Missed my opportunity

[CHEMIKER]

to make a little kid's day! I was getting on my bike right outside of the supermarket and a woman with two little kids walks by me on the way to the store. The older kid - maybe 5 years old - is a boy, and as they pass, she says to me "my son want's your bike. Every time he sees a bike he want's it." I said "well maybe one of these days he'll ride one." and continued to don my gear.

As they disappeared into the store it hit me. I should have asked him if he wanted to sit on it! He would probably have loved that! That would have made my day when I was that age. It might have also helped his argument for getting a bike later in life easier by showing his mom that bikers aren't all hardcore; they're just regular people.

I could also have taken the opportunity to plant the seed that when the time comes, he needs to take a class to learn how to ride right and always wear all you gear.

Dang! Learned my lesson...

 

[wrightme43]

He will have a bike. Some people see them and have to have one. Bikes are cool.

 

[oldfast007]

I recall a similar thing happened when I was young lad, My mother told the gentleman who offered me a seat. " If he wont get off the bike once you let him sit on it, he goes home with you" the guy said have a nice day and drove off.

I told my Mom later I thought he would have made a cool Dad...

At least you thought of it, how many have not...

 

[Stumbles06]

Bugga, that would have been cool to see the huge smile on his face... Oh well, next time!!

 

[OZXJR]

Bugga, that would have been cool to see the huge smile on his face... Oh well, next time!!

Yeah,kinda like the smile you get when they wave out the car window when your beside them and you wave back .

 

[FZ1inNH]

I haven't run into that opportunity but now that you've mentioned it, I'll be SURE not to pass it over! :cheer: :thumbup:

 

[cv_rider]

But what would Mommy have thought of it? Most mommies do not approve of mixing their children and motorcycles (mine certainly doesn't!). May not have been too enthralled with you planting a seed in that little guy's mind. Althought it sounds from context that she may have been encouraging it a bit.

As I rode home today on the 25mph streets near my house, there was a little guy riding his first bike with training wheels with his dad. As I went by him, he couldn't take his eyes of the bike. I waved at him. I'm sure he had visions of ripping it up as he teetered on down the road.

 

[Wolfman]

I visited my Landlord the other night, who has a wife and 4 kids....when i left, the Wife and all the 4 kids had a sit on my bike...Mum wants a bike, Dad wont let her, and the kids, they were in Awe....i was the coolest bloke in town for 5 minutes...and my son, who was riding pillion that night...knew he was the coolest kid in town right then!

:thumbup:

 

[Pickax]

But what would Mommy have thought of it? Most mommies do not approve of mixing their children and motorcycles (mine certainly doesn't!). May not have been too enthralled with you planting a seed in that little guy's mind. Althought it sounds from context that she may have been encouraging it a bit.

As I rode home today on the 25mph streets near my house, there was a little guy riding his first bike with training wheels with his dad. As I went by him, he couldn't take his eyes of the bike. I waved at him. I'm sure he had visions of ripping it up as he teetered on down the road.

I had a similar experience to this. Two young guys (around four or five or so I'd guess) were riding bikes with training wheels around in their yard and heard my motorcycle as I was coming up and stared. I honked and waved to them. I think it made my day more than theirs.

I had a stranger experience the first day I got my M license though... We have a lot of international workers come to town over the summer to work at a local theme park. I got out of the DMV having just gotten the motorcycle endorsement on my license and was suiting up next to my GZ250 when two Korean girls came up to me. I was a little nervous and figured I'd done something stupid that got their attention.

One had a camera and stood a little ways off while the other girl came up and asked if she could sit on the motorcycle. I told her she could if she was careful and helped her onto it. She grabbed my arm and pulled me in a way to get me to get on behind her. Her friend took a picture of the two of us on the motorcycle. I'm still confused by this to this day.

 

[CdnMedic]

I wouldn't pass up the opportunity. My first word was bike, the only toy I remember playing with was a wind up motorcycle, and the first time I sat on a motorcycle I will never forget, I was only 4 or 5, and my mom had an uncle that had what I assume was a honda cruiser (mid 80's back then) and he took me for a quick ride around town... Some kids are just born to ride from the day we pop out!

 

[Fz6Sa]

In my eyes, there is no bigger Ego-builder that a small boy you don't know saying something along the lines of:

"Daddy, - why don't we have one of those" or "I want one of those".

There's an immediate truth about the way these kids express their feelings.

