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Advice for 16 yo First Motorcycle

I guess a bit more background is needed about the kid and his family. He will never do off-road riding, it's not in his wheelhouse of stuff to do. He strictly wants to be able to ride on the street and eventually on the highway. There is no way in h-e-double hockey sticks I will ever get him to ride on dirt. The cost of the bike is really not an issue so I'm not concerned about that. His dad has already told us he would buy whatever we thought was the right thing for him. This is also the first time he has really shown interest in something other than playing video games 24/7. The kids extremely smart and has a good head on his shoulder, but he is still going to be a 16 yo boy. And that in itself has inherent dangers.

Part of the plan is to take him to the motorcycle show in Dallas the first weekend in February. He can sit on some and kick some tires and take some pictures there. Then he can spend until May thinking about what he wants. Plus he can take the MSF course right after school is out for summer.

We will be there the end of the month for his birthday so we can talk to him more about the MSF, as I said that is not open for discussion...he is going to take it and pass before he gets a motorcycle.

Now as you all know 16 yo boys are fickle, so this exercise might be something that never goes anywhere. But since we don't have kids and have never mentored a kid to getting his/her first motorcycle the best place to get advice is here.
 
Get him to read some of the dual sport ride reports... He might change his mind about dirt ;-)
 
I started my son with no riding experience on a Yamaha tw200. It easy to get both feet on the ground and let them get comfortable of operating a bike. He put about 3k miles on it. He rode it around town and many miles in the dirt and know has moved to a bigger bike. It tops out at 60. So he rode all the back roads to get to where he was going which kept him out of traffic for the most part for 6 months in our area. I would never recommend putting a new rider into traffic. They need to be able to ride well enough that riding the bike is natural they don't have to think thru every step. When they have that down put them in the cell phone jungle and do a lot of praying.
 
I would never recommend putting a new rider into traffic. They need to be able to ride well enough that riding the bike is natural they don't have to think thru every step. When they have that down put them in the cell phone jungle and do a lot of praying.

Out of everything posted here, this is perhaps the single most important thing that will contribute to the success or failure of a new rider's riding career.
 
There is a lot of interesting thoughts here.

I am in the same boat, just a different river. My son is 16 and has been riding in the dirt since he was about 5. He doesn't have what I would say is a lot of experience due to limited time and place to ride, but he does well with the dirt bike. He has had his regular license for 5 months now and had his learners permit for a year. I think learning to negotiate traffic in a car is a good start. His truck has a standard transmission so shifting and clutch work are natural to him. He does want the "M" endorsement and his mother and I are both willing to support this. His current bike is an XR250R that is plated and this will be the start for the street. He will only ride with me and on back roads to start. The goal for him is to ride the Continental Divide Ride for his high school graduation.

I helped a 40 plus year old get started a few years ago. I recommended a 650 dual sport. He found it to be too much Ultimately he bought the XR250 that now belongs to my son because he realized he needed to be in the dirt or at least a parking lot for a long time to develop the skills needed.

That is a lot of rambling to say my vote is a small dual sport and lots of dirt or parking lot practice to become proficient. I realize dirt or dual sport isn't the end game for this young man, but the practice will pay great dividends.
 
I would add a year in a car driving before a bike in traffic. This also gives you a chance to see while riding in the car with them how good a defense driver they really are. Do they jump out as soon as the light turns green or do they scan the crossing lanes to make sure they everyone is stopped. Do they notice cars entering the lane from the side etc. You get the point. My son was fairly timid driver. He also had to go a year with no tickets before I would him get his M permit.
 
I agree with so many here that dirt first is the way to go - riding dirt builds so many necessary skills/reflexes that can/are important in surviving on the street. I hate to use the word surviving but that's how I see it especially in the metroplex. I know you say offroad is not in the cards but you asked from a very experienced group here and I'd pass that on to the parents
 
Assuming he will be riding it on the streets of Dallas, Id skip the 250's as underpowered to ride on the street safely...

And a DS bike is a great way to go...if dad insist on new and fancy, walk the young man into a KTM dealer, if dad can accept his son riding something "lesser" he is big enough to ride a DRZ400, perhaps a SM ...not really a DS, but less likely to get damaged if he hops a curb then a CBR300.
The SM can have Pro Tapers and good triple clamp mounted hand guards installed.
Skid plate, side case covers and a few other "fixes" and it set to be beat a bit, dropped occasionally, has plenty of power for street riding. has decent resale value, and lots of MOD and Farkel options to keep him enthused with making it "his"
And the performance upgrades are real, they do make more power which will appeal to a 16 year old boy...but unless your building an all out motor and supporting systems ($$$$) your still at 42~50hp @300lb bike weight or so.. Still in the "safer" range for a newish rider.
 
Have you given consideration to a Spyder? Three wheel stability, greater visibility, enough power to handle street and highway, plus I have a line on a good used one. :trust:
 
My thought is that a 16 yr old kid on a bike on public roads in Dallas has a high likelihood of ending badly.
 
My thought is that a 16 yr old kid on a bike on public roads in Dallas has a high likelihood of ending badly.

Statistically speaking, absolutely right. I wouldn't have any part of encouraging a kid to learn to ride on streets of Dallas. Very high percentage of fatalities for riders with 6 mo or less experience.

Find him a F150. Better for dating anyway which will most likely soon occupy most of his thoughts.....
 
