Forcing my mother to ride...

[MBFTY]

:)

Ok heres the deal. My moms Fiance (He rides too) and I are trying to get my mom to ride. We've tried asking... offering her rides on my quad... everything. We've even considered drugging her and strapping her to the seat of my quad...

Im hoping that some logical reasoning will convince her. If you could give me some reasons why YOU ride, maybe I can present these to her and tip the scales :think

Thanks :)

 

[firecracker22]

Well, "forcing" isn't a good way to do it. Steve's mom got interested just recently when she came out to his place (he has 7 acres) to walk her 2 dogs and she walked the trail he had started cutting through his orchard and field. Now at 50-ish she wants a little bike. So maybe take your mom to your favorite trail and she'll see all the beautiful scenery and decide it's something to do.

I ride for the sheer adrenaline rush. I love going as fast as I can (which isn't really all that fast) whether on gnarly trails or the mx track. Somehow I don't think that would convince your mom.

 

[Yamamoto]

We've even considered drugging her and strapping her to the seat of my quad...


I am sure she will love it after that ......

 

[MBFTY]

Welp

She's coming out to the local riding area with us this weekend... Im gonna try to get her to ride my quad again.

 

[JWW]

Forcing her to ride is the worst thing you can do. She will instantly hate it.

My wife went on the back of my RM and hated it. She even swore to never get on a bike again.

She sat on my sons XR100 last night and we are now talking about going for a ride tomorrow.

Give her time and the right bike and things may come together.

If not oh well move on

 

[MXbabe]

I agree! Forcing her to ride is the worst thing to do. She's going to have to want to ride.

I got into riding so I could spend more time with my husband. Now I am hooked. Maybe if you and your soon to be step dad ride a lot and she feels left out she'll get the itch to ride.

Just take it easy and let her want to do it. If she feels pressure she won't enjoy riding and may even get hurt.
:scream:

 

[TGilliam]

Just a few suggestions. Get a really small bike like an XR100 that is light and unintimidating. Show her how to work the gears, clutch and brake. Then just let her ride around the yard in 1st gear til she's comfortable. Then, have her change gears.

Let her get comfortable in your yard rather than in a large group of people. Maybe she will learn to like it-maybe not. The first time I went to a motocross I said never again, not even if my husband put flaming bamboo shoots under my fingernails. Now, I'm more nuts about motorcycles and motocross, supercross, etc than he is....and that's pretty bad!

Mainly, start slow and be patient. Let her progress at her own speed-if you can get her on the bike, that is.

Good luck!

 

[MBFTY]

Well...

Her fiance has always liked bikes... He is one of those people that would rather be wrenching something thats not broke on his bike than watching TV...

Im gonna see if I can get her on my quad. Even though its got a lot of power and it is fast, its 4 stroke so you can baby it. I think she'll like it if she gets on... Its just a matter of getting her to try it! Were discussing getting her an XR of some sort for Christmas... Probably an XR200 or some kind of smaller quad like a stock 300EX or something...

 

[Michelle]

Not everyone likes bikes, not everyone's going to want to ride offroad. Figure out why she's not interested - is she scared of the bikes/quads, does she not like the noise (ear plugs), is she concerned about co-ordination (changing gears with the feet takes a bit to get used to, but it's not a biggie)?

If you can start with that, you can figure out if she's ever going to ride. I posted why I started to ride as someone else asked why we had started, so thought I'd start a new thread (where are the other answers).

Check out Cindy Gross's page for excuses - http://cindygross.tripod.com/dirtbike.htm and see if that helps any.

Don't force your mum into anything she doesn't want to do, it won't do anyone any favours. We encourage each other & any others who need it here, but if any of us turned round and said "I'm never going to ride again because of ...." we'd accept that (we'd have to really). As for quads, I've ridden one once and to be honest, I hated it, that thumb throttle is horrible to get used to, I prefer the twist sort, just because I feel I have more control over it (that's my opinion, I know others who are the opposite).

Good luck, let us know how you get on, just please don't try and force her, if she's like me, she'll be even more stubborn/determined not to :)

 

[MBFTY]

Twist throttles and Stubborness

I think she is just being stubborn. I dont think she is scared... She's not one of the "Oh my god Ill break a nail on the brake lever!" types...

As for thumb throttle, I agree! I switched mine over to a twist throttle a LONG time ago! I like it a lot better.

 

[Magellan]

I don't think that riding on the back is a good way to get an idea of what riding is about. I hate riding on the back of bikes. It's just a totally different experience when you're in control rather than just tryng to hold on.

 

[MBFTY]

Well...

She didnt come out to the riding area... :(

By her fiance did, and try as I might, he wouldnt get on my quad. He's always been a bike person, and he is afraid he will hurt himself on my quad. They're a lot different...

He's still looking for a new bike. He lost all of his old bikes in his divorce. He had like 10 :(