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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Kids on back of big motorbikes ....???

167 replies

MrsEricBana · 06/08/2012 23:01

It is DH birthday today and for his "birthday treat" he is hiring a big motorbike for next weekend. He not ridden for 14 years but back then he did have a big bike for 2 years or so and rode it a lot with no mishaps.
So he wants to take ds (11) and dd (9) out on it next weekend and I am not at all happy about it.
The plan is that he picks it up and rides it for a couple of hours to get the hang of it then he takes them out, round the block at first the further afield, on country roads, if they are comfortable with it. The man at the (reputable) bike place who will hire it to him said not safe for dd as she cannot reach the footrests properly but ok for ds. Dh has some plan to reverse the footrests so she can reach them.
I am not at all happy about this and have tried to put my foot down re the dcs going on it but dh is just not having it. I am not keen for dh to do it either but obviously no leg to stand on there, it's up to him. I would be less worried if he was a regular rider now (and dd could reach the footrests).
WWYD, dh thinks I am far too risk averse generally?

OP posts:
PatricPackard · 10/08/2012 09:55

I got as far as "might push it on country roads". Like the bastard who killed my cousin's boyfriend then, or the one who smashed through the windscreen of a car, killing three others besides himself and leading to my ex's pal having a mental breakdown and losing his job (he was in car behind and only witness, spending ten minutes alone in the dark with that carnage while waiting for 999s has totally fucked him up).

I don't have words for people who ride bikes dangerously.

FutureNannyOgg · 10/08/2012 10:06

We have a running "joke" in our house (DH and I both bikers) that the first sunny sunday of the year is "ride like a twat day", when the fair weather riders take their bikes out of the winter bubblewrap and try to ride like they never had a break. We try to keep off the roads that day, between idiot bikers and pissed off drivers its a nightmare. 14 years is a lot more than 4/5 months.

wineandroses · 10/08/2012 10:10

Please don't let your 'D'H browbeat you into letting your DC ride the bike. WTAF is all the screaming and ranting about? Is that his usual tactic to get his own way? You've been told by a number of experienced riders on here that his idea is crazy. Screaming at you won't make the risk to your DC go away. Tell him to fuck off. If he wants to re-live his youth (2 years of biking 14 years ago) then he can get on with it - why does he need to include the kids? Won't them simply seeing him on it be enough to polish his ego?

Your prat of a husband wants to be seen as the gung-ho daring-do dad by the kids, and sod what you want, or even what they want (what's all this about pushing his DS so much that he has bad falls off his cycle? Way to make your kids hate sports).

Sorry, but he is a complete twat. And you need to stop worrying about his reaction and tell him NO.

MrsKeithRichards · 10/08/2012 10:10

Like others I grew up on the back of a bike, some my best memories involve my dad and I going for runs.

My dad is almost 60 now and still rides. He came of a few weeks ago. Nothing serious but for someone who is very careful and has rode constantly for over 40 years it was a fright. Not a wake up call, he's never needed one.

He hasn't always been a saintly biker but had two big needed-metal-in-his-legs type crashes. These were when he was in his twenties.

When he came of a few weeks ago I ran my mum up to hospital. I was worried but she was a bit 'meh' on the surface. I asked her why and she explained after the big crashes when they were first married she had said to my dad she would never make him choose but kind of numbed herself to the thought of losing him on a bike. She goes out with him, let me go with him but kind of refuses to put herself through any emotional turmoil.

I hope your dh sees sense. He sounds like the worst kind of wannabe/never was biker.

EmilieFloge · 10/08/2012 10:23

I've just found this thread, don't know if my perspective is any use at all but anyway.

I've held a full bike license for about 11 years (first two years restricted, but automatic clearance to ride anything after that) and have ridden throughout that period apart from about 3 years when I did not own a bike. (when ds2 was small). I rode every day for a few years, in all weathers, all conditions including the sort of rain you cannot see through, with an open face helmet, sliding around in deep water in the dark.

Stupid perhaps but it was that or no way home...and it was before I had children.

I'm an experienced rider and a good rider. In other people's opinion too.
But I would not take a child on the back of my bike.

Your DH is being foolish and a bully, to boot, by the sound of it - how dare he make you feel so scared and uncomfortable.

Is he normally like this? If so that's another issue. But anyway. He is foolish and stupid to consider doing this.

First off, he has not ridden for fourteen years. I stopped for three and when I started again I was a danger to myself and others - not through being ignorant, but because I was no longer used to riding a bike. Any bike. And this was after many years of riding before I took that break.

It took me literally months to become comfortable and confident on a bike again. It was awful. I could ride, and had no accidents but I did not feel secure and that is CRUCIAL to safe riding.

Your DH will not be confident or comfortable on a bike. End of.

Secondly, it is not one of those laid back ones like a goldwing with an 'armchair' for the pillion, it is a proper sports bike (if he takes the TT again) or even a low rider like a Harley, which has no protection for the pillion apart from how tightly they hold on.

Modifying the footpegs is insane. And will make very little difference and anyway you can't take two pillion passengers at once Hmm

Having poorly fitting helmets is the difference between the person living or dying, quite often.
(sorry to be blunt)

and country roads are among the most dangerous circumstances in which to ride, because there is usually no visibility, plenty of blind corners, hedges, could be horses, farm machinery, and often speeding cars coming the other way. They are dangerous and I avoided them at all costs during my riding career (only just sold my bike - another baby on the way).

I hope all these arguments further reinforce your determination not to let him take your kids on the back this weekend. He is being an utter dick and if he wants a fight about it, tell him to talk to your biker friend on MN.

