What do you do/say?
 

Someone asked me about riding today. I was nice about it and tried to be helpful, recommended the MSF, etc... But what do you say to someone that you KNOW shouldn't be riding but wants to learn?

I'm not saying this person shouldn't ride but they have their days where I think they would be OK and then there are other days that I'm like WTF!

be honest about it. dont be mean, but be honest. if its someone important to you, put it gently somehow.

Exactly what I was how to do. Fortunately I have come across anyone I don't think should ride but was questioning today how I would go about it if I did ever have this encounter.

Tell them they are a moron and that if they don't take MSF, they will kill somebody and you will testify against them!

Seriously... tell them to take MSF and say you'll even take it with them. Normally they are only $25 per person and its not a bad thing for anybody... beginer or seasoned vet.

If I think they shouldn't ride? I'd probably share with them a few of the "incidents" I had with cagers targeting me and explain that riding takes a lot of concentration and alertness and hope they take the hint. If I know them really well I'd be more frank with them and tell them straight out I don't think they should be riding, but also work with them if they decide to anyway. After all, who the hell am I to say if they should or shouldn't?

I'm sure there are plenty of people out there that you'd think shouldn't step within 100 feet of a bike that ride really well. Not saying that's always the case though..

All that said and done, I refer everyone to the MSF as they're the ones trained to evaluate if someone can ride or not.

I told a female friend that she shouldn't ride. At the time her husband was looking for a bike and she was gonna get a ninja 250. I just told her its a lot of physical and more mental work to ride. I told her she gets freaked out/frantic when stuff happens and I just wouldn't want to see her get hurt. She's always listened to me from what I've seen and she doesn't have a bike to this day.

That's one of the reasons I keep all my thrashed helmets and gear. I've show a few people my box of mangled shit and watched their attitude change right in front of me.

I always ask them how bad would it hurt running as fast as you can and flinging themselves on the sidewalk....now what happens at 60 mph...

I walk away.

I was told many times before I started riding that I shouldn't be riding.... I didn't listen, why would I expect anyone else to listen?

Tell them motorcycles are heavy! :lol:

I don't really encourage people in either direction. They make their own decision. I have a friend who I'm terrified to ride in a car with (and not in the fun, good way), and he picked up riding recently. I gave him all the resources to get good training, checked out his first bike before he bought it to make sure it was sound, but have pretty much stayed out of it ever since.

I don't encourage or discourage. I take the same approach when people ask me about tattoos. It is up to the individual.

It's up to them... but I'd keep an eye on which direction they're riding and go the other way. :)

MSF all the way. That should be their first exposure to riding. They can decide on their own if MC is for them or not.

yep.

most ppl only listen to what they wana hear. one of my friends really shouldnt be riding imo, but he wanted too, so we told him take the class, we'll take u to the parking lot whenever you want, practice practice practice.

id rather keep an eye on my friend to help prevent some injury and retardedness than turn my back on him and find out he got killed. some ppl learn the hard way, but sometimes the hard way kills ya.

never know what ppl are capable of when given the right instruction and proper tools

If they act like there gonna hop on and be Invincible Even AFTER I tell them what they should do to get started, Then I just walk away b/c I dont like to be all fatherly It's not my job in life to tell people what to do.

I do that enough at work.

if its a friend, that attitude entitles u to kick him right in the balls, right?

Oh Def, If its someone I know then I def tell them how I feel...But I cant tell you how many morons Come up to me when I'm out on the bike like "ZOMG YOUR BIKE IS TEH SEXORZ I WANNA LEARN TO RIDE BLAH BLAH BLAH"

Then i always say Ya take the MSF course and depending on how they react I either A. Continue the Convo or B. Ride away in Horror and Hope they never touch a Motorcycle

oh, strangers i dont do to well with, i always hear the " dude thats a gixxer? they go like 250 right? im gonna get one, yadda yadda yadda."
:wtfru:
i smile, nod, keep it moving.

This

If they are adults, they will do what they want anyways.
At least this way they get to try riding for themselves in a safe environment, without spending alot of cash, to see if they actually like it, or if it is just a romanticized idea.

:iagree:

I helped a couple people discover that riding wasn't for them just a couple weeks ago. It's not fun when that happens, but it's usually for the best.

The way I see it, it's the course that's designed to weed out those that should or shouldn't be riding, not the coach. And it's generally up to the customer to make the final decision, not me. I basically just give them the tools & opportunity to learn, then pass or fail and support them either way.

I actually just had one older gentleman who's goal was to get a bike so he could ride with his son. He passed the course, but still made the conscious decision that riding wasn't for him. I was bummed & a little surprised to hear him say that, but at the same time, I understood and part of me agreed.

With that said, it was just the physical skill part that he was having trouble with... with more practice he could have ironed out all those issues.

I tell people that they shouldn't ride. I am asked constantantly at work how much money I save in gas because of my bike. For some reason people think that you save a ton in gas.

Anyway, I usually explain that the maintenance costs are well above that of a car, tires, gear and all that stuff adds up, plus the insurance cost of an extra vehicle, and the cost of the bike itself, you will never see the cost savings vs driving the car you already own.

BUT, if you want to ride the bike for fun on the weekend then thats a whole different story.

Usually the only people that I think shouldn't be riding are just idiots with a squidly attitude. And they won't listen to me anyway. Like the guy from work that just had a baby son and thinks running from cops is cool but crashed 7x on his friends bike and just went to check out a SS. He also doesn't believe in gear and thinks that he should live each day as his last.

I told him to have fun. I don't want to spend my last day being peeled off the cement.

Other than that, I don't get into people's decision makings.

I'm with Particle, I would ride the other way!

Why don't you think this person shouldn't be riding Kara?

Tell his woman to take out a nice life insurance policy on him now while she still can.

As I stated in the initial post - I'm not saying this person shouldn't ride but they have their days where I think they would be OK and then there are other days that I'm like WTF!

I don't think they are incapable of learning and being a good rider. I am just more concerned about their safety in terms of them being invisible to cagers. I have days were I don't even like riding on the street because I don't want to deal with idiots.

They are going to sign up tonight with a friend for a date in August. They were definitely not opposed to going through this channel for learning.

I shared an instance where someone turned right on red in front of me, while I had the green light. The incident wasn't even close because I was preparing for such an act.

I feel the same as some of you in that who am I to judge, although I'm really not. As stated above I fear more for their safety not because they would be a bad rider, but all the variables that goes into riding. I even brought up the simplest of things like canceling turn signals (hush you guys/gals with auto-cancel).

I HATED this back when gas was sky high. I finally did the math (minus maintenance, pure mpg) and found it was still cheaper to drive my car because I could get away with buying 87 octane versus 93 in the bike. Now, with the new car, the bike would be cheaper (22mpg vs 41mpg) since they both require 93. Again mpg only-no maintenance or gear cost.