Parents letting kids sit on my bike without permission, stupid and dangerous

[mybike]

Ladies,

Im not a mother but a female motor biker, something happened to me today thats inspired me to join this group and try and stop an accident happening. Today I came out of Asdas to find a mother letting her kids sit on my bike taking pics, without permission. its not that that bothers me (even though i admit i was annoyed, my bike was expensive and has custom paint work). A bike on a stand is a very dangerous thing and not a toy to drape you kids on. The exhaust is hot, screaming hot in fact so hot that it could burn through a childs leg/skin quite easily causing him/her to have months of painful skin grafts, also the three year old she'd plonked on my seat didnt look very steady at all, if the bike had fallen it could have caused serious damage to the child or worse crushed the child to death. I was horrified, when i told her politely to get the child off she laughed it off saying the kid wanted a ride. I tried to explain how dangerous it was and its not a toy, but the woman was oblivious to it all. I felt i had to come on here and explain the dangers.
I would have happily let them sit on it if i was there to supervise and she'd asked.

Please ladies dont let your kids sit on bikes without the owner there, its dangerous if you dont know what youre doing, i wont even go into the fact thats its my property, after all i wouldnt sit on your car fiddling with levers and mirrors etc would i? Most bikers are friendly, but my other half wouldnt have been so accommodating, in fact he wouldve picked the kid up and dumped him on the floor! And not very politely either...

Please have more respect and sense, bikes are/can be dangerous!

Thank you

[INeedNewShoes]

Some people just don't have the capacity to consider the possible dangers.

This is a useful post! The hot exhaust wouldn't have occurred to me I have to say, but then I would never be so daft as to mess around with someone else's property anyway.

[HunterHearstHelmsley]

The thing is, if the child had been hurt, the mum will have blamed you.

[MaudOnceMore]

You're quite right. My husband has a bike - not such a nice one as yours by the sound of it - and will happily help little children perch on it if they want to "ride". But clambering onto an unattended bike in a car park is a very bad idea indeed, for all the reasons you mention.

[Moreisnnogedag]

Jeez I wouldn't let my child sit on someone's bike, not just for the risk of it falling on them but if it topples and gets scratched it can be very expensive!

[insancerre]

Some people are just so rude
I think I'm with your husband on this one

[HerodZackHunt]

Stupid parenting. Follow them and dump your boots and bum on their bonnet. Heavily.

[ShelaghTurner]

Amazing. In a million years I would never plonk my kid on a random motorbike. Some people have the cheek of the devil. Not saying I wouldn't stand and admire it for a moment but it would be strictly from a distance.

Useful post though, the dangers aren't especially obvious I guess.

[mybike]

I cant stress how hot the exhaust gets, my boot is leather and sits by it when im riding sometimes touching it accidentally and its partially melted it, if it can do that to leather imagine what it will do to a three year olds skin? i wouldve happily let the kids on there but one at a time and not sat on the hot side. I just hope this message save a youngster getting months of painful skin grafts and to be honest the kids didnt look all that interested, it was the mother who wanted the pic, lol!

[JolieColombe]

The things some parents allow their kids to do never cease to amaze me. Mine don't like to hear 'no' (who does?) but that doesn't stop me saying it!

[StinkyMcgrinky]

My dads a biker and has also had this in a supermarket carpark. He obviously wasn't as tactful as you as he just asked the two parents who were gleefully placing both young kids on his (expensive) bike and taking photos if they "....have a bloody brain cell between you?!"

I had a motorbike fall on me when I was 4 after messing around in the garage (where I wasn't allowed!) and had severely bruised ribs, although it would have been much worse if it was one of my dads bigger bikes.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

YANBU.

Unfortunately people who are stupid enough to do this won't care about your post.

[Iliketeaagain]

Some things never cease to amaze me... why would anyone think it's acceptable to sit their kids on someone else's property!!😲

If dd asked me to sit on a motorbike parked in a car park, it would be a resounding NO whether the exhaust was hot or not.. the mind boggles at how some people think.

