-I'm 17
-The bike is a GSX R-600
-I'll pay for the bike
-I'll pay for insurance
-Yes, I have a job that'll pay for them both
-I'll wear a helmet
-I'll wear other saftey gear
-I'll take safety courses
-I'll ride in clear weather
-I have alternate car, so i don't want any replys about it controling my life
-I won't drive with my "Raging Teenage Emotions"
-I won't drive over the speed limit... even though many of you will say that... because dring a bike fast pretty much endangers me only...
-And the only reason I picked this bike over smaller ones is because I like the look... if I wanted a faster one, I would have been trying to convince my parents for a GSX R-1000 when I said it'll only endanger me...
I meant it'll endanger me physically, I understand it'll also affect others emotionally and I could hurt others including me in an accident... I have taken the consequences into extreme consideration and have still come to say that I feel as though i'm ready for a motorcycle... You never convince the parents. You just show up to your house with the motorcycle.
That's what I did. But looking back, I had all the same intention. But the bottom line is that
you will speed.
you will get into accident.
you will get hurt.
Good Luck tell them about the gas mileage.
you'll probably have to wait til you move out if they're giving you trouble right now.
take out life insurance (that could be the kicker lol) tell them u will simply respect what u r driving regardless of transportation...u can get hurt on a riding lawn mower if u do stupid things let them know u respect pain and u dont want any part of that....and u will look for the other drivers twice as hard when u r riding your bike... You sound like a level headed young person. You have made all the right points here with me, you seem very responsible. Do your parents SEE you this way? If so you may just need to keep up a respectable discussion and overcome safety concerns (and there is need of real concern on that - I bought my first road bike at age 16 and have ridden ever since, now an 'old guy').
Understand you might get bummed at having to hear anything about it 'controlling your life' for the reason you cite, and I don't believe it would (if you didn't have real values you wouldn't have the ability to pay for these things by your job) -
BUT - always have humility. Your parents, and others you may seek advice from, may do a great deal to help you, but they always deserve some deference and respect. I'd rather hear that you've considered that point carefully and say respectfully why it won't happen than to have to be instructed by you that you don't wish to hear it for that very same good reason.
Your choice for style and not outlandish performance is most admirable in my book. Always keep those promises about safety for your parents - and for you. BTW - too fast - that it endangers you is enough concern, but you seem to appreciate that; it does also endanger others perhaps more than you've considered. Just keep that in mind.
'Nuff lecture, you probably didn't even need it. Good luck, I hope it works out - be safe out there. There are several methods of going about this:
First and easiest would be to just tell them you are getting the bike when you turn 18 anyway, so why should a few months matter. Tell them how you have (or are going to) take the MSF riding course --- give them a few details about the course and how it makes a person a safer rider than 50% of those on the roads today. Done diplomatically, all this can be a good argument --- ooze responsibility and it should impress.
Second would be to have a respected adult who rides talk to your parents. This works a lot. I know because I have talked several parents into letting their kids have bikes. Once they saw how me and my kids enjoyed responsible riding, they softened.
Third would be to simply show up one day with the bike. Tell them, "Look what I brought home. Isn't it a beauty?" Chances are they won't go through the hassle of making you take it back. And if you CAN'T take it back, all the better. Go out and take the safety course now to show them you are serious about it and will go about riding responsibly Even tough you sound very responsible, do what my uncle did and asked me to do. Wait until you have at least 5 years driving experience before hopping on a bike. That way you'll have a good feel for the road and the way people behave on the road. I waited until I was 26, had the bike a year, and put 5,500 miles on it riding all year in all kinds of weather before I wrecked it on a sunny day. It was the best year of my life and I would do it all over again. (even with all the bruising and the broken collar bone!) You can do it like me...
Move out. Wait till you are in your thirties, take a riding class, buy a good used bike, ride it around town and have your parents pull up next to you at a stop light.
I think my quote was, "Hi Mom, It's not me. I don't ride, it would make my Mom worry."
Mom's reply, "Good cause I WOULD worry if my son rode. See you at dinner this weekend?"
Notice, getting permission isn't gonna happen at any age. It's been a decade since that bike. She still doesn't approve. Although she had asked for (and received) a ride more than once. She asks if I sold it at practically every major holiday. It doesn't matter what you say or do they will not give in. When you turn 18 you can do what ever you want, until then too bad!!!! Don't BS youself or your parents, you won't speed, and it will only hurt yourself. YOU WANT A GSXR, what the hell are you thinking you don't get a GSXR to go 45mph. Well this is what you do.
