The worried mothers guide to motorcycling

Mum. I want to ride!!!!!

The worried Mothers guide to Motorcycling

That worrying moment when your child asks for a motorcycle. LOL

I’m a passionate parent, I have dedicated my life to parenting with intent, to developing happy, passionate, considerate kids who add value to the world and I’m glad to have your attention for a few moments to share my story and the lessons I’ve learned.

As a parent it’s our natural instinct to protect our children.

Its in our sole to worry for our children and we have an innate need to prepare our children for the world.

I remember the day my son started nagging me for a motorcycle, I felt sick at the thought of him riding.

My parents weren’t motorcyclist’s so of course they were concerned…

My mum (His Grand Mother) would buy my son the latest football or a video game as a tactic to try and get him focused on a more normal activity… but all he wanted was to watch the motocross videos and talk about when he was going to ride a motorcycle.

My friends filled me with horror stories and told me how they got their boys into soccer or basketball… why wouldn’t I get my son into something safer they would ask….. Ohhh and of course then there is the cost of a motorcycle and on they would rant about motorcycling…..

I was a worried mother nervous about the thought of motorcycling.

Then one day I told met Andrea……….

Andrea was the mother of a Motorcyclist… I told her about my son and I asked her bout all my concerns….

Her answer’s changed my life as a parent….

After carrying a knot in my stomach, being torn between letting my son do something he is obviously passionate about and me protecting him…… “to ride” or “not to ride” was the question…..

Andrea made it 100000% clear to me that my job as a mother is to prepare my children for life. The only way to protect them is to prepare them.

Its our job to Equip our children with the self esteem, the character and the tools to grow into capable, passionate, happy humans.

“Honey, you have 2 options. Either let him ride or don’t let him ride…. But remember its not about the bike….”

I’m curious…..” its not about the bike? “

“Young people need adrenalin, they need to take risks, We need to teach them how to take educated risks. They need to learn focus, they need to learn consequence, cause and effect, they need to learn respect.

“Restraining our children is a band-aid fix, training them lasts for ever.”

Suppressing the desire of a child is not safety, its selfish, and its only delaying the fact that one day he is going to ride. Against your wish.

Did you know that around 80% of males will ride a motorcycle in their life.

“Id rather my son learn to ride in a fun, safe and controlled environment now than to one day go against my word and learn from friends.”

“Id rather him have nothing to prove when it comes time to get his drivers license.”

“ I want my son to have a passion that keeps him focused and disciplined”

So here are the facts.

When your son learns to ride he will be wearing all the protective gear, a full face helmet, body amour, gloves, boots, goggles, a neck brace, the works he may even use training wheels. His motorcycle will be restricted and he will be going slower than he rides his bicycle, he will be getting coached by someone who knows what they are doing and most importantly he will be doing something he loves.

I think its our job as mothers to teach our kids to focus, to give our children the gift of discipline and to show our kids how to take educated risks.

I know the motorcycle is a worry, its our job to worry. But isn’t our job to see our children Live, to light up, to do what they love?

Boredom is a risk, Disrespect is a risk, Taking Drugs is a Risk, Riding a pushbike with no helmet is a risk.

Riding a motorcycle in a controlled safe environment with all the protective gear and guidance possible is an educated risk.

Motorcycling is statistically safer than the School play ground, than football and many other common sports but our sport is mis-understood because most parents aren’t motorcyclist’s them selves.

Motorcycling gives your child a self esteem.

Motorcycling gives your child an outlet to channel all emotions, excitement, frustration. Everything. A bad day at school is long forgotten as soon as that bike is kicked into gear.

Self Esteem:

Motorcycling develops self Esteem.

Study’s tell us that Self Esteem grows when we grow, It grows when we stand out in a positive way and it grows when we do something we enjoy.

After teaching over 1000 people how to ride a motorcycle the number 1 change I see is a positive increase in self Value. The shy/quiet personality comes alive and out of the shell. The over confident and out there personality is humbled. Motorcycling is the ultimate Self Esteem Balancer.

Motion Creates emotion:

It is proven that motion creates emotion. You can not be depressed if you move in a positive way. As Human’s Motion Creates positive emotions. Motorcycling makes you feel good.

Discipline:

Discipline is the reason so many youth challenges are growing at exponential levels, we live in a world were our kids don’t learn discipline. Mum and Dad weather they admit it or not do way to much for their children and our market place does what ever possible to keep young people comfortable. Motorcycling breeds discipline, when you find discipline in one are of your life it filters through to other area’s of your life. The young person who learns the disciplines of looking after his motorcycle is leaps and bounds ahead of the kids who spend their time on the computer or playing ball sports.

Leverage:

“You can ride the bike as soon as your home work is done” Motorcycling is leverage.

Desire:

Motorcycling make us hungry to be better, it fills us with desire. Desire drives us to be more, do more and give more.

Respect:

Dirtbike Kids learn respect. They Respect the track, They Respect their ability, they respect their bikes. We have taken the most disengaged youth and sat them on a motorcycle, through our 5 step process we ensure the motorcycle demands their respect in a safe and controlled environment. Send me a disrespectful kid who wants to ride, sit him on the motorcycle in front of an obstacle that scares impresses him as much as it scares him and Ill show you a kid who learns respect fast.

Preparation:

Motocross teaches us to prepare, we have to think about what we will need for the day, prepare our goggles, our gear and our bikes. This is all stuff the kids should do them selves.

Focus:

As soon as the helmet comes on the only thing in the world that matters is the track in front of you, Learn to focus. In a world of distraction our average attention span has gone from 22 minutes in the 1930s to 7 seconds for our young people. 7 seconds!!! We need to teach our kids to focus!

Visualization:

The sub conscious mind is our most powerful tool. Motorcycling will grow the sub conscious mind. First you see an obstacle, then you  see your selfself completing the obstacle, then you complete the obstacle. Turn your vision into action. What a metaphor for life, what a lesson for life.

Fitness:

Motorcycling is one of the most physically and mentally demanding sports in the world. If you think riding a motorcycle is easy on the fitness then you haven’t ridden!

Friendship:

Many motorcycling families become friends for life, you meet like minded people who are outdoors having fun. As in any sport there are people from all walks of life. I Guarantee you will meet like minded families.

Excitement:

Kids want excitement, Riding a motorcycle is the ultimate in the minds of many young people. No 2 days riding are the same. Create a childhood that impacts your kid for life, make memories. Create experience, fill your kid up with positive emotions. Excite them and Inspire them.

Family:

Motorcycling is a family sport. Its brings us together. The family that plays together stays together.

Parental Bond:

The father who spends time at the track with his son, The mother who inspires her son to improve his riding. The family that ride together stay together. Many parents ride, some don’t, either way your common interest with your children is an asset that will be an asset as your child grows up.