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Kiddo has lost her interest in riding :(

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Tourmeister said:
: ... We have three kids though, so unless we got a side car, we still have an odd man out for regular bikes right now.

:tab As much as I love riding, if it comes down to a choice between riding or my family, there's no choice in my mind. I'm not saying it would be an easy choice though... Just that there is no question that family comes first.
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The oldest may be willing to ride her own on the street. Just a few years, no?

Yes, family comes first. I pretty much quit riding while doing the single parent thing, never pushed my kids into it. A few years ago my son got a bike on his own when a mess of friends did, rode for a while, then a few people he and his wife knew were badly hurt in wrecks. She expressed concern for the child if something happened to him. He gave it up, and is currently customizing his F150 daily driver for hauling his 35 year old Glastron in showroom condition while carrying his much customized street legal golf cart and his boy's custom Batmobile pedal car and little red wagon with switches while his wife tows their small custom travel trailer with slideouts.

You won't be alone with that choice. There are lots of other toys out there. Remember, boats and airplanes lean the right way in turns, just like motorcycles. :trust:
 
KenH said:
You won't be alone with that choice. There are lots of other toys out there. Remember, boats and airplanes lean the right way in turns, just like motorcycles. :trust:
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HA! Now that it is mentioned, she has been leering at (and asking for) the neighbor's jet ski... Teets on a bull for me.
 
Well, you mentioned picking out bikes for her instead of encouraging her to pick her own, an activity usually advised against, so teets on a bull shouldn't be a problem. Seriously, they way kids are these days you might have driven her off motorcycles by mentioning one the wrong color. Daddying is a LOT harder than it used to be.
 
KenH said:
Well, you mentioned picking out bikes for her instead of encouraging her to pick her own, an activity usually advised against, so teets on a bull shouldn't be a problem. Seriously, they way kids are these days you might have driven her off motorcycles by mentioning one the wrong color. Daddying is a LOT harder than it used to be.
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Well said. Thanks!
 
TX_northstar said:
I get that. As a single parent with a 10 y/o, there is not much time for solo riding. So, if she does not want to ride, then I don't ride. Finding something we can do together is a huge bonus for us. We are going to try camping again, and we do ride mountain bikes, so it is not like we don't get out. The bike just sitting bothers me; it is hard to see it sit and break down from disuse. And, I really do miss riding it.
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I have been a single parent since my son was 3. We use to camp back when I used to off road. He loved hanging out with me and my wheeling buddies.
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Then one day he stopped.

So I get what you're saying. You tend to feel like you lost something.



I'd sit her down and talk to her like an adult and just let her know how you feel about it. But let her know it's time with her you want, not time with the bike. She may think the only reason you want her to go is so you can ride. It may make her feel like a 3rd wheel. Make sure she knows it's her that you want to spend time with and the bike is the vessel.

If she's into jeeps, GET ONE. You'll love it. Beach trips are fun, hotels aren't too expensive if you know where to stay.

You can still enjoy the wind in your hair. Hanging a foot out the open door is cool. And just like bikes, every jeep owner waives at you (wrangler owners mostly, the others aren't really jeeps lol). Plus you can always buy another bike if it really comes down to it.


Girls are tricky, I don't envy you on that front. But I do on the age factor. Mines just a few weeks out from going off to bootcamp. So what ever you do, do it together.
 
Wise advice, dualsportvet. My kids were into different things so that's what I did. Working 60-70 hours a week, scout leader 3 groups different ages and genders at the same time, coaching 3 different teams every season, etc. Pretty much did nothing for myself for many years. Full time single daddies with custody and exmoms who practiced neglect and abandonment were oddities back then, less than 1% of custodial parents. Work and parenting was all I did for years because I had them 24/7/365, and no child support or government assistance since I had a job and was male. That's why I tended to get nasty with women complaining about late child support for one kid. These days I offer to take custody because foster parenting pays pretty good now. :rofl:
 
Great pics & advice dualsportvet, thank you! Tonight we worked together getting the car and bike properly stowed ahead of more bad weather. She seemed concerned that the bike was slightly exposed under the car-port. She tipped the rear peg up and down a few times, and I could see her thinking about the bike and maybe riding. I did not ask her about riding and we just spent the evening on mountain bikes and a short walk. The bike should keep and I will discuss riding with her if she asks. So, yeah the time together is the correct focus. Thanks.
 
