Young Riders... Help!

21!!!

18 is one thing... But do I really need to wait till 21?

I think Ill talk it over with them and I have yet to do any real street luge , but yeah Im not a speedfreak but I got into downhill sports... I mean I had a 325 dollar skateboard (thats a lot for a piece of wood) specially designed for speed and I would back off the speed at around 35-40 from fear, these are pretty slow speeds for many riders...

That could have been due to a crash into a dirt wall at 30mph and another that landed me in the hospital for a night ...

But I definetly think I would be a very safe motorcycle rider...

There is this 6-8 week thing we learned about in School this year, its a summer program to for community service in Mexico and other Central American and South American countries, its volunteer but is a great thing to have on a college app... I was going to work over the summer (to save up for a bike) but maybe I can convince them to help me out and get me riding sooner if I do it...

I am sure they would not mind me staying out of trouble, and it is a pretty cool looking experience, going to live with a family for 2 months!

Ill consider it but if they wanted to remove my right to use it, trust me they wouldnt need legal reasoning to ...

So yeah I am going to use grades and possibly this mexican trip as leverage, hopefully more the trip then the grades as while I am confident I can get them, I would be pretty devasted if I couldnt get the bike, for say one missing assignment!

But I guess I just need to sit down, tell them the bike I am interested in (Kawasaki Ninja 250R) is affordable, and not a super fast sports bike.... Tell them about the safety gear I plan to wear every time I ride (atleast leather jacket, full face helmet and gloves but I am looking into full leathers and possibly riding boots, but usually I dont see sports bikers with big boots, or atleast I dont notice it, I usually wear skateboard brand shoes)....

Also I will tell them I will be the main person paying for all these goodies, but obviously would not mind some support financially....

Last I plan to drive to a very large parking lot that is 99 percent empty on weekends, and practice all kinds of things like braking while cornering, slalom, emergency braking, shifting... swerving etc... etc...

I just hope they will help me out as I have caught the motorcycle bug REAL bad... I really want to take the MSF course but I should probably wait till its a bit closer to when I would realistically get a bike, so when I get it everything is still fresh in my mind....

I was one of those guys who didn't start riding until I was in my 30's. I had a young neighbor whose dad couldn't ride because he had back problems. His 16 year old and I had a ball out on the trails. Years later, my wife and I had a son, and one of my biggest pleasures in life was riding with him. I think your dad is really missing out if you both don't get bikes and go riding together. Now, my son is age 31 and has MS. It affects his eyesight, so he can't ride. We both miss riding together. Now, I'm age 67, have a brand new cruiser, and nobody around my home to ride with. Motorcycles are something that bonds a father and his son like nothing else. Now, it's years later, and every time we're together, we sit and laugh about all the crazy and stupid things we did together out on the trails. I would give almost anything for my son's eyesight to improve so we could take trips together. Now I have tears in my eyes, enough said.

Guys... Update on my situation... Talked briefly with mom about getting a permit sometime next year, I was thinking maybe begining of summer, or perhaps tax season (when I get all my income tax back ...) but there are some issues...

My dad is still highly against me getting one, and at the least will not help at all finanically...

I am thinking I can get the bike for under $2000's, and then it shouldnt cost more then $500's to get all the rider gear, right? But then there is the motorcycle MSF course, and insurance!

So yeah first off my dad thinks he will have a bike within 6 months, I was thinking it might be fun to take the MSF course with him... So we will see how that goes...

Also, any ideas on how I can ride a bike on my dads insurane policy? First off it would be much cheaper and second, I dont think I could get one with just a permit and probably even until I am 18 and have a license... A license at under 18 still wont get me my own insurance by many companies.

Also I have a hobby of mine which I personally think I would enjoy motorcycle's more then, but it could definetly help me get into a good college... But it costs a LOT of money (I spend well over 2,000's a year)... I mean I could drop that and would have plenty of money for a bike, but the parents would be WAYYYY against that.... Any thoughts?

Last the reason I really like the idea of a bike is well first off I have a fascination with anything that rides in the open wind and you can tweak with add on parts... For example I am a big time longboard skateboard rider... While I have done downhill (speed) boarding, which would make me some like a speed freak, I currently enjoy low speed carving which would be very much similar to a relaxed ride on a windy road... I often will try new bearings, wheels with different types of grip properties etc.... to see how they effect the ride... But I am looking for something I can carry on like this in my lifetime (cant skateboard forever!), and well a motorcycle does that, and gives me affordable transportation and good gas mileage...

So ya, looks like I just need the $$$ and I am set

I don't know what your hobby is to help you get into college, but think about this. Unless you go into a trade of some sort that everyone needs and is willing to pay good money for, college should be your number one priority at this point in your life. I didn't get my college degree until I was in my early 30's. I was tired of seeing young people going into management training positions and going right by me in salary, so I went to college to stop that. Work your butt off now on important things, meaning getting excellent grades in high school and getting a college degree. THEN, you can buy any bike you want with no problem because you'll have the money to do it. I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but I did it backwards just like you're trying to do, and it's not easy depending on everyone else. Look and dream - it's fun, too.

Hey, my wife is like your mom, she hates motorcycles, too. When she read your comments, she said, "Why don't you sell him yours?" Yeah, sure, in her wildest dreams! Take care.

Thanks guys I am going to start saving up, and well as long as I do well in school and with my regular driving career (get my license next month) I think Ill be fine... Sometime next summer it should be fairly easy to pay for a bike and a bunch of goodies and also to make plenty over the summer to continue paying insurance....

And the hobby is model rocketry, now there is your model rocketry you may have taken your kids to the school to launch them up 500', and then there is my rocketry ...

Where we do things like this...

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...la+monster+launch+rocket&gbv=2&svnum=10&hl=en

As you can see its expensive, and it could be that extra difference between me and the other 100,000 guys with my grades, trying to get into an engerneering school... It has also brought me contacts in NASA and a professor at Stanford University, which could clearly help.