never " too young"

"too inexperienced" maybe.

I plan on having my son on two wheels (w/training wheels) by his third b-day.
I have seen kids as young as 4yrs old slinging mud better than I can on dirtbikes.

For my son, when it comes time for him to take to the streets on a street bike. I will not allow it until i have full confidence in his knowledge of the streets in a car. even then I don't know about letting him ride at 16. I will have to see how I feel about how knowledgeable and trustworthy he is to not take unecessary risks.

I am sure his first 1000miles will be ridden next to me.  Sucks, but oh well. 

The scooter thing is a good idea. Get a 70cc honda for $500 and ride that to get used to the feel.

My girlfriend hopped on my scooter and no sooner than I showed her which one was the gas, she was speeding across the street full speed. Rather than keeping her head and hitting the brake like I told her, she panicked and (luckily) split the uprights of my cars and went into the neighbor's shrubs. Hilarious because she's ok, but it would have been possibly fatal if she had been facing any of the busy streets by my house.

Not that you'll pull a JoAnna and careen into some bushes, but I'm making an example of how easy it is to panic and forget everything, even 3 seconds after hearing it. Be careful either way you go, but I'm all for the scooter idea. shaZam!, I'm 26 and only got a bike last year. You can wait also.

Be safe,
Dave

O, do worry about the safety.  Im going to at least take one course(maybe more if possible) before I even think about hitting the streets. 

Lesson #1 My young PADAwon.

ALWAYS WORRY ABOUT SAFETY ON A BIKE!!!!  NO cager has your best interests in mind.

and now off the soapbox..

Quote from: AlphaFire X5 on April 05, 2006, 10:53:42 AM

Quote from: scratch on April 05, 2006, 10:32:41 AM

Quote from: AlphaFire X5 on April 05, 2006, 08:03:22 AM

Quote from: groff22 on April 05, 2006, 07:34:56 AM

Quote from: pantablo on April 03, 2006, 09:31:30 PM

Quote from: Jman500 on April 03, 2006, 03:43:50 PM
I am 5'7 and about 145(kinda chubby )

I'd say! 5'6", 125lbs...hahaha.

5'7" 125lbs - Got you beat my fellow ethiopian!

5'10 & 130. I win.

Not so fast.  5'10.5" & 125lbs

Ohhhhhhhhh. Ouch.

You guys need to eat.... or stop drinking light beer. 

What I meant is don't worry ill be safe.  Helmet, jacket, pants, gloves, boots, and someone mentioned something about a back protector in another thread.

Bad news though my mom just said that I could ask until I turned blue and she would still say no.

Quote from: Jman500 on April 05, 2006, 03:23:37 PMBad news though my mom just said that I could ask until I turned blue and she would still say no.

You're under 18 right?  Just save up and get one when you're 18. 

If you dont' know how to drive a car very well i would caution against the bike. I feel like its vital to know how to drive before riding...at least 1 year of driving.

I drove for 3 years..then i was comfortable to be on a bike...it just takes time to understand other drivers. On a bike you dont' get second chances and you need to telepathecially judge other cars.

Imagine you're out on your first ride on your new bike, which is also your first time on the road in any vehicle. You come to a 4-way signal, and instead of the normal function with red and yellow and green lights, it's simply flashing red. Uuuuuuuum, what the hell do I do? Oh crap, and I'm confused and forgot which is the brake lever. Oh god, what do I do?

That scenario is nothing to most of us. But I remember hitting one of those in a car for the first time and was baffled. I can't imagine also dealing with controlling my bike at that point in time.

Drive first. I hate to do this, but I'm siding with your 'rents.

I had been a bicyclist for the many years since my childhood, and had become familiar with traffic and traffic lights on the bicycle.  It only made sense to me to get a motorcycle, expecially since insurance on a car would have been $1200 a year (back in '86)!

Get yourself a quote on insurance for you and the motorcycle you want.  Maybe try and get a quote from Progressive's website; that's easy to do.

Then get a quote on insurance for you on a car and compare.

Don't forget to include insurance in the cost of the motorcycle, or the monthly payments of both bike and insurance.  (Now, you really might want to consider a used m/c!)

Ok im going to take your advice and drive first, as stated before, and get a bike when I feel comfortable behind the wheel of a car.

O and don't worry, I don't plan on buying new.  At this day and time I don't have the money to buy a new bike so used is the way to go.  Besides if I do take minor falls, I wouln't want to mess up a brand new bike.

I hope you stay a member of this forum, your more than welcome. 
You might just run across a great deal on a GS.

I have Twice.

The people who are saying that you should drive first have very good points, but I would say that if you are mature enough to think the whole decision through carefully and do your research, you are probably mature enough to start out on 2 wheels. When I first started driving, the only times I got into "accidents" were a couple incidents where I tried to squeeze into spaces at parking lot speeds ( <5 mph ). I think this is very similar to how you can ask most any member of this forum about how they have dropped their bike. This is generally a financial concern (repairs) and not safety since it happens at low to zero speed. The bigger concern is other motorists. Yeah, this will be riskier if you start out on a bike. You will have to deal with getting comfortable on your bike and getting comfortable with some @$$hole cutting you off. The big plus for driving experience here is that you will be better at identifying potential assholes once you have more time on the road.

When you are considering the cost of getting a bike and gear, I would recommend that you wait until you have enough money saved to get the bike/gear that you want. You can get a $1000 GS, but it will almost assuredly require a fair bit of work on it. On the other hand, for $1500 you can probably find one that is very mechanically sound. Ditto for gear. Spending extra to get the gear that's going to keep you safe and be comfortable is worth it. If you don't like your gear for some reason (comfort, size, looks, whatever), you aren't going to wear it. And you NEED to wear it. Take your time, find what's right for you, and always wear your gear. For upfront costs, you are looking at up to $2000  for a used GS (or similar bike) in good to very good condition and $500-$1000 for gear (leather jacket, leather gloves, helmet, boots, and riding pants). Your periodic costs are insurance, gas, and maintenance. Insurance won't be as bad as a car, but you are still a youngin - check around for quotes. Gas is easy to figure on depending on how many miles you ride, figure about 45-50 mpg. Maintenance isn't too bad if you do the work yourself. Everything in the GS is very easy to get at and work on, and I've found it to be a great way to learn more about wrenching and how bikes work.

For a starter bike, the GS (and any other 250 or 500) will be much more forgiving as motorcycles go. You won't be able to power wheelie and start doing backflips, which is a very comforting fact to realize after the first time you open the throttle too wide. However, even slow bikes by motorcycle standards are still very powerful compared to most cars. It's a thrill and a rush that you won't get in most (or any, according to some folks) cars. Combine this with the ability to maneuver easily and it's very tempting to really get going.

As for the parents, good luck buddy, you are on your on. I'm 23 and living on my own, but I still caught (and continue to catch) hell for getting my bike a few months ago.

I am happy I drove a car and learnt teaffic behaviour before getting my bike licence.

Here in Australia you have to have an adult sitting next to you when your learning how to drive a car. Their advice about when to go, to stop, to look, to brake is priceless.

Something you don't get when your on a bike on your own.

Once again thanks guys.  Yeah I've decided to hold up on the bike.  Im going to learn to drive in a car first and get used to the road.  Then once I have around $3000 saved ill look into getting a bike again.

Quick question though,  Does anyone know if you require a parents/guardians signature to get a learners permit(bike of course) if you are under the age of 18?

re: parent's signature: google it. it varies by state, you should be able to find the florida dmv or dol or whatever and they should have the information you need on their website.