:tab I have found that my oldest daughter, Sarah (12), likes to go fishing at the pond across the street. Actually catching anything is just a bonus for either of us. She really just wants alone time with me away from the other two. It is also a time when she is likely to casually bring up some topic that may be on her mind. So if she asks me to go fishing, I try as hard as I can to make it happen.

:tab Daniel is the middle kid (10). He just wants to play. He'll ride the GS with me, dirt bikes in the yard with me, basketball in the drive way, wrestling anywhere, climbing MUCH higher in any tree than I would ever attempt, watching any moto or nerd engineering related video on YouTube we can find, fishing at the pond, etc,... But he's not a deep talker like Sarah. He's ALL energy!

:tab Rachel is the youngest (8). She desperately wants to ride on the GS because "it's not fair" that the other two get too and she doesn't! That tends to be her reason for doing many things :lol2: She'll toss around the basketball with me, ride dirt bikes in the yard, and snuggle on the couch for a movie or to read a book. EVERY time we are in the garage, she wants to sit on the GS to see if her feet reach the pegs yet.

:tab All three like sitting in front of the computer with me watching cool vids on YouTube about all kinds of stuff. We enjoy the Smarter Every Day series. They love the Slo Mo Guys. We've watched just about every video there is about how things are made. We've seen uncountable buildings imploded. We've watched videos on chemistry, physics, astronomy, a live feed of the sun from some NASA solar observatory satellite (very cool), documentaries on plate tectonics and volcanoes, CNC machining, metals testing, mining operations, rockets launching, and much much more. I will often pause the videos and we'll discuss the topics or particular issues about the videos. The cool thing is that they don't think of this as "school" (we home school). They think of it as goofing off, so they are more in to it and interested, hence they tend to pay attention and retain well. It is really neat when we are out doing something else and something happens that triggers a memory of some video we watched and they start relating the topic of a video to what we are doing and it is totally relevant! It is also neat to see them making connections between various fields and topics by seeing underlying principles and concepts, and then thinking about how they might apply to other situations. Sometimes we might sit at the computer in my office to do this and other times we are all in the living room watching stuff on the big screen TV that is hooked up to a PC. I really enjoy this time with them.

:tab Lastly, and this might offend some people (although I don't know why...), we end each day as a family sitting in the living room praying together. It is time spent talking about people outside our family that are having struggles or which may have had good experiences. We talk about issues the kids might be struggling with, friends, school work, each other, and even with us. We look for things for which we should be thankful. We encourage them to think about areas of their behaviors and attitudes that might need improvement. We talk about the need to forgive people that they think might have wronged/offended them. Then each person gets time to pray, without comments from others during or after, and then they go to bed. It doesn't sound exciting, but we have tried to keep this going since they were very little and hope to keep it going as long as we can keep them doing it. It is a great way to keep your finger on the emotional pulse of your kids and the family as a whole. It is serious quality time! We include their friends whenever they do sleep overs. I'm guessing the kids like it as well because they are always bringing up things to remember for later in the evening and they are good at reminding me if I forget someone we happen to have been praying for (like numerous TWT folks over the years).

:tab Another thing they like is being able to go to town with me or my wife without the other two kids coming along. Every morning one of them goes with my wife when she goes to the gym. If I have to make a Home Depot run they usually fight about who gets to go with me. Sometimes, one of them will get to come to work with me. I am self employed and work with my Dad at their property so they get to see my folks as well.