Please stick to your guns and don't be bullied into this. It's wrong, stupid and basically a disaster waiting to happen.

EmilieFloge · 10/08/2012 10:30

Sorry, just reading back, I was confused - he had a Triumph originally? But is thinking of riding a Harley for this...no, no, no. Not a good idea in any circumstances...totally different bike.

Good in that it will be slower and less acceleration but also it'll be so new to him, he won't have a clue how to handle it.

Snorbs is correct in every way.

hope things go alright for you today x

MrsKeithRichards · 10/08/2012 10:30

I would quite like to hear from the dh actually or see him post this on a biker forum, see how far he gets.

I want my licence before my 30th but babies and things keep getting in my way! My dad is fully supportive although I suspect he'd rather I didn't. Dh has no interest in bikes at all.

Anyway I think it's been really nice to hear from the proper bikers on this thread. Too often people get hysterical over bikes.

MrsKeithRichards · 10/08/2012 10:31

I'm also quite surprised at somewhere actually hiring out such a bike to such a novice.

MrsKeithRichards · 10/08/2012 10:32

Sorry for posting lots but I suspect the dh hasn't told them he's not ridden for so long and even then only had 2 years experience. People that deal with bikes usually give a shit.

20weeksandcounting · 10/08/2012 10:38

They do hire them - there is usually a huge excess.

If he posted this on any of the biker forums I frequent he'd be told he is a twat in no uncertain terms - kids on bikes is a split topic even there - but everyone agrees that proper gear and experience is essential.

I also see friends who didn't see the harm in having DCs on their bikes - massively backtrack once the DCs in question were theirs and not someone elses.

MaryHansack · 10/08/2012 10:38

he hasn't ridden for 14 years? and he wants to take his dd who cannot reach the footpegs out on 'country roads'?
tell him to do one.

MaryHansack · 10/08/2012 10:39

also as emiliefloge said, isn't riding a harley quite a specific skill?
twat.

MrsKeithRichards · 10/08/2012 10:40

I've just never came across anyone hiring a bike unless on holiday because bikers generally have bikes I guess!

thixotropic · 10/08/2012 10:46

Future nanny ogg - we call it 'the cull' and similarly stay off the roads. We live in the middle if prime biking country, and you can hear sirens all day on Those lovely sunny biking days.

O.p. I have access to accident statistics as part of my job. I see it every time I view the figures for a bit of country road: Motorbike, plus passenger . Fatal. Attributed to inexperience.

Makes me teary as it is. If I ever see one involving a child I have to creep out for a cry in the loos.

Don't be a statistic.please.

EmilieFloge · 10/08/2012 10:46

Mary, yes, but riding any bike is a specific skill - I don't say that lightly - I've had 6 different bikes and all were very, very different to ride, and took a lot of getting used to in order to feel confident and not make silly mistakes.

For instance the one with the dodgy gearbox that would seize unexpectedly - that would be very dangerous is you didn't know how to handle it, the one with the constantly falling off footpeg which you had to kick every now and then to reinstate, the one that ran on on cylinder most of the time, then would make an almighty pop and start doing things properly - and there are different gearings, hugely different braking and acceleration speeds and this sort of thing would be obvious to anyone with an ounce of sense about bikes.

Which is why I worry so much about the oP's DH. He's clearly having some kind of mid life crisis and nothing will stand in his way.

Pantah630 · 10/08/2012 10:46

Sorry Snorbs Ultraglides carry their weight very low and across the whole of the bke, difficult to explain but they're a bugger to manoeuve onto the brake tester for MOTs, modern Hinkley Triumphs very high so top heavy, just as difficult to manoeuve unless you're long of leg :) I doubt he was riding a real Thunderbird, much more lightweight and easy to ride slowly, it will have been a 90's one. Even then was he a car driver that occassionally rode his bike, the majority these days unfortunately, or a biker that occassionally drives a car, doubtful from what the OPs said.

OP to cover yourself without causing more arguments at home, can you invent an urgent reason to visit relatives this evening and get stuck there? It may help save your sanity and your arse of a husband his bollocks if he defies you.

Alternatively PM me the name of the bike shop, it may be worth a call so they double check their insurance for pillion cover on an inexperienced rider - I certainly wouldn't let him out on any of ours ;)

20weeksandcounting · 10/08/2012 10:46

I have - I have a friend who dropped one on a roundabout (hence I know a out high excess) - it's usually high end bikes - bit like the companies that hire out top of the range cars.

20weeksandcounting · 10/08/2012 10:48

bike hire

20weeksandcounting · 10/08/2012 10:50

thixotropic can I ask - anecdotally - I believe pillions fare worst in accidents - are there stats that bear this out?

EmilieFloge · 10/08/2012 10:51

Yes Pantah I assumed Hinckley rather than Meriden, for some reason I'd have liked him more if it had been a proper Tbird Smile

thixotropic · 10/08/2012 10:53

20 weeks, I can't always filter that info out, but yes it would appear to be the case.

EmilieFloge · 10/08/2012 10:54

I want to add a note in all honesty - when I was younger and did take pillion, I often found it stabilised the bike a little bit, but then, I was very light and so was the bike.

and I was very very used to handling it.
I think this would not be the case with a bike I had never ridden before. I think it would be a disaster.

Pantah630 · 10/08/2012 10:55

Have pm'd you :)

thixotropic · 10/08/2012 10:55

Op, you have a lot of bikers here. Where in the UK are u?
We could organize a blockade!

Pantah630 · 10/08/2012 10:56

If it had been a real one, he wouldn't be considering a Harley ;)

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