should my dad let me get a dirt bike or other small bike .

[Tedx5]

i want to buy me self a dirt bike or other small bike with some off road capability. should he let me for no  

[ThinkWithPortals]

You should probably spend your money on something actually useful, rather than blowing it on a dirt bike.

[dalekphalm]

2 hours ago, Tedx5 said:

i want to buy me self a dirt bike or other small bike with some off road capability. should he let me for no  

That entirely depends:

1. Do you live in a Rural area? You don't want to own one in a suburb - too disturbing to your neighbours, and a hassle to get to a nice place to drive it.

2. Do you have a large property, local nearly trails, etc, to drive it on?

3. Have you used one before? Are you, or any family members proficient in driving one?

4. Do you, or any other family members have automotive mechanic skills? Who is going to be responsible for maintaining it, with fluids, oil changes, basic maintenance, etc? Who is responsible fore repairs - especially major ones? If you lack these skills yourself, are you willing to pay for repairs, which may become costly?

 

If you've already considered all of the above, and have enough money saved up to buy one, without impacting other important savings (Saving for College, general investments for later in life, your first car, etc), then sure, get a Dirt Bike.

 

But only with your parents permission. This is too big a purchase to make without their consent, unless you're over the age of 18, or living on your own.

[Apollo Refugio]

3 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

That entirely depends:

1. Do you live in a Rural area? You don't want to own one in a suburb - too disturbing to your neighbours, and a hassle to get to a nice place to drive it.

2. Do you have a large property, local nearly trails, etc, to drive it on?

3. Have you used one before? Are you, or any family members proficient in driving one?

4. Do you, or any other family members have automotive mechanic skills? Who is going to be responsible for maintaining it, with fluids, oil changes, basic maintenance, etc? Who is responsible fore repairs - especially major ones? If you lack these skills yourself, are you willing to pay for repairs, which may become costly?

 

If you've already considered all of the above, and have enough money saved up to buy one, without impacting other important savings (Saving for College, general investments for later in life, your first car, etc), then sure, get a Dirt Bike.

 

But only with your parents permission. This is too big a purchase to make without their consent, unless you're over the age of 18, or living on your own.

u smart af

[Tedx5]

14 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

That entirely depends:

1. Do you live in a Rural area? You don't want to own one in a suburb - too disturbing to your neighbours, and a hassle to get to a nice place to drive it.

2. Do you have a large property, local nearly trails, etc, to drive it on?

3. Have you used one before? Are you, or any family members proficient in driving one?

4. Do you, or any other family members have automotive mechanic skills? Who is going to be responsible for maintaining it, with fluids, oil changes, basic maintenance, etc? Who is responsible fore repairs - especially major ones? If you lack these skills yourself, are you willing to pay for repairs, which may become costly?

 

If you've already considered all of the above, and have enough money saved up to buy one, without impacting other important savings (Saving for College, general investments for later in life, your first car, etc), then sure, get a Dirt Bike.

 

But only with your parents permission. This is too big a purchase to make without their consent, unless you're over the age of 18, or living on your own.

1. yes 

2.yes

3.no to all of those 

4. yes the bike i would be buying mid 80s so its pretty basic and i work on full size cars and other small engines

 

i'm really just trying to convince my dad  to be ok with me getting one so after i sell my vw bug i can get one after. 

   

[ttoks]

short answer yes, but I'm biased  

 

Okay, the long and responsible answer.

 

So you have the budget to buy a dirtbike, do you ALSO have the budget to buy all of the REQUIRED safety gear to go along with it? at minimum you will need

 

A helmet, for obvious reason's, your noggin' is important

 

A pair of dirtbike specific boots, don't make the mistake of thinking you can just buy a pair later, serious ankle, foot and lower leg injuries happen on dirtbike far more often then you'd think, I'm currently recovering from a broken Fibula and a complete tear of the ATF ligament in my ankle despite wearing a pair of $600 SIDI motocross boots from a very low speed accident (clipped tree stump)

 

Gloves, again far more important then you think, your going to crash, that is a certainty, it's no fun loosing all of the skin on your hands, not to mention the blisters your going to get from trying to ride without gloves

 

Goggles, again no fun getting dirt, dust and bugs in your eye's as a best case, I know a guy that lost an eye after getting hit with a rock flung up from another bike while not wearing goggles.

 

FULL LENGTH CLOTHING that is abrasion resistant, doesn't have to be bike gear, I wear worker's coverall's in the winter.

 

I also highly suggest a pressure suite like this one, they over shoulder, elbow, collar bone and some spine protection as well, well worth the investment

 

now for the fun bit, are you really fully prepared for how expensive riding is? and the risk's involved? you say your going to get a bike from the 80's being that they're cheap and simple to work on, you do realise that your looking at 26-36 year old bikes then? part's for them can be very hard to come across and very expensive, not to mention that older bikes (and only talking older then 5 year's old here, not 20-30 year's) often need alot of work doing to them, dirtbike have alot of fast wearing consumables, brake pads and rotor's, engine internals (piston, bearings, the cylinder's self, valves ect), wheel bearings, linkage bearings, electricals, the suspension internals, chain and sprockets ect ect, everything wear's quickly on dirt bikes and need's replacing alot more often then a road bike or car, I spend about as much time working on my bikes to keep them in good shape as i do actually riding them, cleaning and oiling air filters ect, and if you can't work on them yourself it is VERY expensive to pay a mechanic to do it, and attempting stuff your not capable of and stuffing it up is also very expensive, mess up putting the cir-clip in the piston while changing a top end and you've just turned your entire engine into a paper weight.

 

And then onto the risk's, I'm going to preamble this with I've been riding dirtbike since I was 3 year's old and I won't be stopping until my body can't do it anymore, which may be far sooner then I'd like, I've broken every finger on my left hand and 3 on my right, my left wrist twice, torn the ACL ligament in my left knee and the cartilage in my right, my left should is in constant pain from accidents over the year's, I've knocked myself out cold 5 times, broken my left leg and torn the ATF ligament in my left ankle and broken my right leg once, you are GOING TO CRASH and get hurt on dirtbikes, your mother was 110% right in saying it's a dangerous sport, i don't have a single riding buddy that hasn't broken at least one bone and countless soft tissue injuries, the accident's happen very very quickly, and you don't have to be going fast or doing tricks to get seriously injured, my latest accident I was travelling at under 10 Km/h warming my bike up when my left foot hit a tree stump hidden in a bush, if I wasn't wearing my boot's I would have lost my foot.

 

It's an absolutely fantastic sport, it will get you, and keep you very fit and active (dirtbike riding is far more physically demanding then most people realise) and in my experience the people you'll meet doing it are some of the, not to mention it is insanely fun, just really consider if your in a position to actually take the plunge and carefully consider the risk's involved.

[Charger]

As someone who has ridden a few different dirt bikes over the years I will say they are fun and no. I have known 2 guys that have been helivaced from bike accidents.