usa.com has a really good list of ohv areas in every state (if you're in the US).
At your age, it is more of a death trap than it is for a 30 year old. Ä° started riding at 27 and even at that age i cant believe how i survived the first year of riding
Oh man, I get this from a parent's point of view. I also get why you're frustrated. Motorcycles are dangerous on their own. You can do everything right and be dead in a second. Also, male brains aren't fully developed for risk tolerance until at least 25. Not anyone's fault, but men's brain's just don't work until a bit later in life.
Maybe you could get some track training or classes? Do some adventure rides?
Yeh I thought about track days and stuff, I think the reason I wan't it is more because I would have something to always look forward to after shit days at work, + just being able to get away from everything with the freedom and I do love adrenaline. Just being able to do something fun and exciting every day appeals to me a lot.
Second to last sentence there is terrifying. Your parents are right. Don't get your adrenaline kicks on a bike on the street.
Do you ride, if so why? I feel like the majority of riders would say they ride because they love it, and it's fun for them. Im sure they would also say that riding gives them adrenaline when pushing it?
Invite dad to take the beginner course with you.
Riding is an inherently dangerous activity. We do what we can to mitigate the risk by getting proper training and education, wearing suitable PPE, and riding as though everyone else were trying to kill us, but even in a car you can never eliminate 100% of the risk. It's a calculated risk we take every time we get on the bike. But it's a risk we accept because we love to ride. All that aside, you're an adult. What you do with your money is your business. But they'd be well within their rights to kick you out for violating the rules they set forth. So if that's what they've put down just wait to move out and get your own. In the mean time start saving towards the purchase of the bike you want.
They are death traps in some ways. I started at 6 years old I'm 26 now. I have had 6 broken bones over the years of riding. And more crashes than I can count. (Majority from Dirt Bikes). Almost all the crashed I had can be attributed to just pushing my abilities to hard.
But I will say there are a ton of things you can do to mitigate the risks and make it almost as safe as driving a car.
1. Gear. Cant stress this enough.
Riding within your abilities. Knowing when to slow down and ride cautiously. Not letting your EGO get the better of you. (This is what causes deaths)
Defensive riding skills
Learning to read the road and road conditions.
Starting on the proper sized bike. (Both in Power and Comfort)
Getting proper training
If you do all these things riding is very safe imo.
If they drink (alcohol) tell them alcohol kills ~140,000 people/yr ( in America, don't know other countries) yet people still drink.
Man I said that, Im a college age student and before I go out clubbing most weekends I'll consume a good part of a bottle of vodka, I believe theres a lot more chance I would die out clubbing than on a bike but taht don't matter to them.
That's a lot of alcohol. You'd be better consuming less in general with a bike. You will need to by hyper aware of your surroundings at all times on a bike
^ as a recovering alcoholic myself, this is sound advice.
To me the biggest variable/risk is other motorists and your parents arenât wrong about them being death traps. Thatâs why I ride a dual sport. Itâs street legal so I can leave from the house but I immediately head for the dirt. On a dirt road 40 or 50 is exciting whereas on a street bike it seems like people are getting their adrenaline fix by weaving in and out of cars on the freeway- these are the people that are most likely to end up dead. As someone with a heavy background in action sports and the broken bones and scars to prove it, I would never even think about having a motorcycle as my daily driver and especially not in a city. I go the speed limit on low traffic roads until I hit the dirt. I wouldnât want my kid driving around town on a motorcycle either.
I've been riding since I was 12. Five decades. Raced for two seasons. Worked in the motorcycle industry for much of that. I've lost four close friends. I've lost count of acquaintances and co-workers that died on a motorcycle. So, yeah, good chance you will die on a motorcycle if you continue to ride. Its going to be my time eventually. Such is life.
Iâm early 30âs always had performance cars, done track days since my teens, parents never batted an eye. Been a cyclist all my life, broken bones, no complaints. Bought a motorcycle for commuting this year and my mam was in tears when she saw it.
Always gonna happen.
You will do stupid stuff, itâs dangerous as fuck but you just have to manage the risks. Only been riding for a little bit, but Iâve found that taking advice from experienced riders (instructors or otherwise) you trust and being humble about it is essential. Even if youâve drove fast cars for 17 years, you donât know shit compared to them, theyâre like premonition eagles.
The Dunning-Kruger effect is REAL AS FUCK on a bike and will bite the shit out of you. Up to you to manage how hard it bites.
Maybe try to convince them to let you get a Honda Ruckus. Then mod it to be badass until you move out đ¤ˇđťââď¸
Youâre 19 just get a bike and go. Also regarding sim racing mentioned somewhere in this content section dumpster fire, thatâs the lamest advice Iâve seen yet
Quit school, move out, life that moto life. Youâll thank me later.
