How to Advise My Son to Not Ride a Motorcycle? (In 10 Ways)

Lots of parents are very worried when their child wants to start riding a motorcycle. I also understand how dangerous motorcycle riding is and causes a lot of anxiety among parents. Even, I’ve personally heard about parents who can’t sleep at night as a result of motorcycle riding.

So, how can I convince my son not to ride on a motorcycle & should I do it? It depends on you as a parent. If you don’t trust your son and think he is very irresponsible that he could ride at crazy speeds that would endanger him, that’s probably enough and justified to stop him from riding on a motorcycle, and there are a few ways by which you can do this. But if you trust your son and he is very responsible, you do not need to stop him from riding a motorcycle.

By the way, you can decide if your son will get a motorcycle or not using his age. If he is over 18, you can only try to influence him not to get a motorcycle but not decide for him because he is mature while if he is under 18, it is not recommended to buy him a motorcycle because it is very irresponsible especially at this stage of life. Therefore, if your son is above 18, it is more recommended that your son get a motorcycle.

However, do not force your son to get a motorcycle or not, just explain to him as a parent the costs of the motorcycle and the risks, and let him decide for himself. If he eventually decides to ride a motorcycle, make sure he practices all safety measures, including safety gear, safety tips, and he should take riding courses. That will lower your worry and fear, and believe me, if your son is responsible, he will ride safely and have a much lower chance of making an accident.

An interesting fact is that only 5,000 people die on average every year from motorcycle accidents in the United States, which is relatively low compared to millions of people that ride a motorcycle. And this may be another reason to calm you down.

If you are still unsure if to get your child a motorcycle, then keep reading because in this guide, I will show you all the ways by which you can convince your child not to ride a motorcycle, and tips on how you as a parent can make sure your child is safe when riding, and lots more.

So, let’s get started.

10 ways by which you can convince your son not to ride a motorcycle

Before showing you how you can convince your son not to ride on a motorcycle, you need to first know if you’re supposed to do it.

To start with, if your son is under the age of 18, it is your decision to buy a motorcycle for him or not, but if your child is over 18, for example, at 19, you can only try to convince him, but not decide for him.

In my opinion, if your son is under 18, I wouldn’t recommend buying him a motorcycle because he will be less responsible at that age.

So, here are the ways by which you can advise your son not to ride a motorcycle:

1. Tell your son that riding on a motorcycle is dangerous

As you know, motorcycle riding is quite dangerous. So, you can convince your son not to ride a motorcycle by proving various facts about motorcycle accidents that can deter your son from riding.

Here are some facts about motorcycle accidents and deaths you can tell your son:

Tell your son that about 5,000 people die from motorcycle accidents every year in the United States and over 100,000 people are injured. And as a result of that, he has more chances as a motorcycle rider to make a life-threatening accident even far more than any car rider.

You can also tell your son that he has a very good chance of making an accident that will leave him disabled for all of his life, which in most cases, is very daunting.

Another thing you can tell him is that a motorcycle accident is 60% fatal than a car accident and nearly 35 percent of people died at the time of the accident.

In general, be calm and give your kid these facts. Don’t try to yell or argue with him; just start slowly trying to convince him. He probably won’t listen to you. Don’t care about his words, just keep on telling him and you can also try other ways to convince him.

2. Tell your son about a family or friend who died from a motorcycle accident

Sometimes, showing your child data and figures of people who died from motorcycle accidents can be less effective and less influential because they are people he doesn’t know. However, telling your child about someone from your family or even a friend who got injured or died from motorcycle accidents convince him and make a lot more impact.

In addition, if you want to take it one step further, one of the most effective things you can do is to let your child talk to a friend or someone who got injured from motorcycle accidents. And let the person convince your child.

But if you don’t have a friend or relative who died or got injured from a motorcycle accident, a good idea might be to let your child talk to someone popular that stopped riding a motorcycle. You can find them in bars, motorcycle shows, or even on social media.

If this didn’t work, keep reading to learn about other ways.

3. Show your child videos of people having a motorcycle accidents

If you want to totally scare your child and discourage him from riding a motorcycle, a very good way to do so is to show him YouTube videos of people having a motorcycle accident.

There are tons of videos of people who had motorcycle accidents and the truth is it is very scary and even creepy to watch, and I can assure you that anyone who has never ride a motorcycle will be scared and discouraged from riding a motorcycle when he watches the videos.

There are lots of scary videos of motorcycle accidents, but I chose these 3 videos below because they are the scariest you can show to your son.

4. Tell your son that the first motorcycle is much more dangerous

If you do not know, the first motorcycle is the most dangerous for a beginner rider because as a beginner, your son will be missing lots of skills and experience especially if he didn’t take a safety course, and by missing a lot of experience and practice, he is more at risk.

In fact, a very substantial number of beginners have fatal accidents, but in each case, every beginner will make at least one accident with his motorcycle, and it doesn’t matter how powerful the motorcycle he rides is.

The fact that motorcycle riding is much more dangerous for a beginner could be a daunting fact to introduce to your son.

5. Tell your son that it is expensive to ride a motorcycle

In my opinion, the best way to convince your son not to ride a motorcycle is to tell him how expensive it is to maintain a motorcycle. I am sure if you tell him you won’t be able to help him with buying the motorcycle, it will deter him from getting a motorcycle.

