YAWN!

It is an antique topic. I see such threads every three months - consistently for the 5+ years i've been around.

It is very simple. It is an emotional issue. YOU need to evaluate how your parents think and if they will permit. No amount of textual diarrhoea on the pages can solve it.

You have equally vocal and rhetorical gents on either side of the camp but you need to act as per YOUR parental reality.

This thread will just be a colossal waste of time (as the others on this topic have been). I request the mods to close this thread asap!

This is a very popular & common issue with most of the families. Even I had in the initial days. That first layer from parents mind has to be somehow removed. Even my parents where against me riding on a tour. Initially somehow I managed to convince them, that I would be only riding places nearby Mumbai. So i could go for small rides. Later I bombarded on them suddenly saying, "Mom-Dad, I am planning to go to LEH on bike & from Mumbai & also will be returning back on Bike." They where totally dumbstruck & even stopped talking to me. But everyday I use to initiate & make them understand that LEH is just like any other ride. Its the same way, as I go to office & come back, but just far. My dad was complete NO. I used to show them pix of other riders been to LEH, specially of girls & tell them "If a girl can go, why cant I. What do I lack, is it in me or my support" This is the thing which inclined them towards convincing. Later they supported me like No-one could had ever. Helped me in preparing list & packing up. I promised them, "Allow me to go with a faith & I promise will be back in the same way as you are seeing now." This things worked for me, ofcourse not in a single day, though it took lot of days.
But try convincing in any & every way, thats all I can say. Dont lie to your family. They have bought you up with some faith & expectations. They see their life in you. But dont even decieve them, just because you have developed a knowledge about 'biking'. Make them understand, try different ways, never hide it.

you are 24, earn your own money, seem to be a safe rider having a sense of responsibility on the road.

dont show them anything, dont convince them, dont reason with them.

just keep riding. thats what you want, you do it for yourself, not to show off and 'confirm' with any peer group. thats how you will be happy in the long run.

your parents have to realize you have grown up. might as well make them realize now. they will understand you are doing it safely given time.


BUT,
i hope you realize that your decision to do what you want means any ****up is on your own head.

your choice mate...

good one man.. really liked it

Same here....I ride 20 kms one way to work from my home and my parents are too finicky about it...somehow need to find a way to convince them.....

I'm really lucky my parents support my biking&touring too, inspite of my having a really bad accident as a pillion, even before my biking career started! They understand I ride safe&enjoy my biking, so they encourage me for long rides.
BUT the problem is my gf (now fiancee). She somehow can never accept the idea of a bike on a highway. She feels that in case of a car, the car takes all the impact leaving the people inside unhurt mostly&in case of a bike, the biker takes all the impact. Not a wrong point there, but Hey! Deadly accidents can happen even at home or walking on the street! The idea is to be safe&enjoy your biking. NEVER ignore that little voice in your head.

Here is something you can ask your parents: Does Mom stop cooking/turning on the gas when she knows it can explode&kill everyone in the house? She does it everyday&carefully. In the same way, we ride our bikes everyday, everywhere safely!

My father bought me a new bike because he wanted me to learn biking. At age of 24 years i started learning it. Once i had to go to Shahdara, Delhi from my place Mahipalpur, i choosed to go by metro instead of my bike because i did not know the route, my father said you are a Duffer, you feared of biking.

But now when i say about touring in bike, he strongly says no, you won't. Biggest dilemma.

Girls are a Pain, either this way or that way!!
Though take your Fiancee with you on an open and green highway..and make her feel what you feel everyday on your bike!
That would help,as it helped me.

Shanz

u know the real difference i have noticed, my dad owned every possible bikes in 80's Java, yezdi, bullet, he stopped riding when he met an accident and suffered from slip disc. When he became father he did not refuse me to ride a bike but touring and regular riding was opposed, car keys were handed over to me every now and then... I guess we will understand the difference when we become parents...

My father didn't give green signal for even driving license till I was 22 year old, I started when I was 18 year old. What more can I say? , Though I can't say any lie to my parents except about smoking and drinking.

Already tried it 2-3 times, didn't work.

Lets get back to helping this guy with his parents.
I think the only way is to convince them about enjoying biking in a safe way. Have a group of safe riders, bring them home, etc.

^^ +10, this seems as practical as it can be, I am sure most parents will agree if they know the people you are hanging around/touring with.

Bout the showing my parents touring blogs .. tried it.. wouldn't work on pop

I made im read a part of PKM's "destination unknown" thread, and he said us bikers are plain crazy

Anyways... I think am gonna start doing group rides (I guess their main problem is with solo rides) But mind you, Touring on your own is a whole different league. I mean, I kinda am "myself" when I ride alone. Cliched but true, being one with the inner self, is wat I get from touring alone.

And to summarize it all, we dont tour to prove to someone else of what we are capable of, its to stretch my own limits. Each time I do a long trip, I feel like I've accomplished something at the end of it. Its this feeling that makes you wanna come back everytime. We're just men trying to do something we love, at heart. Doesn't matter if the world thinks we're crazy.

If columbus had a girlfriend, he might never had discovered america!!
> where are you going
>with whom are you going?
>how?
> to discover what?
>why only you?
>what do u xpect me to do when you are gone?
>when will you be back?
> where are you gonna stay?
>will you miss me?

by this time he would have almost dropped the plan of going..

nice that praveen km did his destination unknown now itself...i dont think he is married...is he??

same problem here...!!!
actually i had clotting in brain, and my treatment is still on, so parents doesnt allow long distance riding...

hahahaha...

VarunRTR +10 for example of columbus and gf. lol..

By the way, if nothing works, tell your dad that you are going to buy Thunderbird from Royal Enfield. If they ask why, tell them you believe in their punch line... "Leave home..."

Jokes apart, seriously make group of some bikers some descent bikers. Go around some places near by. Have some confidence building homely meetings. And see to it that when your group is near your home, no one does wheelie or stopie or your bike will also get locked somewhere.

Also understand that their concern is valid and try to convince them accordingly. I will definitely wait for the outcome..