The least enjoyable ride ever...

[CousinDupree]

S2r said:

My son passed his moped CBT on his 16th birthday on a twist and go. We spent the next day understanding how the gears worked (me running up and down beside him), the following day we went out.

We've been out a number of times since and each has been great fun, although somewhat slow and a bit nerve wracking in the beginning - showing him the lines around corners or following and then having a chat about it is fun. It's also made me think a bit more about my riding as well especially when doing 20mph round corners I would have normally taken somewhat faster !

16 year olds on mopeds are the future of motorcycling, and to hear them constantly dismissed and "wait until you're 17 and get a 125" type comments is quite sad. A moped will always trump a push bike or the bus at 16 and can lead onto a life time of bike ownership if / when they get the bug...

Absolutely, it was invaluable to me. I did 8k miles on my AR50 and did my moped test too, as it was just a trip around the block back then. Great to be able to carry girls on the back..

[NS400R]

S2r said:

16 year olds on mopeds are the future of motorcycling, and to hear them constantly dismissed and "wait until you're 17 and get a 125" type comments is quite sad. A moped will always trump a push bike or the bus at 16 and can lead onto a life time of bike ownership if / when they get the bug...

I do get where you are coming from. It's a difficult decision. But I do believe that the UK moped is a dangerous device and I'd rather have my child alive than dead. I've seen car drivers treat them worse than cyclists.

By way of balance, at 17 I sourced a full power 2 stroke for him. None of this restricted 4 stroke nonsense. He now loves biking, has his A2 licence and wants a bigger bike. So I must be doing something right. He still has the DT125R...

[2ndclasscitizen]

NNK said:

My least enjoyable ride ever was today, a 15km commute on my wifes Vespa 250 GTS.
Normally no problem but about 2km from Auckland harbour bridge it started to absolutely pour down, my ride to that point is quite sheltered so my next surprise was the huge gust of wind and the flashing signs warning of 'gusting winds, extra caution required' all while peering over the side unable to make out the sea 75m below as my visor wouldnt clear inside and out.
Now Kiwi's are awful drivers at the best of times but when you add in rain & wind, oh dear.
I made it to work but think the Vespa will be parked up for a few days while this weather sorts itself out

Sydney Harbour Bridge is similarly miserable in bad weather and downright terrifying when the wind is up.

[James-m5qjf]

I’ll be actively encouraging my kids not to ride (on the road). Massively hypocritical but not worth it IMO. Plenty more fun to be had on two wheels off road or on track.

[Gee68]

James-m5qjf said:

I’ll be actively encouraging my kids not to ride (on the road). Massively hypocritical but not worth it IMO. Plenty more fun to be had on two wheels off road or on track.

I'm sorry to say but i'm exactly the same.
I've never wanted my son on a moped as I don't think me and his mother would ever rest easy till he was in.

Bought him an MX bike and we do track day's together(or did pre virus) but since turning 17 he's way more into cars than bikes.