:tab Really it boils down to one issue. They want to know they are important to us. More than anything, spending time with them, doing almost anything, makes them feel that they are important. The quality of the time spend is important, but you can't use it as a substitute for quantity. They are smart enough to know when I simply cannot spend time with them, like if I have to work, and they know when I make a choice to either spend time with them or not. They are also smart enough to know that there are times when I need to be able to NOT spend time with them simply because I need some alone time. So, like anything else in life, it is a constant struggle to juggle all the competing issues and maintain a good balance. I think this it is important for them to see this and to learn how to do it in their own lives.
 
Tourmeister said:
:tab I have found that my oldest daughter, Sarah (12), likes to go fishing at the pond across the street. Actually catching anything is just a bonus for either of us. She really just wants alone time with me away from the other two. It is also a time when she is likely to casually bring up some topic that may be on her mind. So if she asks me to go fishing, I try as hard as I can to make it happen.



:tab Daniel is the middle kid (10). He just wants to play. He'll ride the GS with me, dirt bikes in the yard with me, basketball in the drive way, wrestling anywhere, climbing MUCH higher in any tree than I would ever attempt, watching any moto or nerd engineering related video on YouTube we can find, fishing at the pond, etc,... But he's not a deep talker like Sarah. He's ALL energy!



:tab Rachel is the youngest (8). She desperately wants to ride on the GS because "it's not fair" that the other two get too and she doesn't! That tends to be her reason for doing many things :lol2: She'll toss around the basketball with me, ride dirt bikes in the yard, and snuggle on the couch for a movie or to read a book. EVERY time we are in the garage, she wants to sit on the GS to see if her feet reach the pegs yet.



:tab All three like sitting in front of the computer with me watching cool vids on YouTube about all kinds of stuff. We enjoy the Smarter Every Day series. They love the Slo Mo Guys. We've watched just about every video there is about how things are made. We've seen uncountable buildings imploded. We've watched videos on chemistry, physics, astronomy, a live feed of the sun from some NASA solar observatory satellite (very cool), documentaries on plate tectonics and volcanoes, CNC machining, metals testing, mining operations, rockets launching, and much much more. I will often pause the videos and we'll discuss the topics or particular issues about the videos. The cool thing is that they don't think of this as "school" (we home school). They think of it as goofing off, so they are more in to it and interested, hence they tend to pay attention and retain well. It is really neat when we are out doing something else and something happens that triggers a memory of some video we watched and they start relating the topic of a video to what we are doing and it is totally relevant! It is also neat to see them making connections between various fields and topics by seeing underlying principles and concepts, and then thinking about how they might apply to other situations. Sometimes we might sit at the computer in my office to do this and other times we are all in the living room watching stuff on the big screen TV that is hooked up to a PC. I really enjoy this time with them.



:tab Lastly, and this might offend some people (although I don't know why...), we end each day as a family sitting in the living room praying together. It is time spent talking about people outside our family that are having struggles or which may have had good experiences. We talk about issues the kids might be struggling with, friends, school work, each other, and even with us. We look for things for which we should be thankful. We encourage them to think about areas of their behaviors and attitudes that might need improvement. We talk about the need to forgive people that they think might have wronged/offended them. Then each person gets time to pray, without comments from others during or after, and then they go to bed. It doesn't sound exciting, but we have tried to keep this going since they were very little and hope to keep it going as long as we can keep them doing it. It is a great way to keep your finger on the emotional pulse of your kids and the family as a whole. It is serious quality time! We include their friends whenever they do sleep overs. I'm guessing the kids like it as well because they are always bringing up things to remember for later in the evening and they are good at reminding me if I forget someone we happen to have been praying for (like numerous TWT folks over the years).



:tab Another thing they like is being able to go to town with me or my wife without the other two kids coming along. Every morning one of them goes with my wife when she goes to the gym. If I have to make a Home Depot run they usually fight about who gets to go with me. Sometimes, one of them will get to come to work with me. I am self employed and work with my Dad at their property so they get to see my folks as well.



