Riding motorcycle with child

[damianomigani]

Hello,

I live in California and I'm thinking of adapting my FJR to carry my son when he turns 4 years old (in a few months).

i ride to work and it would be convenient for me to just put him on the bike and take him to childcare/school. It's only a couple of miles from home and it's all surface streets.

The law states that there is no minimum age for a child to ride a motorcycle, but they have to (obviously) wear a helmet (and all safety gear) and touch the footpegs with their feet. As he will not be able to reach the stock passenger footpegs, my options are: 1) install raised footpegs; 2) install a bikeseat with integrated footpegs.

anyone has experience with this? any advice or products i should consider? (..please save me the spiel, that's what wives are for )

Thank you in advance

 

[raesewell]

 

[Geezer]

I used to do this when my girls were young, but not that young. I suppose if the child is mature enough to know that he has to hang on and not be distracted it could work. I have not seen seats that were made for small children, but if they exist then that would be the way to go. Something with integrated foot pegs and some sort of side rails.

 

[Canadian FJR]

I installed raised foot pegs and had a backrest.

You can also but a belt for you with handles for the child to hand onto.

https://www.amazon.com/Outlaw-Racing-Motorcycle-Passenger-Handles/dp/B00B1FXB3Q

Canadian FJR

 

[Pterodactyl]

damianomigani that is a very bad idea. A four year old is at a stage of development that makes the injuries likely in a minor accident devastating. There is no protective gear that will fit the child or any contrivance you come up with that will protect him adequately. I consider what to are planning to be child endangerment.

 

[Fontanaman]

I waited until my son was 7 or so and then it was just a jaunt around the neighborhood once or twice. I waited until he was a teenager to take him around Mt. St. Helens - a real ride.

It is one thing for an adult to accept risk, but exposing a child to the same risk, when they are unaware, is beyond my risk/reward tolerance.

 

[gregory]

Once saw a kid "belted" to the rider (typical Harley body build) and though if they go down, that kid is toast. Unless you go with a sidecar/car seat set up, no way would I put a 4 year old on the back. They simply don't have the strength/mental acuity to hang on

 

[damianomigani]

I rode with my dad since i was 3 (when H&S wasn't really a thing), had scooters at the age of 12, have had large motorcycles for the last 17 years. Sure it means nothing and i'm conscious of the risks involved, but i'm not a naive rider and if done properly is all perfectly legal. We take our kids on bicycles, skates, horses, cars, planes, travelling, swimming .. and now bikes. Spiel over.

The seat with foot-pegs integrated sounds like a better idea, as pointed out correctly i don't think he would have the mental capacity of holding on to me. I saw few ones online and all seem to be from 5 and up, so i might have to wait another year..

thanks for your input!

 

[Geezer]

How about a really big top case,,,, with air holes?

 

[wetwolf]

Problem solved.

No Charge, on the house.

 

[MCRIDER007]

I started taking my daughter on rides sitting behind me on a Yamaha Venture Royale (big full dress touring bike) when she was six and week long camping vacations when she was seven after a neighbor made foot peg extensions for that bike. I did everything possible to minimize risk and she was always AGATT with a full face helmet. The only problem I ever had was when she fell alsleep riding home after our first camping night and there wasnt anything I could do to wake her up. It was a little scary using my left arm to hold her up while stopping a very heavy bike with only my right hand. We fixed that problem with an intercom system so I could keep her awake when she started dozing off.

We both have some wonderful memories of the trips we took together but I question if it was worth the risk. I dont plan to repeat the experience with my grand daughter.

 

[Uncle Hud]

marcusorelius has a modified hard case ... check his avatar. Of course, a parking lot drop could be disastrous to your son.

I'm thinking you'll be a dead man if you seriously suggest this to the child's mother. A few years from now, not such a big deal ... but at four years old ...

 

[Eagle Six]

It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt!

 

[SouthernCruizer]

damianomigani that is a very bad idea. A four year old is at a stage of development that makes the injuries likely in a minor accident devastating. There is no protective gear that will fit the child or any contrivance you come up with that will protect him adequately. I consider what to are planning to be child endangerment.

