....how are you not completely dead by the end of the day?

For sure I love riding with my wife and 5yr old son.....the best days ever! But after loading and unloading bikes and all the crap that goes along (gear, food, water, random junk) and you know what I mean....you gotta load/unload 2x, riding all day, coming home and cleaning up all the bikes......man I am dead....I mean dead tired.

Here's what the fully loaded truck looks like....it's almost cartoonish. My XR400, wife's quad, kid's 50.....and in all the cracks and crevices there are things packed.

When my wife first started riding, I pushed her bike almost as much as she rode. I feel your pain!

Looks like a great place to ride!

It's just how it goes. What's the alternative?

Slackkinhard, on 07 August 2012 - 11:21 AM, said:

Yup, the cool thing is, it's someone to ride with.....My wife isn't as fast as me but I enjoy just messing around with her and shes game to ride anytime. We also have the DSs so that brings a whole nother venture to the table.

You should have opportunities to go and ride alone sometimes.  Everyone needs time alone, whatever the activity.  I'll bet if you're alone, your average speeds are quite a bit higher too.  You can rationalize it that way to her too with the higher speeds.  Try to find those times when you can be the lone ranger.

Thankfully I don't have to push her bike. She has never ridden before....can't even drive a standard transmission, so we got her a quad with the auto clutch. I just have her put it in 2nd and go. She won't even shift into 3rd!....so funny!

My son just loves to ride. That's all he talks about and that's all he wants to do.

Our riding spot is a sweet place since it's private property owned by her family. We are the only ones out there when we ride. It looked like that in February....but in August (we went out yesterday) it's a dust bowl. Still fun.

I have to pack my kx450 (or drz400 for trails), her 230, my sons crf50 and my daughters jr50, do all the maint on all bikes , load
+ unload 2x each, clean and lube all and pack/unpack gear.  She loads/unload food/water/kids crap.

Its alot of work but its well worth it.  I do find time to go to the track with just me and buddies too though.

Ronus, on 07 August 2012 - 11:47 AM, said:

THAT is what makes it all worthwhile.  When it seems to be not worth the effort for the reward you get from riding, you have some serious decisions to make.  I actually quit some auto racing activities because the prep (my ENTIRE Saturday plus probably 1 weekday) just wasn't worth the reward any more.  People change.  Interests change.

Unfortunately my wife and son aren't into it...bought my wife a brand new wolverine450 back in 2007, rode with me one time, and was over it before i could get her to go on a second ride! (just not her thing i guess...)
So next i set my boy up with the klx(pretty much just gave it to him), but can't get him to ride either! He's kinda short(about 5'3''or5'4'') so he's a little scared of not being able to touch the ground, also i think he looks at all my injuries as a reason not to ride!
So to remedy the problem...traded the quad for my '09 ktm 200xcw, and decided to supermoto the klx(currently in the process of), and keep it mainly a street ride.
If i didn't have riding buddys...i'd be riding alone!

Edited by heythatsmybike, 07 August 2012 - 02:34 PM.

For sure I am stoked that my son wants to ride all the time. He cannot touch the ground yet so I have left the training wheels on the bike. He is itching to have them off but he needs to grow just a little bit more. Thankfully we got in for very little cash just in case it wasn't their thing. Got a cheap Chinese quad for the wife (previous owner was an older couple who babied it) for $400. His little 50 was $100. My XR was $1300 (previously purchased a YZ426, owned it for a month, traded it for the XR).

I have been taking my son riding since he was 4.But anytime one of my girlfriends said they were thinking about trying it i said no you wont like it.Iam around them all week the last thing i want is to go riding with me my only chance to get away from them is when i ride.

I hear ya there.. I have a 2010 Tacoma and when it's loaded with my crf450r the kids pits bikes and all the gear and pop up coolers gas tools it's so sacked out lol.....loading and unloading by myself, then getting the kids boots on starting the bikes it's sooo tiring.  and doing the maintenance on all the bikes. Had to do a top end on one,replace the tranny on another..it's a lot of work but well worth the fun!!

You will look back and be glad you did. I have three teenagers that I have taken riding and with me and my brother we had five bikes, gear and usually camping gear. I had to build a 6x12 trailer along with my full size ext. cab truck to haul it all. I remember getting bikes ready then gear, then camping gear, then cooking, then cleaning up. It was an exhausting labor of love, but all my boys now ride full size bikes and can hang well. I am poorer, have grey hair, and ride an older bike(very well kept), but I have passed on the love for the sport that my Grandfather gave to me and my brothers. I really miss my Grandpa (86 with a walker) saying 'hey bring that thing closer I would like to swing a leg over that'.

I've been diggin through the piles of old gear and mini-bike parts, accessories, etc lately. Thinking about long ago trips and adventures. The boys are gone and out of the activity, so it's time to sell all the stuff collectin dust in the garage/shed/backyard, etc. I've always kinda known the boys wouldn't grow up with the same addiction I have, but I really can't think of anything better to do. Nowadays, I go to family reunions and bring extra bikes, but they are rarely ridden. Sometimes by an in-law. Maybe they'll come back someday. Enjoy it while it lasts! They won't forget your efforts.

I get out to ride on my own sometimes. I have a street bike (Yamaha FZ1) and a track bike (gixxer 750) so I get away from time to time. I really look forward to riding with the fam though. It's pretty easy when it's just the boy and I....momma brings a different element to the game .  But, I know the effort is well worth it. We got dirt bikes for the family so we could spend some good times together. So far it's been money well spent.   But damn if I'm not dead-ass tired by the end of the day. "Ah yeah babe, these chains aint gonna clean themselves." However, it is fun riding the bikes around the block like a hooligan when bike cleaning!

Right now just my son and I, but wife loves to come to the track with us. It is alot of work packing unpacking cleaning maint the boy helps alot, wife packs all food, I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I absolutely love it, I think I get as much joy if not more just watching him ride.  Still working on getting the wife to ride at least trails, would love to get my girls out more often to but not sure how that will go over.

Wuss, I used to do it for 3 boys and my wifes quad. My boys are 21 months apart. When they were on 50s. I was lucky to get an hours worth of riding in on a weekend. Before you know it though you will be telling your son if he wants to ride to go load everything up. Then you can get him to do the driving. I have always had trailers I could load up the day before and leave in the garage until the next day to unload.
Where is this picture taken?

10 and 12 boys and they ride motorcycles, they have to help load or their bikes dont come plain as that, i have a sand rail, that stays loaded on trailer.

one boy has to help load bikes the other has to unload, both have to help with the "stuff"

if you dont help you dont come...

now the wife just shows up and starts complaining...and actually things go alot smoother with her in the house during the entire process...

I also run 5 miles a day to stay in shape that helps.

SMarquez, on 07 August 2012 - 09:04 PM, said:

The pic was taken at her family's ranch in Paso Robles. A trailer would be sweet, but the truck is easier to drive into our riding area. Not sure how those guys with the huge lifted trucks load all the crap.....doesn't really make sense to me.

tomatolord, on 08 August 2012 - 05:44 AM, said:

  Yeah....it's much easier when the wife is in the house while I'm loading the truck. Sometimes the natives get restless while I'm loading the stuff after we've been riding.....   ...ah yeah....you guys just relax, I'll get our stuff loaded so we can get home. It's all part of the fun. They are actually more anxious to ride than me whenever we get to our destination. As soon as the bikes hit the ground they are ready to take off!!I am usually still putting on my gear while they are zooming around.

My kid thinks I'm wierd when I just wanna watch him ride. As someone posted above....that is pure joy right there.

Edited by WWalker, 08 August 2012 - 06:44 AM.