Modern Vespa

Does anyone take their children for rides on their scooter?

My kids are old enough to ride their own scooters, if they wanted to. My grandchildren are too little, but I wouldn't be inclined to give them rides even if they were bigger. I think it's too risky.

I put my eight-year-old between my legs - in front of me. I go about 15 or 20 miles an hour and just drop them off at school and cruise around the block etc. I am asking because my 15-year-old has expressed an interest in sitting on the back - I just don't feel comfortable and I'm just wondering what people do

I might give a 15-year-old a ride, but only if they had complete and proper gear: helmet, gloves, jacket, long pants, and boots.

I hope I'm not taking this out of context, but think this is equally as important. Driver comfort with the situation is paramount.

When my kids were young they had to wait until they were big enough to fit a helmet properly and fit the bike: They had to be able to reach the footpegs securely and hold on properly.

I've seen people buzzing along in city traffic with a toddler or small child balanced on the gas tank more than once. I'd like to follow that type home and slap him about with a tire iron.

the sport is dangerous enough without throwing stupidity into the mix!

You mean like this literal baby in Napoli?

My earliest memories of time with Grandpa George were on his Cushman helping 'drive' it through his scrap/junk yard trails, but he never took me off that private property and what seemed fast and fun to a child of about 4 was probably a fast walk in reality. My sons were on motorcycles with me, with gear on, once they were old enough to ride safely and legs long enough for feet on passenger foot pegs.

I take my 7 and 10 year old all the time. Usually not far, but I've done 20 minute rides every once in a while. Took my 10 year old on a back roads ride up to the OK border. Was about 45 minute one way. Stopped, had a snack, and stopped at stores all along the way.

No matter when/where, they have helmets and gloves on the entire time.

My 4 year old gets rides around the neighborhood, but that's it.

As stated, if you are uncomfortable with a pillion then I would not take him. If the question is just regarding if I do/would take my son on the back then, yes, I do. Full gear for us both and I feel safer with a topbox and/or sissy bar. He is 14 and some of our best times are the breaks where we discuss what we have seen and smelled. He wants his own bike one day and I hope that I can help impart better skills and judgment by letting him start by being a passenger and seeing how seriously I take safety.
JEB

I have taken all of my kids on bikes from the time they were very little. I was taken when I was very little, and when I was 16 years old my dad on his bike with my mom on back and me on my bike (honda 350) with my two year old brother in front to my aunts house about five miles away on the street in california with no helmets, helmets were reserved for racing in the dirt.

My second to the youngest would fall asleep on the dirtbike cruising around the neighborhood as a toddler with my wife riding an older daughter on the back next to us. I would have to hold her with one hand and shift without the clutch and find neutral before a stop.

I brought a puppy home in a paper sack and took him everywhere with me for years on a bike. As he got older I folded the sack down so he could feel the wind over his head, within just a few months we did away with the sack altogether, again on the street in california with no helmet.

I currently ride my youngest all over Reno on the back of a Liberty 150. Constantly coaching about how to stay as far forward as possible and to make sure their weight is on their feet if anything looks sketchy ahead. Ok to have butt touching seat but weight needs to be on their feet for evasive action.

Of course what I do for a living as an Ironworker bridge builder has more risk most people will ever have. Also I grew up racing motorcycles (and bicycles), when my dad put me with my brother instead of with my mom it was for a reason, he had seen me ride many times and watched me pull off some pretty incredible stuff. At about 13 years old I read an article in dirt bike magazine with sketches and diagrams about how to block pass and I got angry because now everybody that could read would know how to do what I figured out all on my own just from riding.

It really bothers me to hear some people say that I can't do what I do and should be beaten with a tire iron just because they can't do what I do. I suppose I shouldn't be allowed to walk high iron either but that's what I do for a living. I have always thought that you should not be so afraid of dying that you don't live.

I remember reading about how Reg Pridmore or maybe it was his son Jason that had a journalist passenger sideways on the track. Now if an experienced racer can be sliding the bike around the track with a passenger surely it is ok for me to give my kids rides at a young age staying well within my limits. I think the problem is that some people have no idea what their limits are, and this is absolutely true if you have never exceeded them.

I agree with others that if you are not comfortable you should probably not be doing it but I absolutely disagree with those that say I can't or shouldn't again just because they can't or shouldn't. Yes there is risk but also in the hands of an expert that is well aware of the risks and in control of the situation, I just have a real hard time with people telling me I can't because I have so many times successfully.

A few years ago I went to a double funeral of a friend who while riding with his wife pillion had an accident with some deer. While at the funeral I saw another friend who had brought his son in a wheelchair, son had broken arms and leg from a deer running into him while on a motorcycle. There is always a chance something like that could happen or any other freak accident but it should still be up to the individual to decide on whether or not to take the risk.

It's one thing to take risks yourself and another thing to put little kids in risky situations unnecessarily.

Always, but only for short jaunts.

I used to.

Vespa is a bit tricky for a small child sitting in the back, 'cause the footpegs are so far away. Otherwise, especially with a topbox/backrest combo, it seems to be a cool place to be

I was aware of the risks - but also of the fact, that if I wasn't whisked around at the back of a Honda CB900F as a kid, I might not have found the pleasure of motorcycles in my life. Safer life, yes, but a lot duller...

When I was still at University, I used to take my son to preschool on my Honda XL185S.
He had a helmet and sat on the tank, holding on to the cross-bar.
I held him tight with my knees, looking over his head.
I stopped at a traffic light and a motorcycle cop pulled up alongside.
He smiled and said he was happy that I had a helmet for him.

