A day with Dad..

[Maelstrom]

I'm sure the kid had a blast. I'm not sure I would feel too comfortable letting a 6 year old kid take the controls like that, but if he's gonna learn to ride he's gotta start some time. I let my daughter do the same thing on a jet ski when she was young (probably around 7 or so), but that sure seemed a Hell of a lot less risky than this.

 

[1olbull]

This seems to be rasing some eyebrows on the internet. My first ride was with my dad on the back of his Indian Chief when i was 5... I loved it.

Very AWESOME!
A handsome young man, your Dad!
My Dad & Indian in 1941 & 44:

 

[mr hunt]

Very AWESOME!
A handsome young man, your Dad!
My Dad & Indian in 1941 & 44:

you've got some bloody good photos Bull - was there a photographer in the family??

 

[1olbull]

My Mom kept a picture album during the motorcycle years.
After the demise of Indian, Dad sold the shop rather than sell Matchless & AJS.
Motor pictures died out turning into routine family stuff. Mom grew to dislike the motor crowd thinking they would corrupt her son (me). heh heh heh I think she was right!

 

[TOMCAT]

Bet that kids got a ***cin grin on his face that'll last a month. Right or wrong .. up to the individual I guess. When you see and read about all the neglect , abuse and ***ced-up parenting these days .. that dads got a thumbs up from me

 

[CanberraR3]

I used to take my kids on a Honda trike I had on my 'farm'. The older one used to hold onto the bars and wouldn't let go. The younger one kept reaching for the thumb throttle and I caught him in the garage trying to start it one time - when he was 5. He has always loved coming on the bike with me; not so the older one.

At first look at that clip I thought it didn't seem too smart a thing to do but then you realise there's no way he's going to be able to change the direction the bike's going and besides, his father's right there. Good on him. Motorbike's are either in your blood or they're not and sharing a passion with your kids is one of the most rewarding things you can do. Good for them.

 

[Rocket65]

Very cool. I wouldn't mind seeing some protection on those little arms and legs.

 

[Dawg68]

Very cool. I wouldn't mind seeing some protection on those little arms and legs.

I agree, just a little protection.

 

[RKTNMYPKT]

Most all of the comments I've read here seem to mostly be in support of the Dad getting some sort of Dad of the year award

It seems as if I need to play the devils advocate a little here.

I wonder had the decision to give a 6yr the controls of a motorcycle at highway speeds had gone wrong as we all know it easily could have,

How much support "Dad" would be given by the public and by the members of this forum?

 

[Boog]

An excellent question RinMyP. We can all play the arm chair quarterback and hind sight 20/20 game to come up with the pros and cons of any given situation. If this ride had gone bad, then I would suspect as you elude that many of us would jump to criticize the dad. However, I think after watching the video again, that dad had the situation under control. I expect that this was not the first try at this ride and that the youngster has had a previous shot at learning the technique. As soon as dad gave him the signal, the kids instantly applied a correct amount of throttle twist to maintain speed. It seemed well played to me.
To bolster your point though, many people will criticize the dad simply for letting the child be on the bike let alone be in front and with no regard to holding the bars. Some of us will never win in these discussions no matter what risk avoidance measures are in place.
I still stand with the dad in this one and lift my drink in his honor for teaching the boy something in life that has no amount monetary value but instead is priceless.