:tab Really it boils down to one issue. They want to know they are important to us. More than anything, spending time with them, doing almost anything, makes them feel that they are important. The quality of the time spend is important, but you can't use it as a substitute for quantity. They are smart enough to know when I simply cannot spend time with them, like if I have to work, and they know when I make a choice to either spend time with them or not. They are also smart enough to know that there are times when I need to be able to NOT spend time with them simply because I need some alone time. So, like anything else in life, it is a constant struggle to juggle all the competing issues and maintain a good balance. I think this it is important for them to see this and to learn how to do it in their own lives.
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I noticed you have an 8 year old daughter. I have one the same age (and also a 12 yo daughter). My wife home schools as well. She just got to where she can reach the pegs good (also on a GS) so she's been doing some short rides with me. Our normal ride is taking back roads between Crockett and Palestine (we live near Grapeland). There are a lot of nice dirt roads in the area too. Her mother is tolerating it so far, so I suppose I'm lucky!
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6-12 are when little girls make the best daddy's girls. Boys have too much energy, but we love 'em, anyway! Tell the little one to keep secret: The other two will be off to university her last years at home and she'll get sooooo spoiled *wink*. When she has THAT look on her face, give her a wink. She'll love that bit of attention.

TM, your kids sound like they are excellently parented, doing well, and developing appropriately for their ages and genders. Keep it up! Angel had the three of us praying every day in a manner similar to your family's, but with our work schedules it wasn't always in the evening. It's a good thing.
 
brg said:
I noticed you have an 8 year old daughter. I have one the same age (and also a 12 yo daughter). My wife home schools as well. She just got to where she can reach the pegs good (also on a GS) so she's been doing some short rides with me. Our normal ride is taking back roads between Crockett and Palestine (we live near Grapeland). There are a lot of nice dirt roads in the area too. Her mother is tolerating it so far, so I suppose I'm lucky!
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Too cool! It would be fun to hook up for a ride sometime.

I took Sarah to Utah and Colorado last September for a seven day dual sport ride. We crossed Southern Utah, ran up the mountains toward Salt Lake City, cut East through mountains along the Southern Wyoming border to Colorado, then came back down through SW Colorado back to Farmington, NM. Three other guys went with us. We were the only ones two up. It was a fantastic trip. I never got around to doing a report though. But here are a few pics from it.

Four Corners
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Moki Dugway near Mexican Hat. I stopped on the edge of the road on the way up to take a few pics and this is when I learn Sarah has a bit of a fear of heights! :doh: :lol2:
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On Scenic Hwy 12 running across the Grand Escalante Staircase National Monument.
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Bryce Canyon
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Coming down into Zion NP from the tunnels on Hwy 9
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North of Zion NP on Kolob Rd., on the way to Cedar City
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Cedar Breaks NM North of Zion (Rsquared, Me, Sarah, ToeJam)
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Somewhere along Skyline Drive heading North toward Salt Lake City
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There were a few sharp and steep switchbacks to get here... She did great!
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Serious sheep country, there were massive herds everywhere, sheep dogs and all.
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The little thing on the side of the road over on the left side of the above image is Sarah trudging back up the road. Just around the bend behind her it got real muddy. She walked down while I rode down. We headed of across a flat area about 1/4 mile across and about half way to the next bend in the road the front end got all crazy in some really soft mud! I was only going about 10-15 mph. I could hear her praying over the intercom while I was silently doing some serious praying myself! Somehow, I managed not to drop it. When I caught up to the others, we had a pow wow and decided to backtrack rather than get deeper into unknown conditions. She wanted to get off and walk when we got back to the first hill and I had to climb it. I told her to relax and sit tight. About 2/3 of the way up, the bike started a gentle slide toward the small drainage rut on the edge of the road and I could not stop it. The back tire slipped into it. She got off and I walked the bike up under power until I was on basically solid ground again. She opted to walk the rest of the way. That was our only real "scary" moment of the whole trip.

