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Dirt bike

NAS71321

Hello, my son is 23 years old and absolutely loves loves motorcycles. He would like to own a motorcycle and ride a motorcycle. He has autism and his higher functioning but it is my fear that riding a bike on the road is absolutely too much for him to handle especially since he has epilepsy. I would like to make his wish come true by getting him a bike that he can ride on the property but with that being said, I would be looking into a smaller type of dirt bike that can be adjusted to only go no faster than 20 miles per hour.  He loves speed and that scares me.  It breaks my heart that he can't ride his Harley David's dream bike as he wishes.  He even wants to work in a motorcycle shop. 

Thanks 

  • Hey, did you manage to find a solution? I have the same problem and I really don't know what to do. However, I have already bought him his dream bike for his birthday and I have also insured it. It wasn't difficult to find a good insurance company especially since there are so many on the market. So, I have chosen the Simple Bike Insurance Agency as it has a lot of policies which fit all my needs and I liked that they also cover the costs of your medical expenses when you’re injured on a ride. Thanks in advance for your reply!

  • Hi - This is going to sound terrible - I apologise for that - but how ASD  is your son?   Is he aware of the implications of riding a bike - not only the personal risk and responsibility but all the third-parties he could kill and property he can damage?

    If he was *that* into bikes, I would probably have doing this much sooner where he could have become interested in trialling or quad bikes as a child in a purely off-road, mud-based situation where the sport is all at low-speed.    As he's now an adult, he wants adult things - and that could a huge risk to himself and everyone else.

    You might want to get him some lessons on an off-road riding school (they are usually on airfields or large car parks) and ask them to assess him, his attitude and skills before allowing him anywhere near the public roads.

    As an aside, my brother needed surgery on his hip when he was 11 - he was in the local Victorian hospital with long wards of maybe 20 beds - in every bed was a young man with their right leg in traction after a motorbike accident.     It really put me off bikes from an early age.

  • Don't do that to him, either get him a bike or don't get him a bike.  Pulling a bait and switch like that is an insult, he'll hate you.  The 20mph limitation is like something you'd expect of a 5 year old, completely unreasonable.  Ideally he would pay for everything himself, more likely to take care and look after it if he's responsible for everything.

    You say he is 23 and high functioning, which means he is a young man and ultimately the choice is his to make if the DVLA give the go ahead on a provisional licence, which will depend on the circumstances of his epilepsy.

    If you really want to be helpful, buy him a couple of motorcycle specific highway code books to study roadcraft, then if he can demonstrate some level of competence (as a passenger in your car for example, describing in real time as you drive along what he's supposed to be doing as a motorcyclist, observation, position on the road etc) maybe then book his CBT and a few lessons with a reputable instructor who'll take him out on the road on one of their own bikes (only possible once he's passed CBT).

    Back when I started out I had to go against my parents wishes to get my first bike, of course they worried but I think they were quietly happy to see me gain some independence in pulling something together for myself and making it happen without help.