I rode most carefully whenever Alan was with me.
Nowadays there are different sensitivities with all manner of dangers (real and exaggerated) brought to the fore.



I did it then on my Honda.
I'd do it again now on my Vespa.

Yes I do using sense with the grandchildren and son's and daughters when younger.
Bought up on motorcycle's father never would have a car after incident in WW2 in desert in Africa when ambulance he was in the back attending the wounded run over a landmine killing the driver in the front.
Dad had sidecars when I was younger but after about 8yrs old I was always on back of solo machine.

Our son Sam was only one when we moved to Bermuda for three years.

Once there, we found that each house was only allowed one car, but as many motorcycles and scooters (under 100cc) as needed.

So I quickly bought a 100 cc Suzuki FB100.

Once Sam was old enough to ride in relative safety, I would carry him on short rides around the island (it is a tiny place, only 21 square miles)

On these rides I used a luggage shoulder strap to strap him to me in front of me.

And on almost every ride, after a few minutes, I would notice his head drooping forwards and side to side.

He would fall asleep.

But these rides instilled a love of motorcycles.

He bought one with his first paycheck after college.

And has three bikes now.

Bill

Yes, i take my 8 year old son with me. I had to install foot peg extenders for him and i have the top case with the backrest. He's very comfy on the back and enjoys our rides very much.
He's been riding with me on several custom bikes from 6 years old. Always with a sissy bar installed (and helmet and gloves of course).

I vaguely remember riding with my father on a Lambretta when i was about 4 years old. That would be in the early 60's. I sat in front of him and i think i was holding on to something in front of me. Can't exactly remember. I do remember having the time of my life Soon after that my father bought his first car.

Also besides instilling the love of motorcycles and bicycles it is how you bring them along, have their focus when you teach them about how to properly ride pillion.

How many people here coach their passengers? How many break it down into detail about what to do when and how to recognize it coming? Many good dirt riding classes will preach over and over again elbows up! Why? Because that is how you position yourself on the bike with proper form weight slightly forward so the front wheel is weighted slightly more than the rear.

The same techniques apply to street riding. When Kenny Roberts was a rookie in Grand Prix road racing Barry Sheene said he would not live long. Kenny revolutionized road racing and was a many time world champion. After that he became a race manager for Yamaha and trains the best road racers in the world with XR 100's on 1/8th mile oval dirt tracks, this is where the technique is perfected and where I cut my teeth at halftime of the speedway races with the rest of the kids in Reno NV.

Yeah you don't want to expose your kids to unnecessary risk but if they are started young enough by the time you see them zipping through traffic while still small enough to be in front they know what to do because they were brought along slowly and relatively safely from a young age.

Anytime you have a passenger of any age you are exposing them to risk, and they are trusting you with their life. I understand that there are those who think it should not be done and I agree it should not be done carelessly but there are also those who think motorcycles and scooters in general are too risky and they should be legislated out of existence, where do you draw the line?

I personally have no problem with an advanced skills test. And not just for motorcycles. But saying that someone else cannot or should not I think is too far.

I haven't taken either kid yet. My oldest is 7 and his sister is 4. I 100% plan on taking each of them on rides. I've ridden with them on my bicycle and an e-bike and I don't see any difference other than speed. Which in my case has no bearing as their school is 5 blocks away and that's the main time I'd be riding with them on my scoot. It's not any less safe than the e-bike which can go 22mph. Sure my Vespa can go over 60 but I'd not drive that fast to school even if it was possible to do. There's a light or stop sign every 250ft or so. I have a back rest/spare tire rack just for them. They'll be fine. I don't take advice from fear mongers. If we did no one would ever leave the house.

Kids require too many bungee cords.

My daughter is 19 and works at the mall near her mother's house up in the Valley. Sometimes I'll drive her to work on my Vespa and she thinks it's cool. If you have a teenage daughter who is not embarrassed to be seen with you then you've done something right.

I take our 9 year old down our long driveway from the street sometimes. My wife gets pissy if I suggest we go on longer rides because it's "dangerous". It's a bit irrational, but she's a patient and wonderful wife/mom/person, so I respect her request and keep our rides short.

One of my favourite things as a dad was my kids ambushing me in the driveway when I got home from work and demanding a ride. Just loops of the front lawn but good times.

At least you had a Dad.

I was grown in an enormous Vat.

It shows

We love you anyway Bill Dog!

That must have been very taxing.

Yes

I take my two oldest sometimes, they're 16 and 13. They wear a full face helmet, jacket, gloves, pants and shoes when I take them and I make sure to take it easy. They both love it.

I am surprised that in this era of more and more rules that they have not
made riding kids on motorized two wheelers illegal.

My nature is to resist the proliferation of more and more rules. I suggest
that you all have the ability to make your own decisions.

Bob Copeland

Some of my best childhood memories are rides around the neighborhood on the backs of older adults (and teenagers) motorcycles. This is why I rode them myself as soon as I was old enough. In today's litigious world, I would never offer a neighborhood kid a ride. I think that's kind of sad.

Some of my fondest memories as a kid were the handful of rides on the back of my dad's motorcycle... bearhugging him the entire time with my (way too big for me) helmet pressed into his back.

He's long gone now, but I can still remember his pre-ride instruction:

'Don't burn your leg or melt your sneaker on the exhaust.. your Mom will kill me.'