About to get dinner with a bunch of old dudes on dirt bikes from California that we met at our hotel when we were checking in, it was quite the experience for her and they were all very gentlemanly in her presence :thumb: (those are her dirt bike socks).
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Trying to get over the mountains from Rifle to Paonia, a fantastic ride!! It was a dead end and we had to turn around and ride back through these guys again! But we did eventually find the way, even seeing five Moose along the way including the massive bull that crossed the road in front of us! :brainsnap
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Stopped at the overlook on Hwy 92 heading toward Gunnison
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East of Slumgullion Pass near Lake City
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North Clear Creak Falls on Hwy 149 heading to Creede from Lake City
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Pulled pork lunch in Pagosa Spring before running along the San Juan River through old ghost towns on the way back to Farmington to end the trip.
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She had her own camera and took... oh... something like 1800 pictures!! :eek2: She needs to sit down and go through them to decide what she likes and doesn't like. Some of the shots above were from Jfink, one of the other riders that went with us. I was on my GS and they were all on KTMs (990, 1190 and 1290). It was an amazing trip and it is a memory that will last a life time for Sarah and myself. I just hope I get the chance to do similar trips with Daniel and Rachel.
 
By the way BRG, Sarah went to Academy and bought some football pants. They have the thigh, hip, tailbone, and knee armor. She wears those under her dirt bike pants. The jacket is a small women's street jacket. We had some Frogg Toggs for rain gear. I also had a pair of Gore-Tex socks for her since her dirt boots are not water proof. We strapped her camel back to a side bag because we could not both fit on the bike if we were both wearing our camel baks. She had a liner and full sleeve sweat shirt to wear under the jacket when it got cold. She also has a balaclava to keep her face warm. She had summer and winter gloves with her, but a few times her hands still got pretty cold. She took to tucking them between my camel back and jacket. Recently, she borrowed a heated liner and gloves for the January Pie Run. She REALLY liked that!
 
Tourmeister said:
By the way BRG, Sarah went to Academy and bought some football pants. They have the thigh, hip, tailbone, and knee armor. She wears those under her dirt bike pants. The jacket is a small women's street jacket. We had some Frogg Toggs for rain gear. I also had a pair of Gore-Tex socks for her since her dirt boots are not water proof. We strapped her camel back to a side bag because we could not both fit on the bike if we were both wearing our camel baks. She had a liner and full sleeve sweat shirt to wear under the jacket when it got cold. She also has a balaclava to keep her face warm. She had summer and winter gloves with her, but a few times her hands still got pretty cold. She took to tucking them between my camel back and jacket. Recently, she borrowed a heated liner and gloves for the January Pie Run. She REALLY liked that!
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Scott,

I was curious...when you do your longer trips with your daughter, do you use any sort of strap system? It would be a concern of mine that my daughter would fall asleep and possibly come off the bike if we were to take a longer trip together. I've seen the strap systems but they just seem like another cumbersome thing to have to deal with in addition to all our other riding gear.

BTW, those are great pics from your trip. Looks like she had a blast!

Greg
 
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:tab I have never used any kind of straps. I don't want them connected to me if we are separated from the bike in an accident. I think that might do more harm than good, especially since they would be behind me and not in front where I might try to wrap around them.

:tab When Sarah first started riding, I got her trained to tap me every now and then to let me know she was still awake. I also got in the habit of just reaching back and tapping her leg every now and then. A bonk to the back of my helmet with their helmet is also a good sign she is getting sleepy. I always stressed that if she was feeling sleepy, she needed to let me know right away so we could pull over for a break. If she does start getting sleepy, if we stop for a bit, walk around, talk a while, and/or get a drink/snack, she is good for a while. The same is true for Daniel. Now that we have the communicators, it is MUCH easier for me to tell if they are getting sleepy because they will start talking less and less. The only time it is typically an issue is shortly after lunch or maybe near the end of a long day of riding. Otherwise, unless we are droning on a highway for some reason, the roads are usually exciting enough to keep them interested. A good bump every now and then does wonders to give them an adrenaline shot! :lol2:

:tab With the kids, having the communicators really does make the whole experience much better in every respect. Occasionally, I have had to turn down the volume with Daniel because he can be a bit of a rambling chatter box sometimes :-P Generally though, with Sarah and Daniel, we have some really fun and cool conversations during our rides, conversations we might not have otherwise.
 