[TheTantrumCometh]

Wow, I'd didn't even know this was a thing. Who puts their kids on others peoples bikes

Some people are batshit

[SerialReJoiner]

I'm genuinely shocked that someone would (a) think this was acceptable and (b) have the cheek to actually do it! Insane.

I admire your restraint, op.

[Soubriquet]

Please ladies dont let your kids sit on bikes without the owner there, its dangerous if you dont know what youre doing, i wont even go into the fact thats its my property, after all i wouldnt sit on your car fiddling with levers and mirrors etc would i?

I would never even consider letting my children have a go on someone's bike.

And don't assume it's just mothers who would do this either. Some fathers are twats too.

I'm amazed you even have to start this thread really. Surely people are not this stupid?!

Like you said, they wouldn't let their kid get in a random car for a photo

[LoisWilkersonsLastNerve]

Who the hell plonks a kid on a bike without asking?! Grrr how rude. You were far too polite, I would have went apeshit. Yanbu.

[mybike]

Ive got to be honest, i did show an awful amount of restraint over it and quite proud of myself for being so polite on the outside (inside I was seething!). OH though has been known to pick a 17 year old off his bike by scruff of neck and help him along with his boot!

Some parents do seem to think their kids can do no wrong? But they honestly just wanted to 'go and play' they didn't look that interested about being on a bike.

Anyway hopefully someone will read this and think twice about doing it in the future.

Have a peaceful New Year everyone x

[ChanandlerBongsNeighbour]

My dad is a biker and one of his fingers was crushed beyond all saving when he tried to stop his bike from falling over and it landed on the concrete with his finger directly underneath. So heavy and so dangerous. I dread to think what would happen if one fell on a small child

[Weedsnseeds1]

I have a bike as well. This happens all the time. People have no common sense and no boundaries. I'm surprised this is the first time it's happened to you OP! I did once see small children scrambling over a bike, ice cream all over the place. Parents met request to remove children with a shower if abuse. The owner climbed on the bonnet if Dad's car and poured beer on it. I shouldn't condone that I suppose, but was inwardly cheering.

[gamerwidow]

I find it incredible that people do this. Why would people think it's ok to use people's property in this way. It's about like taking someone's coat off the back of their chair and trying it on for a bit or sitting in someone else's car uninvited. You just wouldn't do it (or so I thought!)

[magicstar1]

I've a bike too and have this all the time. If we're on a cafe etc. I always make sure it's in sight. I've been known to roar across the street at some gobshite sitting or putting their child on my bike.
On the other hand, if a parent is respectful of my property I'll offer to let the child sit up on it.

[ohfourfoxache]

Bloody hell, I didn't realise this was a "thing"

How stupid can people get? I'm amazed at the lack of safety awareness and the lack of respect for other people's property. Well done for being so restrained op

[MyHairNeedsASnip]

I burned my leg on my sisters exhaust as a child. Luckily it had cooled down a bit, but i still got a burn on my leg when I climbed on. It wouldn't cross my mind to put DC on a strangers bike, there's some strange people about.

[HirplesWithHaggis]

Back in my biking days, I lived on a road with only on-street parking. It was pretty quiet most of the year but was busy in the summer as there was a huge, beautiful beach a hundred yards away. You wouldn't believe the number of people I had to (nicely) warn about not letting small kids clamber over my bike - and it was The World's Ugliest Chop.

It was worse when we acquired The World's Ugliest Trike. Yes, there are lots of stupid people. And some of them breed.

[MaisieDotes]

My two year old is obsessed with bikes and makes a beeline for any he sees parked up.

Obviously I don't let him touch them, just because they're someone else's property, but in fact I didn't know about the hot exhaust pipe thing until a couple of weeks ago when DH mentioned it.

We stand about a yard away while he goes "wow! Cool bike!" on repeat. He doesn't know what he's talking about though so we end up spending a lot of time staring at mopeds.