Last Saturday Barb and I took Trevor out for lunch to McGrath's Fish House and then we asked him what he would like to do. We offered to take him out to buy his birthday present but he said he didn't want anything, all he wanted to do was "drive around" with us.
After prodding him for several minutes it came out that he would like ride the motorcycle. Barb has a smaller Honda Rebel 250cc and we felt that he could handle that just fine. The bike hasn't been ridden in a year so the battery was dead and we had to jump start it. Barb drove it to the gas station to fill the tires up with air and then we headed over to the nearby middle school where they had a big parking lot with no one around.
We started off by having him push the bike with the motor off so he could feel the weight of the bike, and then we started the engine and had him keep it in first gear and slowly went between two light posts. After that, he felt ready to give it a try, so we had him drive between the light posts with his feet up on the pegs. Then he was ready to go a little faster and drive it around the light posts. Then finally we got him to speed up enough to go into 2nd gear and man was he moving.
Then we played follow the leader and I was in front having him follow me around the school. Then he did it by himself. Just look at that smile on his face!
Barb and I have offered to pay for Motorcycle Safety classes when he gets back from his trip to California. We all had a lot of fun together that day.
I like that you guys will pay for a safety training when he doesn't even have a helmet on! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a head of hair that boy has!
Actually Trevor DID have a full face SNELL DOT helmet, (top of the line). These photos were taken when at the start of the day when he was just in first gear and getting a feel for the bike. Dave and I are VERY SAFETY FIRST when it comes to motorcycles. The photos actually make it look like he's flying, but he's only doing about 4 -5 miles per hour, and he can actually stop by just putting his feet down on the pavement at this point.
ReplyDeleteThat makes sense. What a nice day for you all.
ReplyDelete