This is Sarah before her first ride. I think she was 8 at the time.

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:tab She's wearing a riding suit made in the UK. It is a full textile armored suit. My wife found it at a garage sale and paid $20 for it. When she got it home, we even found a good pair of gloves in one of the pockets! She out grew it pretty quick though.

This is the jacket Sarah wore on our big Ut/Co trip last fall
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:tab I can't recall what brand it is. It has full armor, decent vents, and a zip in full liner for cold weather. We've not tried to see if it is rain proof, but I doubt it is. That is why we went with Frogg Toggs for the trip. The helmet is my wife's Shoei RF-1100. However, we bought a new helmet a few days ago, a nice full face HJC for $150, because that Shoei is now at least 12 years old!

This is in the Lincoln National Forest somewhere East of Pinon, NM., on Russell Gap Rd.
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:tab That was a great gravel road ride! We even had to dodge a huge rattle snake that was in the middle of the road :eek2: It was all good until the rains came... Fortunately, the road base was good gravel and did not get muddy. We eventually made it to US 82 and ran into Artesia to meet my wife and the other kids at a McDonalds. We got a lot of strange looks as we were standing inside by the tables with large puddles forming under us :lol2:

This is at the top of the Moki Dugway
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:tab You can see a camera hanging around her neck. This is good for helping her stay interested and awake because she was constantly scanning for picture subjects. The lanyard just attaches to the spot on the camera where its short stock lanyard would go. It worked great! I would often slow down and talk to her about what to take a picture of and how to frame it for the shot. Rsquared was laughing later in the week about how funny it was to be behind us all week seeing this red arm poking out in all directions taking pictures of everything.

This is Daniel before his first ride, also when he was around 8.

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:tab He's wearing the same suit. By this time though, the jacket zipper busted and we quit using it. I've not had a chance to find someone that might be able to repair the zipper. The pull part broke but the zipper itself is fine.

This is Daniel on US 64 in Northern NM looking out West toward Tierra Amarilla on US 84.

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:tab That suit is a one piece loaned to me by "P-Ratt" here on TWT. The same exact thing happened to it. The main zipper that goes up the front had the pull piece snap in half :doh: I need to find someone that knows how to fix zippers so I can get both suits fixed. Rachel will be wanting to use them. This particular suit is not good for summer though. It is a bit warm and doesn't vent very well. It too is from the UK. It has expandable length legs and I think arms as well.

This is Mark "P-Ratt" and his daughter, wearing the suit he loaned us
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This is Daniel on US 82 between Alamogordo and Cloudcroft.

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:tab He is wearing his mesh dirt bike jacket. It was fine when we left Alamogordo and it was in the high 70's in the morning. By the time we reached Cloudcroft it was in the low 50's and he was freezing! Fortunately, I had a jacket in my top case that he could wear over it. He has knee guards on under the pants. This was the same day that I took Sarah on Russell Gap Rd., East of Pinion. Daniel rode down the Sunspot highway with me and then we took dirt roads East over to Weed, NM., to meet the girls for lunch at the Weed Cafe. That is when Sarah and Daniel swapped so she could ride the second half of the day.

This is somewhere on Aqua Chiquita Rd. You can tell he was loving it!
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:tab If you can get a long weekend, the Cloudcroft area is superb for taking the kids on DS rides. There are several great paved roads to ride and tons of nice gravel/dirt roads to ride. Most of it is at high enough elevation that you can go in the summer months and the temps will still be really nice! Also, the scenery is just great everywhere. There are plenty of great roads that are easily ridden on a big GS, even with a passenger. You could use any of the 50/50 DS tires, but I like the TKC 80 on the front as a minimum. Right now, I have been using the Shinko 805 rear with the TKC front and that works really well. The Shinko rear is substantially less expensive than the TKC rear, performs just as well, and lasts a good deal longer!

