She is gonna get a Ninja 250

[Gosling1]

So, I have finally decided to get my daughter a Ninja 250. The other imported 125s looked like junk. She will be taking the basic MSF course in either November or December when she turns 14. Since we live fairly close to Barber's she has been to a few races and has expressed a strong desire to try her hand at a track day of two or three. I want her on the track before she gets on the street. And when she is on the street she will be with me at all times (at least until I cut the cord again)

And now for another question, how did you ladies learn to ride? How young (since no woman is ever over 25) were you? Did you do any track days before you got on the street???

[acalliste]

I had a CT70 when I was a kid. But that was a semi-automatic (shift lever, but no clutch).

I rode my first street bike (Kawi 500 triple, two-stroke) at 16. But really learned to ride and began riding on the street when I was about 22. No, I didn't do track days before I started riding street bike - but I would have loved to do track days after I learned. Track days weren't as common then as they are now.

Your daughter is a lucky girl. I wish I had a caring adult's guidance into such a wonderful hobby/sport when I was that age.

[silent_R1]

me too. I didn't start riding myself until I was 29. However, I was around bikes my entire life, I just didn't. Talk about being a dumbass. I could slap myself.

Your daughter is so incredibly lucky. Plus, once you get her hooked, you'll have additional leverage :

[mssdrider]

i was 20 years old when i got my first bike...couldn't afford it until then. But in Taiwan we were always tooling around in scooters and stuff. But i learned with MSF. Your daughter is SO lucky!

[acalliste]

Originally Posted by silent_R1

Plus, once you get her hooked, you'll have additional leverage :

Daddy giveth, and he can taketh away!

[SheWolf]

I started riding when I was probably 11, like on one of those ugly little honda minibikes. I rode my first streetbike at 14, which was a Kawi 175. Once I got my license at 16, I never looked back and have been riding ever since. I never did track days (simply because there wasn't one), but I sure got a lot of dirt/aggressive trail riding in before I hit the road. It sure helped with learning how to handle a bike in difficult technical situations.

[Danigurl]

My sister and I had a trail 70 when we were younger Id say maybe 11yrs old, and we would ride that thing everywhere we could, I would also mess around on dirt bikes here and there nothing hard though, I just got my first street bike on August 12 2007, and I am now 22. Its an EX500 and I love it. My husband has been helping me(very frusterating to learn from your sign other, your Daughter is very fortunate to learn from you!) Havent done track day yet but sounds like a geat Idea! your and awesome Dad.

[Rebelde]

I just started riding last December. A friend that I have made since riding has her own track day company and is going to start letting her daughters ride in the down time/lunch hour between sessions, maybe next spring. Her daughters are 11 and 13 and both have grown up riding dirt... She is not putting them into a group, however.

[Laura0107]

I learned on dirtbikes as a kid and actually also on an old Kaw street bike that I rode off-road. I don't remember if it was a 125 or 250, but I do remember it would get a little air sometimes on jumps! In my late teens I was dating a motocrosser, and he gave me a Honda XR200. I basically sucked at motocross but enjoyed spirited trail riding, and rode a lot of dirt poker runs and learned a lot about riding during that time. I figured the motocrosser boyfriend was a keeper after a gift like the 200, and I was right--we're still together all these years later.

I started riding on the street in the early 1980's, took long breaks from it, and didn't start getting serious and consistent with the street stuff until 2002. My husband and 17-year-old son both ride street, too. My son grew up on dirtbikes, and started on the street when he was 15. For about a year, we kept him in a sandwich between us on the road and only gradually let him venture out on his own. I still don't let him ride at night, and ask him to check in/out with me on his day rides. I know it aggravates him, but you can't help but worry. He pilots the bike much better than drives his truck, IMO, but I worry about cagers and the fact that he is, after all, a teenaged boy.

I think the dirt experience definitely helped us all become better street riders. We've never done track days, mainly because I know we'd go gung ho about it and want track bikes, extra gear, etc. and it would one more money-pit in a life filled with enough boutique hobbies. My husband raced flat track from about 2002-2007 and always said he felt so much safer there than on the street. He doesn't really like riding on the street much but does it because I like it so.

Good luck with your daughter's riding career. Barber is my favorite track to visit--no one wanted to go there with me in April for the Superbike races, so I just loaded up my FZ6 and trekked over there solo and had a blast. It's a rather technical track for a beginner, though. How about the track at Talladega, not the superspeedway, but the other one? That one might be better for her to start on.

Laura

[Shorts]

Rode 4wheelers and dirtbikes at grandpa's farm when I was younger...mmm, had to have been between 5th grade and 7th sometime I guess (I can't remember). Geeze, I'm that old already!

I never road any on the street - athletics caught my attention for years...then the rest of life. I finally started again last year.

[Quicklimegirl]

Wow, what a lucky girl to have you for a Father!
I had to save babysitting $$ @ $0.50/hour to get my first bike, it took 4 years, I was motivated!

I first got on a bike (on the back) @ age 7 and was instant hooked. But I didn't want to ride on the back ever again, just get my own. Back then there weren't even decent minibikes (1965) so I'd stare at the little rigid-tube framed, lawn-mower engine POS in the Sears catalog and dream. By the time the first true minibikes came out (SL70 Honda/Yamaha Mini-Enduro, etc.) I was getting too tall for 'em. My Dad bought a couple of ugly pressed-steel-frame Scooter looking bikes he "thought" he would take on errands, Honda C90, Suzuki FA50 or something like that, and they became my "trail" bikes. Try riding those on semi-loose sand trails with skinny little universal tires...ugh!

My first street only bike was a '73 RD350 Yamaha bought in early '77.
I went years before seeing other woman riders on the street. There was no MSF and certainly no trackdays; it was twist & go, scare yourself silly, and laugh about it 5 minutes later. It's a real wonder I survived those first 3 years in Germany.

I ride pretty mellow these days and am gratified to see so many women learning and enjoying riding!