If you do not know, buying a good motorcycle that offers decent performance costs between $3,500 to $5,000 and adding other miscellaneous expenses such as maintenance costs, safety equipment, insurance, license and more, it will sum up to at least $10,0000 and can even cost more if your child is getting a more powerful motorcycle.

When you show your child these numbers and the costs that a motorcycle requires, it will surely discourage him, especially if he just finished school and doesn’t have enough money. But if you don’t support and trust your son to buy him a motorcycle and he asks you for money to buy the motorcycle, you can tell him you do not have enough money to invest and spend on a motorcycle.

In addition, if you want to see and read more about motorcycle ownership and cost, I highly recommend you click here to view the post I wrote.

6. Tell your son that he will get more attention from the public as a motorcycle rider

Another way by which you can convince your son from riding a motorcycle is to tell him he will get a different approach and a lot more attention from people around him as a motorcyclist.

If you don’t know, motorcyclists get a pretty different approach that sometimes can be good and otherwise.

As a motorcycle rider, expect to get lots of attention on your motorcycle. For example, in some cases, people can sit on the motorcycle until theft happens, which leads to the next step.

7. Tell your son that there is more risk of losing the motorcycle

If you do not know, motorcycles are very easy to steal. So, you can take advantage of this fact and tell your son not to buy a motorcycle because it is very easy to be stolen, and getting the motorcycle stolen is a big loss of money.

8. Tell your son he will be tired when riding long distances

If your son wants a motorcycle to ride to a remote workplace, you can tell him not to buy because it is very tiring to drive long distances, especially if it is a very heavy motorcycle.

9. Tell your child you are afraid of buying him a motorcycle

Aside from the various ways I have shown you to convince your child from riding a motorcycle, you can honestly tell him that you are scared and do not want to deal with feelings of guilt. And in some cases, your child will listen to you.

10. Tell your son that he can’t ride a motorcycle in winter

Motorcycle riding during winter is highly not recommended and much more dangerous than riding in the sun. So, you can tell your child that he can’t ride in the winter because he will have to find a place to host the motorcycle. While this fact is very compelling to many riders, you can use it for your child.

In general, those are the various ways by which you can convince your child from riding a motorcycle while I encourage you as a parent to convince him with all the 10 reasons.

By the way, if your child does not agree after presenting him with all of those reasons, I would advise you to buy him a dirt bike which is a bit safer. And if he still does not agree, you have nothing to do than to buy him and make sure he is safe when riding.

How can I (as a parent) make sure my son is safe when riding on a motorcycle?

As a parent, the only thing you can do to make sure your child is safe when riding is to make sure your child follows the various safety rules before riding because you can’t control or help him during riding. So, make sure you keep your child safe before he starts riding.

Here are the different ways by which you can make your child safe when riding on a motorcycle:

Make sure your son doesn’t get on a motorcycle over 500cc – If your son is a beginner, he should never get on a motorcycle that has an engine of over 500cc because it is much dangerous and deadly and would be so brutal if he has an accident. For example, if your son gets on a 600cc motorcycle and has an accident, which is sure to happen especially as a beginner, the accident will be very fatal and disastrous. So, the best recommendation for a beginner is to get a 250cc to 500cc motorcycle because it is much safer to ride.

Make sure your son has safety equipment – You must never give your son a motorcycle without safety equipment because if he rides without safety equipment and has an accident, his chances of dying are more than 50 percent, especially if he is not wearing a helmet. In fact, about 40 percent of motorcycle rider died from motorcycle accidents because they did not wear a helmet. So, it is your responsibility to make sure your son wears all the necessary safety equipment such as boots, helmet, gloves, goggles, trouser, and pants suit. And by the way, keep in mind that safety equipment costs about $500 to $1,200.

Make sure your son takes a safety course – Another thing you need to do as a parent is to make sure your child takes a safety course while a safety course is mandatory in many countries and will give your child all the tools and skills to keep him safe while riding. Safety course costs $100 in most cases while there are even states that give it for free. So, you are obliged as a parent to make sure your child gets a riding course.

Make sure your son is not drunk before riding – You must make sure your son is not drunk before riding because if your son is drunk while riding, it is 100 percent sure he will have an accident and will be a life-threatening one. If you don’t know, 33 percent of those who died from motorcycle accidents were drunk riders, so if you know that your child has a drinking problem, you have to help him get rid of it and make sure he does not ride when drunk.

Make sure your son does not ride when tired – You need to make sure your son does not ride when tired because riding when tired can be very dangerous since motorcycle riding requires a lot of alertness. If you notice that your child is tired, don’t allow him to ride.

Make sure your son’s motorcycle is maintained – As a parent, you also need to make sure your child’s motorcycle is maintained and there are no problems with it. You need to make sure your son does motorcycle maintenance at least every month, which will keep him safe while riding.

If you do all these tips and make sure your child is protected before getting on a motorcycle, trust me, it will give you peace of mind as a parent and will also keep your son safe while riding.

Should I give my child a car or a motorcycle before the age of 18?

It’s quite up to you as a parent. But it is most recommended to give a child under the age of 18 a car and not a motorcycle because children under the age of 18 are far less responsible than those above 18.

It is also important to note that when your child reaches 18, he may choose what to ride. So, you can only try to influence him and not decide for him.