Lighten up Francis.

 

[SouthernCruizer]

I rode with my dad since i was 3 (when H&S wasn't really a thing), had scooters at the age of 12, have had large motorcycles for the last 17 years. Sure it means nothing and i'm conscious of the risks involved, but i'm not a naive rider and if done properly is all perfectly legal. We take our kids on bicycles, skates, horses, cars, planes, travelling, swimming .. and now bikes. Spiel over.The seat with foot-pegs integrated sounds like a better idea, as pointed out correctly i don't think he would have the mental capacity of holding on to me. I saw few ones online and all seem to be from 5 and up, so i might have to wait another year..

thanks for your input!

I have old 8mm film footage (transferred to DVD years ago) that show my dad, me, and my mom on a 1963 or 64 HD motorcycle, no helmets, me sandwiched between them, en-route to a "meet" (early term for rally). I was 5 yrs old at the time.

Frickin miracle i survived i guess. I'd never show that footage to anyone in this forum, they might call Child Protective Services and have my dad (mom deceased) thrown in the pokey. Lot's of my dad's riding buddies would be in the same boat. I have very fond memories of other kids on the rides, and the fun we had at the meet running around and chit.

That is all.

 

[its just rain]

I'm pretty sure the minimum age for a child passenger in California is 8.

 

[Ludwig61]

Let's talk body mechanics. Infant car seats are oriented the way they are to keep the kids head from getting pulled from the torso and breaking their neck. Think trap-door hangings. When they are infants, the G forces in an accident are more able to pull their head from their body and break their neck as the connective tissue isn't up to the task of handling that strain. As a kid gets older, the connections get beefier and they can transition from rear-facing, to reclined forward-facing Y harness, to a booster with a standard three-point belt arrangement.

Personally, I'd be concerned about the weight of the helmet. That's going to be a lot of weight on a small neck. The acceleration and deceleration are probably going to give your kid's neck a major workout. Panic stops at least will put their helmet in your back, instead of having a larger range of motion. I *think* that's better than having nothing in front to stop the inertia. That doesn't address acceleration. I would recommend a high-back booster, or an aftermarket backrest, or a topbox with backrest to help with that.

To see how their neck will do, I would have them lay down on a bed with the helmet on, once on their back AND once on their stomach, with their head/helmet off the bed. Or just hold them in the air horizontally each way. That's 1G, which is about as much force as you're going to generate accelerating or decelerating. If they can't hold it up fairly easy (15 seconds? a minute? indefinitely?), I'd be worried about their ability to limit head movements in a panic stop.

Assuming you continue to move forward on this, I'd think look into buying a secondhand back seat and tear the cover and foam off. Or better yet, If you can weld or are willing to spend more money, fabricate a frame that fits in place of the rear seat. Figure out a way to securely attach a backless booster with arm rests, or a high back car booster seat - use fender washers to spread the stress if you're using the plastic seat pan. You could probably attach a bracket to the seatpan/frame that would give you a place to put foot pegs. You could also probably work in a belt using the grab/luggage rack. A belt attached to the seatpan would just make it more likely the seat would get over-stressed and break the pan.

As noted above, I would also strongly recommend a high back booster or a back rest. Frankly, I'm not sure a high back booster is going to allow space for a helmet. It might force their head uncomfortably forward. If you use a backless booster, get either a real back rest, like the ones Garauld builds, or a topbox with a little padding. I believe a topbox would be taller and be more help with rearward head movement, but that is an untested hypothesis.

 

[Pterodactyl]

Francis here. Pointing out that you rode with your dad or your child rode with you is similar to bragging that you smoked for 30 years and did not get lung cancer.... yet.

Should the worst happen and your son be seriously injured or killed participating in what we all acknowledge is risky behavior it would likely destroy your family. My opinion and most assuredly it will be discounted. I wish your child luck.

 

[FJ3R]

I brought my kids for a couple of rides when they were small. Honestly, I never felt completely comfortable with it... especially on the highway. They loved it of course, but daddy was nervous the whole time.