Daughter Starting to Ride

1739 Views 19 Replies 14 Participants Last post by KCochran, Jul 11, 2015

vgreid

Discussion Starter · Mar 22, 2015

My daughter just turned 21 and bought herself a 2011 Kaw Ninja 250 with 1,000 miles on it. Just starting out, will take the MSF class next weekend. Her bf rides a Suz Savage and a Gixxer 600. Between my bro's Yam, these bikes and my two, we will have a full garage this summer ... looking forward to some warmer weather and good riding times!

For her bday, I picked her up a new riding jacket and signed up both of us for a Ride Like a Pro course in a few weeks. I thought that would be a good way to help her develop good skills, and I am sure it will be good for me too. In the meantime, we will get some practice under her belt, need to get 1,000 miles before the RLAP course. I'll be spending a lot of time talking about defensive driving, hoping that she understands just how invisible she will be. We are dressing the bike up in pink to match her helmet and new jacket to help with visibility.

Any suggestions on what else I should do to help her start riding safely?

Here she is with her new ride (she is just a passenger for now). She is really excited (and I have to admit, so am I)!

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vgreid

Discussion Starter · #8 · Mar 23, 2015

Thanks, I plan on spending a lot of time with them getting her some practice. I really like the idea about having a lead and a tail rider to give her some space from traffic.

Yeah, I rode the Ninja and it needs to rev! Very different from the Shadow and XC. It's very light though, should be a good starter bike. Still, she will use the MSF bikes at her class next week.

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vgreid

Discussion Starter · #16 · Mar 30, 2015 (Edited)

Thanks for the suggestions and thoughts guys, going to be a fun and safe summer (I hope!). This will be a great reward for what was a crazy busy fall and winter, just getting my head above water again now.

She did the safety class this weekend and passed the endorsement test on the first try, she seems to be picking it up well, and this is her first time on a bike, besides being pillion.

So, when she got home, the first thing she wanted to do was go for a ride together. So, here we are, heading out for our inaugural ride. We kept it in the neighborhood for now, will work on more experience and work our way up. By this time in the evening, it was back in the 30's, so probably just as well. In case you didn't figure it out, I'm the ugly one

Someone asked about her bf riding's style, he is on a Gixxer. From what I have seen, he is a tame and responsible person, and has actually helped calm her down. I am talking to him though about the risk of taking her beyond her skill level, and he gets it. At some point, all you can do is just hope you have taught them well (gulp!).

Oh, and the Shadow will be coming out of storage next week. Battery was toast ... original since 2006, new one was just delivered. So, the stable is already full, now gotta find room for 3!

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vgreid

Discussion Starter · #19 · Jul 11, 2015

Just a follow up that my daughter and I recently did the Ride Like A Pro class and we thought it was great. We BOTH learned a lot. Actually, the eye opener for me was that if the skill of everyone that took the class is indicative of your typical rider on the street, we all need to be working on our skills!

The improvement of everyone was incredible throughout the day. Basically focused on slow speed skills and safety, lots of friction zone work, slalom, u-turn boxes, tear drops, clover leafs, until you can put it all together to walk through the course. Everyone found it challenging, but by the end of the course everyone had a enough of a handle that we could complete the entire course in a single file.

My daughter did great, enjoyed the class and fit right in with the bigger bikes. Here are a few pics.

Emergency braking and evasive action

Look to turn