Oh Boy

[Mittzy]

Sorry if this reply pisses you off but you did ask for people's opinions.

Even more important than no fear is he has no money! Personally I feel NO children should be given cars or bikes that they haven't earnt the money to buy and operate themselves. Unless millionaires or drug dealers it generally forces them to compromise and buy something appropriate for a learner i.e. less power and cost. They then learn to operate, PAY for, and maybe even service their own vehicles which should make them value them more! It sounds like with a 3 year of his own he should be starting to take responsibility and pay for his own family and past-times.

Skipping all that he is in NO WAY capable of riding any high powered bike even your ex-Sabre without far more experience than he has, especially if he has an obvious 'attitude problem'. Final.

I agree, BUT I still bought my 2 Daughters a car each as I (ME) got to chose what they drive. Not some tinny snot box that was cheep and unreliable.. Although If I had a son my choice may have been different, I was forced to buy a cheep car and thought to look after it and fix it.

 

[IMFASTTOO]

This "no fear" thing makes the answer only to obvious.

I CALL IT NO BRAINS because we know better

 

[IMFASTTOO]

Majikdoc you made the right choice. Your son needs much much much more experience than a month on a bike to ride a Rocket. Heck maybe the V twin 1100 is a bit too much for a beginner.

YES he needs to learn on a dirt bike

 

[Claviger]

Good call brother.

I learned to ride on a Daytona 955i, NOT A GOOD CHOICE. The ONLY thing that prevented me from having a wreck, and i do mean ONLY, is the long throw throttle on that bike, it takes like 70% rotation to hit full throttle. That said, it meant I was comfortable with power wheelies, rear wheel spin mid corner, and head shake within my first month on two wheels as they were/are part of riding a Daytona 955i. All three of those are pretty easy to induce on an R3, so, a month in on a cruiser, nope, he's not going to have those skills yet.

The R3 has a short, 1/4 turn throttle and SUPER easy to write a check with the power of the bike that the brakes and chassis can't cash into a turn. I would only ever recommend an R3 to someone who's got plenty of seat time on a Liter bike, or a lot of time (like years and years) riding.

If my R3 didn't have ABS, i can clearly think of at least 3 times I probably would have died over my 2.5 years of ownership, all of which, were me playing when I shouldn't have been, under estimating the big girls ability to put on speed, and having to SLAM on the brakes just before a turn because I overcooked it coming into the turn.

 

[Dawg68]

Rocket....Honda.....HD.... does it really matter? I believe it's about attitude, not age. i have one boy whom I'd trust explicitly....the other, love him dearly but he would most likely have an upset. Too cocky. In the end they will do what they will and we can only hope for the best. If i remember correctly, we were there once...and we are still here learning from our misteaks.

Good luck

 

[ThisGuy]

I would only ever recommend an R3 to someone who's got plenty of seat time on a Liter bike, or a lot of time (like years and years) riding.

I definitely fell in the category of buying an R3 prematurely by most standards, and it worked out fine. But that's ONLY because I respected it from the start, put in MANY hours of focused practice learning to control smaller bikes, MANY hours of focused practice on the Rocket, and MANY hours of concentrated study of motorcycling books. Very few riders I've met take it that seriously. My skills advanced much more quickly than a rider who is just logging miles.

When I bought the Rocket at 22, I didn't have a great many miles or years experience (maybe 2000 miles off and on over five years), but did just fine, including zero accidents among some of the most dangerous commuting in Europe. It really comes down to attitude, self-disciple, practice, and maturity.

If i remember correctly, we were there once...and we are still here learning from our misteaks.

Always learning. But to be fair, when I was "there once" I was on an old 200cc 18hp Kawasaki with little traffic surrounded by cornfields. It was a far more forgiving situation to be young and dumb.

 

[Claviger]

Sounds like we went about it similarly @ThisGuy in an analytical manner, learning a skill, not going out and trying to hoon like a pro on day one. I read a TON before I ever bought a bike about technique, body position, vehicle dynamics etc, I was in it to learn to do it right.

I would say we fall in the definite minority, which is why I was able to successfully learn on a liter bike and you were able to handle a rocket so early on.

 

[majikdoc]

Sounds like we went about it similarly @ThisGuy in an analytical manner, learning a skill, not going out and trying to hoon like a pro on day one. I read a TON before I ever bought a bike about technique, body position, vehicle dynamics etc, I was in it to learn to do it right.

I would say we fall in the definite minority, which is why I was able to successfully learn on a liter bike and you were able to handle a rocket so early on.

I like all these answers. That being said, he is an adult who can make his own decisions. Just don't ask me to participate.

 

[mr hunt]

Good call brother.

I learned to ride on a Daytona 955i, NOT A GOOD CHOICE. The ONLY thing that prevented me from having a wreck, and i do mean ONLY, is the long throw throttle on that bike, it takes like 70% rotation to hit full throttle. That said, it meant I was comfortable with power wheelies, rear wheel spin mid corner, and head shake within my first month on two wheels as they were/are part of riding a Daytona 955i. All three of those are pretty easy to induce on an R3, so, a month in on a cruiser, nope, he's not going to have those skills yet.

The R3 has a short, 1/4 turn throttle and SUPER easy to write a check with the power of the bike that the brakes and chassis can't cash into a turn. I would only ever recommend an R3 to someone who's got plenty of seat time on a Liter bike, or a lot of time (like years and years) riding.

If my R3 didn't have ABS, i can clearly think of at least 3 times I probably would have died over my 2.5 years of ownership, all of which, were me playing when I shouldn't have been, under estimating the big girls ability to put on speed, and having to SLAM on the brakes just before a turn because I overcooked it coming into the turn.

Are we related?

 

[jepler]

I was brought up as a farm kid owning bikes from early age and having scars to prove we learnt the hard way. My father preached at me when I became of age, saying when he was kid if he made a mistake on a bend there wouldn't be a car there to hit but there would be for me. Thirty eight years later we can't move for cars, make a mistake and your very lucky to get away with it. I said no to my son, useless he did all the coarses and started with something smallish the answer would be no. Really in my day a 250cc was considered to fast let alone a Rocket!