1. get married
2. have children
3. get life insurance
Then if you die they have some one to remember you, some grand children for your parents to forget you and money for them to spend as they grow up in your absence.
Works for me except the dead part... wow i been beggin my parents for 5 years and they said NO so the best thing to do is get ur own phone services and keep paying them on time till ur cridet score goes up i did that and had exellent cridet scroe brought mine my dad wanted to kill me now i have 07 ninja 650r and dont forget the insrunce is more expeince than a car mine came out 16,000 on insrunce i said forget it now i pay $5,679 a year so u better check with the insurnce before u buy one... and by the way it was my first bike and im 20 When I was 17 I walked up to my parents and said, "when I'm in college I think I might buy a motorcycle if I can afford it." Without hesitation my mom said, "I know one for sale that's cheap." and my dad said, "I can teach you how to ride it." Since then, I've owned 3 bikes. My current bike is a homemade chopper that I built in my garage. I'm only 24.
Even if your intentions are legit, you will speed, and wreck, and get hurt. It's inevitable. The problem with a motorcycle at such a young age, you don't have enough real world driving experience. Every teenager thinks he's a good driver, but nothing is going to give you experience except for driving for years. It's that simple. I would wait till you are a little older and get a better feel for the road. Let's go through one by one, shall we?:
- You're 17. Your parents have the final say about what you can and cannot do, and you cannot get financing until you are legally an adult AND have good credit, which takes years to build.
- Unless you have $10,000 sitting around for a $9500 bike, taxes, license and registration, you will NOT, in fact, be paying rfor the bike. Again, not an adult, no financing available.
- You have no idea how much insurance is for a 17-yera old on a Gixxer, do you? For the sake of argument, let's say you COULD finance the bike. you'll be looking at over $200/month for the payments, and another $400-$500/month for insurance, since you are required to carry FULL coverage on a financed vehicle. In fact, at 17 I doubt you'll find many companies willing to insure you at ANY price.
- You take home $1000/month at your job? Good, because you won't have any money left over for ANYTHING but the motorcycle. No clothes, no fast food, no movies, etc. Which brings me to...
- You'll wear a helmet and gear, huh? In that case, you better have an extra $1000 in your cash-bought motorcycle fund, Junior, because gear isn't cheap. But let's not forget...
- You'll take a training course! Oh, that'll turn you into Mat Mladin in one short weekend, right? An MSF course is essential for ANYONE wanting to learn motorcycle riding, but it does NOT make you an instant cyclist. It will take many more years to get good enough not to kill yourself, which rolls right into...
- Only riding in clear weather? That's the sign of a poor rider. If you only know how to ride when it's sunny and the temperature is between 70 and 80 degrees (like Harley riders), then you WILL crash the first time you hit a patch of gravel, an unexpected rain shower, high winds, or stay out too late one night. Just as learning to ride means more than twisting the throttle, knowing how to ride means being able to handle ANY situation safely.
- You have a car. Great. Drive it for a few more years until you can avoid everything on the road and have ZERO tickets and accidents until you're 20. That little slide, misstep, puddle, or fender bender that you laugh off in a car can KILL you on a motorcycle. It doesn't matter whose fault it is, the motorcyclist LOSES every time, and there is no "reset" button like on your PSP.
- Let's combine speeding with raging emotions. You are 17 years old. You are the DEFINITION of raging teenage emotions, fella, which is why insurance companies won't want to cover you. The throttle of a motorcycle is FAR more sensitive than in a car, and they accelerate faster than you can think. You WILL speed, you WILL try to race someone from a stoplight, and you WILL try to look cool for the poontang. If you truly think that riding fast only endangers you, then you are just proving my point that your 17-year old judgement is flawed and would continue to be so on a Gixxer.
You picked this bike because everyone and their brother has one. Gixxers and R6's are the most popular sportbike out there, and at 17 your goal in life is to look cool and get laid. Deny it if you like, but I was 17 once and I KNOW, believe me.
Your parents are right, you are not old enough to have the maturity and experience necessary to handle a motorcycle like that. well what u have to do is tell them that u want that bike really bad and convince them someway im sure after a long time of bugging them u will convince them. or u can wait till u graduate and ur 18 then u can buy it urself. Everyone has given really good answers. Most of us have been there with parents that did not allow us to have bikes and had to wait until we were on our own. If your parents don't want you to have one, nothing is going to change their minds.
Suck it up and move on. Sorry. :(
If you are female, you could get yourself pregnant and then (in most states) you would be emancipated. |