 

[steveindenmark]

I am going to steal the thread for just a second to explain my missed opportunity because this thread brought it flooding back.

I was watching a golf practice day for the British Open at Royal Birkdale. I had my camera with me and was stood halfway down a fairway with a little boy and his dad standing about 5 metres away. Nobody else was near us.

Gary Player was playing the hole. Now for those who do not know much about golf I will just say that Gary Player is a GOD amongst golfers and Tiger is a JESUS amongst golfers. Tiger still calls him Mr Player.

Anyway as Gary Player gets level to us the young boy has his programme in hand and is hesitating and dad says quite loudly and says "Go on, ask him". The young lad says "Excuse Mr Player could I have your autograph?" Gary Player walks on a couple more strides and stops, looks back down the fairway and then says "Come here son". The boy ducks under the ropes and goes over to him and Gary Player signs the programme and then says to the boy "I would just like to thank you for coming out here to see me play, it means a lot to me and if you watch carefully you just might learn something about golf, because I have been doing this quite a long time. A short conversation went on until Mr Player had to play on because some lower down golfer like Bernhard Langer was now on the tee.

I can sit here and remember this vividly and I can still feel the hairs standing up on my arms as they did that day. This is one of the reasons why Gary Player is a God and I am sure in time Tiger will be to.

Finally, my missed opportunity for which I will always berate myself is that I did not take the photo..s%%t, S&&t, SH¤T...

Never miss an opportunity.

Sorry for stealing the thread, it was naughty...you can have it back now.

Steve

 

[madmanmaigret]

I think one of the most important things you can do to "plant the seed" is ask mommy for her number.........:justkidding:


no I really think waving to kids in cars helps lessen the negative image of bikers. I always wave to them if they look, even if they don't wave first. Its just good to see the smile on their face and know.....one day when I am old and grey that kid will be ripping it up on two wheels! :rockon:

 

[mastakilla]

But what would Mommy have thought of it?

first you should have let the kid sit on your bike, and then the mommy :cheer:

 

[CrazyBiker]

Once when I was going home from the lab there were two little kids staring at my bike in the parking lot. I helped them climb on the bike and started the bike in neutral and let them wring the throttle for a couple of minutes. The expressions on their faces were priceless.:rockon:

 

[YamahaMAXdRPMs]

Thats a bad feeling... If i were you, i would just go back to that same spot everyday and wait... and you should ask every mother if she would let her son sit on your bike... its the only way you will feel better about yourself... :thumbup:

naw.. im just kidding.. i know its a bad feeling.. but where i live... the only kids that are asking me about my bike, i have to worry if they are gonna come back later that night and try to steal it

 

[ozzieboy]

Cool story mate. Sounds like they've seen your bike there often and there may be another chance to hook a youngun on bikes..lol:thumbup:.

I was coming out of Macca's once (*Sigh* Why couldn't it have been a gym or something..all my stories seem to involve Macca'S) and a mother was stopped by her kids so they could watch the bike start up and ride off. So I geared up. Hopped on and started it up. Turned and looked at them and winked, raised and lowered my eyebrows somewhat comically and put on my devious evil look and started giving it the beans...lol...They loved it. Glad I could make their day...lol.:rockon:

Cheers
Mike

 

[MarinaFazer]

One had a camera and stood a little ways off while the other girl came up and asked if she could sit on the motorcycle. I told her she could if she was careful and helped her onto it. She grabbed my arm and pulled me in a way to get me to get on behind her. Her friend took a picture of the two of us on the motorcycle. I'm still confused by this to this day.

like this? It's so sad to sit "expletive" on your own bike...at least it wasn't moving!

 

[necrotimus]

Turned and looked at them and winked, raised and lowered my eyebrows somewhat comically and put on my devious evil look and started giving it the beans...

I don't even know what that means but I am going to go home and start practicing in front of the mirror just because it seems relevant.

 

[Pickax]

like this? It's so sad to sit "expletive" on your own bike...at least it wasn't moving!

It was just like that. It all happened so fast.

At any rate, it's good to hear that kids are still awed when they see something like a motorcycle. With all the stuff they see in movies and video games and toys and all the things they now have access to, I imagine some of the charm goes away a bit.

I know I was always excited when I was young about seeing a bike. No one in my family or that I knew rode so they were always a bit of a mystery to me. Clearly it was enough of an inspiration to get me on one though.