So, 23 year old speaking here with pretty much the same experience with I was 16. Yes, motorcycles are dangerous, but it depends on how you ride them. Think of quotes like "play stupid games win stupid prizes" type deal. Most accidents on bikes are from other drivers, not the rider themselves. Not to say there aren't bad eggs out there that give bikes a bad name. What I'm reading is that you're 19, so at least where I'm at Canada your a adult who can make their own choices. I'm not sure if it's 21 in Australia or not. I got my motorcycle and drivers at the age of 16 against my parents' permission. Clearly, I was less respectful and obedient than you cause it wasn't even an argument. All I can say is when or if you are an adult, parents can tell, they can say, but they can't make. I've never wanted to live my life with people saying what I can and can't do. In your case, you're living under your parents' roof, so kinda different situation. But my answer would be get one feel the thrill and if you don't like it you can say you tried.
Yeh I would get one but they will genuinely kick me out of the house if I showed up with one, don't earn enough to live by myself atm and get a bike so can't really do that either.
I have a deep passion for riding. Been all over North America solo and about 100,000 miles in the last 12 years.
They are absolutely death machines.
I want you to understand that and accept that. If you still want to ride, good. There is nothing else like it.
But... You're off to a bad start. Motorcycles ARE NOT 10 fold more dangerous than cars. They are 30 fold more likely to crash. You are almost guaranteed to be significantly injured in crashes that would be harmless in cars. Killed in accidents that would bruise you in a car.
1 year and two weeks ago, I was rear-ended by a car going maybe 10 mph. Today, my doctor signed off on my recovery from the whiplash and muscle spasms. I didn't even hit the ground.
You must respect the danger and risk and internalize the fact that the moment you think you understand the bike, it will remind you of the danger.
All this while not allowing yourself to be afraid. If you're afraid you'll hesitate when you do need to react decisively and aggressively.
Yeh I know they are dangerous, I'm not that ignorant, but even with the increased chances, I still want to ride one. And it's more the fact that they basically think I'm gonna 100% die within the first year, I know they are extremely dangerous but they are blowing it out of proportion a bit.
Everything I said was true, but how I feel is:
Bungee jump, sky dive, rock climb, motorcycle, etc.
Manage the risks as best you can and don't be stupid, then go live your life. You only get one.
Don't do wheelies and don't race through traffic.
If I were you... I'd buy one and prepare to live with a bunch of roommates because rent isnt cheap.
P.s. I don't like when parents use the threat of losing a safe home to co trol their children. It's very misguided.
Yeh the threats pretty null though because they know that I wouldn't move out because I would hate to live with room mates so it's the easiest threat to throw out.
Listen to your parentsâŚ
Back in the ancient of days, there was an annual Sears catalog that actually had a few minibikes. It was the early 70s, Briggs & Stratton motors, small wheels, so appealing to a young kid. I'd find that page, dog ear it, circle the minibikes, dream and hope, and my parents never got me one. I started riding as soon as I was away at college and I've been riding for 43+ years now, always had at least one bike in the garage, usually more, and raised four kids as a rider, rode with them frequently so they know and like bikes. As a parent, I hope none of them ever get on a bike. I embrace and accept my hypocrisy. As some have said, just wait until you're not under their roof to start your journey. They'll get over it. Don't break the news to them like I did, by riding your new bike over to the house for dinner. That was a quiet meal.
And my parents never got the the drum kit either.
This is gonna sound like a boomer answer, but if youâre not fully supporting your own independence then you arenât ready for the responsibilities of riding.
Start making money. Focus on increasing your income which will increase your independence. If you were making enough that you could help your parents out with bills or at least not cost them money by living under their roof, no one would be able to tell you what to do.
Become independent. Then take whatever risks you want.
If you are going to university, you should learn to use paragraphs.
See how they feel about a scooter/e-bike. For some reason my folks were a lot more receptive to that idea, and I rode those for a few months before I jumped to a motorcycle. They went from total opposition to acceptance pretty quickly.
Yeh I was considering it but I don't even need a bike for a particular reason, I have a pretty nice car that I enjoy driving but was more looking for a motorcycle for the joy of riding, It's funny because I used to have a motorised bike, now that thing was actually a death trap, shitty chinese motor on a pushbike that got up to 45mph, rode it all the time when I was 14, no helmet and sometimes with my mate on the handlebars. chain snapped once and back wheel locked up at like 30mph, another time the front wheel came off...... also super illegal in my state, but somehow that was okay and not a motorcycle ahah.
They are deathtraps. It doesn't matter how good you are at riding, where you ride, how often, or how far. It only depends on how bad the drivers around you are, you can dodge a lot of bad driving but some things are going to be unpreventable. I thought the same thing as you but as I ride more and more I can easily find situations where I always think to myself "if I had been just a little farther back/ahead I would have been screwed". Now those weren't all life threatening situations but they wouldn't have been fun at all lol.
Your parents are worried and that's very normal. Tbh just wait till you're out of the house to get one, it will give you more time to think and fully understand what comes with riding as well (check out dandanthefireman and yammie noob). However when you do get one you need to be realistic about it. You won't just be on back roads, you won't just ride it to the gym, work, school and back home, you'll ride the hell out of it if you enjoy it and will want to go into the city. Good looking out with the gear and low cc to start with though.