My son has a 1st gen Ninja 250. It is great around town, but not really capable on the highway.

Also, getting his Moto license at 15 was one of the hardest things I've ever done. The DPS just has no clue how to do anything outisde of the norm. It took us 5 different trips, one riding test (after passing msf) and probably a dozen calls to Austin. Never once were we told the same thing twice about what we needed to do to complete the process. Finally the lady that runs the office in Bryan dealt with us personally to get it done. None of the regular desk drones could help, and some of them were downright ugly about it.

At 16 things get immensly easier.
 
My son has a 1st gen Ninja 250. It is great around town, but not really capable on the highway.

Also, getting his Moto license at 15 was one of the hardest things I've ever done. The DPS just has no clue how to do anything outisde of the norm. It took us 5 different trips, one riding test (after passing msf) and probably a dozen calls to Austin. Never once were we told the same thing twice about what we needed to do to complete the process. Finally the lady that runs the office in Bryan dealt with us personally to get it done. None of the regular desk drones could help, and some of them were downright ugly about it.

At 16 things get immensly easier.

I never really understand the point of one of these small cc bikes unless you just ride a few blocks or couple miles without any interestate travel. Sure it's cheaper on insurance but to me it seems like it's just a tool for the dealership to sell you something you will quickly outgrow and then want to upgrade and get further into debt...
 
I never really understand the point of one of these small cc bikes unless you just ride a few blocks or couple miles without any interestate travel. Sure it's cheaper on insurance but to me it seems like it's just a tool for the dealership to sell you something you will quickly outgrow and then want to upgrade and get further into debt...

His travel is limited to neighborhoods and B roads. The 250 is perfect for him right now. It will do 70-75, but man it is buzzing like a sewing machine.

We found a screaming deal on this bike used and will actually make money on it when it sells. We'll be shopping for some kind of 600-650 next. I keep pushing the SV650 and I think he likes that choice.
 
Honda Rebel. Cheap, fun, not too fast, no Tupperware.
 
I think the dual purpose bike is a great idea. Thats how I started, thing about dirt riding there are few if any cars with stupid people at the wheel, doing god knows what instead of paying attention of people in cars and most especially motorcycles. After he gets used to riding dirt and gets aquainted with the mechanics of riding a bike and how to manuver it well, that will give him a step up on the squids who are wealthy enough to go buy a big sport bike and be turned loose by themselves. When I was in the motorcycle repair and selling world it was sad to see some 17 or 18 year old come in and buy the biggest and most expensive bike on the floor paid for by proud daddy, then the bike comes back to the shop totaled out and learn the boy tried to mate the bike to a anything you can think of.
 
I will share my experience with motorcycles for my son, who will turn 17 this month. He got a (used) 100cc crf100r dirt bike when he was 14 and he took the MSF Dirt Bike School for a day. He walked out of the course with basic proficiency on dirt. He and I went to practice offroad and he dropped his bike dozens of times trying to get good at controlling it. Sometimes he enjoyed the practice, sometimes he'd get frustrated, but he always learned something. Before turning 15 he took the 32 hours of classroom instruction for his car license and the MSF Basic Rider Course (required) and we bought all his riding gear. He already had motorcross protection including boots and helmet, bit he needed street gear. When he turned 15 he passed the road test with an instructor following him on my car. For his 15th birthday he got a used 2013 Honda CBR250R, and he was allowed to ride it with me on my bike by his side, and communicating via Sena's. We did a couple dozen rides, short and longer (40 miles or so) on the two bikes, getting real world training. After that he started visiting friends alone on his motorcycle with all his gear on. He was not allowed to ride it to school or on the highway. He never dropped his little Honda once. About a month ago, for his 17th birthday, we sold the Honda and bought a like-new 2007 Triumph Bonneville T100, which he really likes. He and I have now ridden the Bonneville with my bike side by side a few times, again, with the Sena's to stay in contact. He is not allowed yet to take the Triumph on the highway, but he will once I feel he's skilled enough with this new bike.

I think the lesson here is to go one step at a time, starting as early as possible. Get used motorcycles and not new ones. In my case I was able to train him and I could assess his readiness. All the gear all the time. And avoid riding in busy traffic in the metroplex - we did some of that together, for sure, but most of our riding was on rural roads.

This approach worked for us, but your friend's situation is different. I cannot overemphasize how important it is to understand that other drivers don't see us, and a young rider is ill-prepared to act in an emergency without panicking. I would never forgive myself if my son got hurt because I allowed him to get in a dangerous situation he was not ready to handle.
 
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Textter's advice is really good. I started riding as a teenager against the wishes of my parents. It was just luck that my first bike (bought secretly) was a Kawasaki enduro type (100cc, 10 speed, had a little lever under the gear shift to switch low to high range) and that I learned on dirt trails. All this was pre-MSF, and I ended up totaling both that bike and my next bike ('72 XS650 Yamaha) on the street. Fortunately, I survived without serious injury and kept riding; but it was like reinventing the wheel; I was on my own and could have benefitted greatly from benevolent role models and/or MSF courses. Oddly, in my case, my dad started riding shortly after I did and rode the rest of his life. Almost fifty years later, 500K miles on the road (and 35 or so motorcycles) I feel pretty proficient, but still treat every ride as a training exercise.
 
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