was i wrong
 

So here's the story, my neighbour ,my son and myself ride together. saturday morn the neighbor wants to know if his 12 yr old nephew can ride along with us I say no problem . while I go get ready the 12 yr olds dad dropped him off and the machine he drops him off to ride with is a 800 polaris and the kid has a friend to ride on the back. I said sorry to the neighbor I'm not comfortable with this. my son and I will take a pass . The neighbour says they will be fine I say sorry but a 12 yr old on a 800 is just trouble looking to happen . so now he gets pissed and tells me I'm just being an ass and thats the end of riding with me and my son. I say sorry you feel that way but it just seems wrong to me . So am I wrong?

was i wrong
 

Some people shouldn't be responsible for kids. You did the right thing. He's the same neighbor that would be suing you when the nephew wrecks and gets hurt while in your care.

was i wrong
 

Nope. I'd have done the same thing. Anyone that stupid isn't worth riding with anyhow.
Buck

was i wrong
 

Stupid people should not breed!

was i wrong
 

When your kids are involved, your leadership is more important then the freindship of someone like that.

You did the right thing, and the best thing is that you just showed your son the right way to deal with that issue.

Good Job!!!!

was i wrong
 

800.....i wouldnt put them kids on that, that thing could crush them. he must have missed the page in his parenting book where it says that big atv's and little 12 year olds dont mix....

was i wrong
 

Correct! Look how dumb I turned out riding a 490 Huskvarna at 12![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]
Do as I say, not as I did!

was i wrong
 

I would never allow that on my property. Nor would I allow it if I was the only adult supervising kids. So IMO you did the right thing.

I have a neighbor who was letting his kid ride around his property, a 10-11 year old on a Polaris 250, with a bicycle helmet no less...... when he asked me if the kid could ride on our track/trails I said no way. He was pissed at first and was like "why not, why you gotta be like that about it" ......

So I said "first of all the machine is too big for him, he really can't handle something full sized, second he does not have any safety equipment" a few weeks later his wife came over and saw that my wife and I ride in full gear and was like "wow you guys are seriously into this" of course we were like "Duh"

A month or two later the guy comes over again, he bought his kid a new bike (turns out he wanted a bike more than a quad) but it was size appropriate and he had full brand new Fox gear with chest protector....... he asked if he could ride now on our track so I handed him our waivers and told him that as long as he was there they were welcome.

I don't think it was an accident that he saw how serious we took the sport and made some changes - a direct influence on how serious he took it......... it really illustrated that old adage that those who take things the most serious are the ones that have the most influence on others who want to do the same thing.........

I hope your buddy reconsiders his knee-jerk reaction to your stance.... you were 100% right and if he does not get that all you can do is hope no one gets hurt as a result of his ignorance.....

was i wrong
 

I don't think you did anything wrong.

Heck, I'm surprised he just didn't toss his truck keys to the kid and let him drive himself over.

was i wrong
 

I went on a ride and this kid was younger than 12. He was on a big 4x4 and it was obvious to all (except dad) that he could not handle the machine.
I was scared for the kid.
I don't ride with them anymore.
You did good.

Now if I could only get thru to the ones that want a 90cc for a 4-5 yr old. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]