I may have created a very expensive monster…
Just ask my wife - it’s absolutely no secret that I would love for Duncan to be into dirt bikes or something similar when he’s a bit older. I’ve always loved tinkering with small engines, and I’ve loved dirt bikes ever since my cousin and I used to tootle around on a Honda QR-50 at my great aunt and uncle’s property.
I’d love to get a new one myself, we just aren’t in a position to do so right now, so it makes sense that when Duncan’s old enough to ride one on his own, I really want to be in the financial position to get him one.
He’s finally passing the stage of being terrified of loud noises and interested in different things that he’d normally shy away from. Trevor was riding his 350cc Yamaha (I think it’s a Banshee?) around and then stopped for a break, so I decided to see what the little guy did. I started it up while he was away from it, and then we sat on it for a bit while it was idling.
He was okay with that, so we took off very slowly and puttered around the yard in first gear. After the second time, he even started saying “whee” and we moved into second gear, which I think is fast enough with an unrestrained toddler on my lap. By the time I was ready to go inside and sit down, the grin on the kid’s face was ear to ear. In the pictures below with me and him on the bike (except the first one, which was taken when I was hunting for neutral after we’d stopped the first time around), we’re actually moving and you can see his reaction:
I’m just hoping I can make enough money in the next 8~10 years to be able to buy us both dirt bikes to mess around on. :)