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My teenager wants an E-bike

Saxon said:
I would not let my kid ride a bicycle or e-bike on the public roads. I have a machine safety view of vehicles and roadways.
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I get your viewpoint, but I also hate it (not you!) Cars and other vehicles will not allow bicycles (regular ones, not just e-bikes) on streets unless cyclists demand it. And that means taking a risk - the risk to actually ride on city streets.

I got my daughter into riding her bicycle on the public roads as soon as possible. Learning both basic bike skills (how to ride without falling over, being able to make hand signals without wobbling, etc.) and road sense (taking up space - the full lane where necessary, being visible, making eye contact, etc.).

She now lives in London and rides her bicycle and loves it. And I love that. I know bad things could happen, but the same is true of us bikers...

As far as the OPs' question, I agree that he probably should have a united front with his wife - no-one LIKES being the bad cop. And personally I probably wouldn't have let my daughter get an e-bike before she was at least 16. After that... situation-dependent - do I think she or her friends would be stupid?
 
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If you do buy him an ebike, also get him, at the very least, a motorcycle helmet and gloves. And make sure he knows how to counter steer. And how far it takes to stop from speed. A course with the MSF would be a big plus.
 
As a kid I wanted a BB gun. My Dad said absolutely not. If your want a gun then we get you a real gun so you learn to respect it.
He bought me a Remington bolt action 22 with scope. And then we went shooting.

My vote buy him a dirt bike and the two of you go riding. Do stuff with your Son, keep him close.


Never have owned a BB gun, maybe I should go buy myself one.
 
greenmonster said:
At the risk of beating a dead horse on this united front thing…your wife was with you before the kid came along, and she’ll be there after he moves out.
She is your life partner, not your kid.
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I know two fathers who were supportive of their sons road racing from a young age and their sons were both killed before the age of 14. Apart from the tragedy of the loss itself, neither marriage survived. I don’t know where either spouse stood on racing but there is a point to consider:

Before allowing a kid to engage in a high consequence activity, both parents should be aligned on the risk/reward of it.
 
Indeed those were tragic.

That activity is on a different level but a solid point.
 
E-Bicycles I think is ok if they already know how to ride a bicycle proficiently. Now an E-Motorcycle is a different story like a Sur Ron or Talaria. Unfortunately they are cracking down on kids riding em because they are out doing dumb stuff on them so now they've got to regulate them all. I don't ride my Sur Ron on the road anymore because of this even if it has a moped plate. They are coming after the parents who purchase their kids E-Motos also, because they are pretty much enabling them to ride illegally.
 
My kids are grown, but if they were still teenagers they'd definitely have e-bikes (in fact I bought my son an e-scooter when they first came out about 20 years ago.)
I'm not believer in coddling kids. You give them the best advice you can, cross your fingers and hope for the best. At least they aren't sneaking off to ride a friends e-bike without the benefit of any instruction.

The brutal truth is, they don't all make it. And while I always feared losing one, I also feared them missing out on living life because of my/our fears.
 
Me too of course. I already had a Yamaha Mini Enduro.
The Coppers were all over me if I had any two stroke smoke coming out the exhaust while dog paddling my way to the dirt lots.

The way things are today I think they would not be.

I am seeing all kinds of breaking the law (BTL) happening with E-Bikes and Mini Bikes these days. Amazingly so actually.
 
budman said:
I am seeing all kinds of breaking the law (BTL)
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There's no more enforcement any more. From dirt bikes on the street, wheelies thru intersections to expired car registration and dark tint on windows. All the thing's I used to get busted for in a matter of hours are now commonplace... I would have had a field day. :laughing
 
This may be P-trap material, I’d like to see some funded training and dedicated spaces for kids and e-bikes.
 
back in the 80s I was a avid road bicyclist, I could easily get up to 30 MPH on flat ground on my Nisihiki 12 speed. I rode with a bunch of guys that would bomb down hills drafting each other, we would be close to 50 MPH, wheels centimeters apart with nothing but spandex and bell mushroom head helmets to save us and some of the guys didn't wear helmets. The thing with E-bikes is power on demand with out work to achieve speed. So a young person can achieve dangerous speed with out a motor, just takes a lot mor work.

This seems like an opportunity for a teaching moment. Maybe make the E-bike contingent on passing the CMSP and getting a M1 license.
 
Good point, on a regular bicycle you get the opportunity to experience crashing at low speeds while you learn to get fast ebikes give ya all the juice without any of the formative experience. Got my road bike up to around 55 or so chasing a Harley down a mountain pass in Colorado in my 20s. That was a hoot. The rider did not enjoy my buddy and I appearing in his rear view through every corner :laughing
 
Not for nothing, but......

I'd also like one of those fancy e-bikes, could you get one for me too ?
 
Basic riding is what the kids understand it as, it no different than a bike. They don't understand traction, steering, defensive and offensive riding. One major factor we as parent don't really take in mind about an ebikes.... is when KIDS ride an ebike, they are riding them wide open 30-45 mph all the time vs a normal bike at 15mph in small sprints. At the end of the day a far majority of kids dont understand much about riding an ebike outside of the normal straight and stop concept.

I for one have heard about more kids dying in ebike crashes in 4 years than I have my whole life riding normal peddle bikes.
 
Not to downplay the horror any family experienced from an ebike accident with their kid, but it is definitely being milked by the media for views and clicks

I doubt pedal bike accidents were getting much media play outside of anything hyperlocal
 
I mean, if only they had plates like a moped and kids actually got those M2 licenses.
Or you know more places to ride offroad - legally.

As for advise, I would say your best bet is to go take him to a Garahan Class and show him what he doesnt know about 2 wheels.
 
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