:tab Arkansas is also a great destination. There are endless miles of superb paved and dirt roads that you can ride easily with the GS. Same thing goes for tires in my opinion. The scenery is not as dramatic as Cloudcroft, Utah, or Colorado, but it is still fun nonetheless. The "mountains" in Arkansas are not as high so it will still be hot and humid if you go in the summer months. My kids have not ridden up there yet, but we are leaving in a week for their first trip up there. We are taking my GS, KTM 530 EXC, and all of their dirt bikes. It will be a mix of some street and forest road riding for Sarah and Daniel, and then some dirt riding and camping for all three kids. I am hoping there will be some other kids present at the place where we will be dirt riding and camping.
 
Princess preferred a belt around my love handles with hand grips tied with leather thongs through holes. Some company makes such things but we just made one since I still had the belt that fit when I was 65 pounds heavier.

Same as TM, when she got sleepy she'd be bouncing her helmet off my back. Same as TM, stop, walk, snack, pics, and good to go for another while. Same as TM, Princess had a camera on a lanyard. Get the biggest memory cards the camera will hold. Get another. A bit of padding at a child's height on the top box was Princess's favorite mod ever. She also liked some PVC pipe armrests covered with swimming pool noodles, bolted to the top box. Fender washers kept the plastic from cracking/wearing, and a piece of 1/2-inch PVC across the front of the top box kept the hinges from dropping the rests too far. Simple and cheap, and barrel enough strength to use as arm rests--easy destruction prevents injury in a fall.
 
Tourmeister said:
:tab With the kids, having the communicators really does make the whole experience much better in every respect. Occasionally, I have had to turn down the volume with Daniel because he can be a bit of a rambling chatter box sometimes :-P Generally though, with Sarah and Daniel, we have some really fun and cool conversations during our rides, conversations we might not have otherwise.
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Scott, I know you've posted it elsewhere, but what communicators do you have, and do you/kids wear earplugs while using them?
 
jqueen said:
Scott, I know you've posted it elsewhere, but what communicators do you have, and do you/kids wear earplugs while using them?
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Sena 20S. We all use ear plugs with them. They could stand to be just a little bit louder, maybe turned up to 11. Otherwise, they work great.
 
Great pics! Was going through this with kiddo, while sitting in braums on an ice cream run. On the bike! Her idea. She wants to see the pics on the big screen when we get home .
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So you're saying I have to go ride with you... :-D If we can figure out how to bring the dog, I think we have a winning combination :rofl:

I have slacked. For the Northstarlet, I will endeavor to unslack!
 
sKatZ said:
So you're saying I have to go ride with you... :-D If we can figure out how to bring the dog, I think we have a winning combination :rofl:

I have slacked. For the Northstarlet, I will endeavor to unslack!
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Sidecar... It would make Q like a reliable Ural... Faster too! I was honestly surprised when she asked to go out. Maybe she was just pulling a fast one to get ice cream, but we got the time together and she got two giant scoops.

It was good to see comments about how to tell when she is getting tired/sleepy. I will dig out an old camera for her to play with (genius). Since day-one, we discussed signaling. Three "taps" (or slaps, headbutts, or kicks) means we need to stop asap. She also commented that now that she has grown a little she can easily reach the grab handles and has more "leg" to now stand a little in the pegs, which helps getting on and off as well as providing a little extra leverage.

I will look for a new jacket as the ladies XS seems a bit snug now.

I really appreciate everyone sharing!
 

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You might try it without the side bags. They can sometimes crowd the legs of the passengers.
 
Tourmeister said:
You might try it without the side bags. They can sometimes crowd the legs of the passengers.
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I Have asked her about taking off the side bags but she prefers the bags there. Between the "backrest" of the top-case and the side cases she says she feels safe she won't slide off the back :)
 
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