How old were you guys when your parents stopped bringing you to the track?

I remember being 15, my father drove me to the track with car and a trailer, we unhook the trailer and then he left. I did my laps and he was back 4 hours later. But it was the track 20 minutes away from home. I started going myself as soon as I got my driving licence, 18 years old.

I’m 37 and dad still comes. We started when I was 10. He don’t come every time tho.

I’m 27 and my dad still comes to the track, he’s 59 and still rides though 👍 But when I hit 17-18 and could drive, that’s when I started heading to the track by myself, or with another mate.

I was lucky enough to have a track on our own property, but if I wanted to ride/ race another track, my oldest brother would take me, starting when I was on 80s.
I think the majority of successful pros have their parents in there corner the whole way through. The only exception I can think of is Reed, who left home (and his country) without his parents at 17. Many bagged him for being too head strong, but he never would have made it alone if he wasn’t.

My father was my driver, sponsor,trainer, soigneur and mechanic from my 6th till 27th when i raced dirtbikes. The races or training he missed in all those years could be count on 2 hands. I quit because of a severe shoulder injury. A couple years later i got in to mtb racing. And a again my dad was my sponsor and driver. I quit mtb racing not long after he passed away because it was not the same anymore and started to ride dirtbikes again just for fun. I'm 100 % sure if he was still here he would be my driver etc again. Miss that bond we had about sport.

18 when I got my first car; a Datsun Cherry estate. My mates were all buying boy-racer cars and I bought this old family style car just because it had a tow-bar and all my kit fitted in the back.

First time I headed off in my own car with the bike on the back, and the smell of the jerry cans just behind me, I thought I was the dog's bollocks lol. Good times.

I was about 18-19 when my dad stopped coming, and that was only because I had 2 other friends that also raced so the three of us would load up the van and go together.

Around 19/20 -it will make you more well rounded/self sufficient. When you have an issue, you’ll either learn how to fix it yourself or pack it up/have someone else do it for you.

19 , I bought my dads van off him and started to take myself to races .

Dad stopped taking me riding when i was about 13. Dude was over it, put us in team sports. Something about it being “cheaper” but club sports are dam expensive. 26 now and have been bringing myself to the track since I could buy my own bike and not ride my buddy’s. 2 years now. Nothing better

They didn’t. Ate, slept and dreamt moto most of my life as a kid. Begged to go to the local races to watch. When I turned 19 and was on my own I started racing. Got fairly fast fairly quickly cause all I did on days off was ride. And I rode with faster guys.

If you want to, you will do fine without parents around. How bad do you want it, how independent are you, and how much do you love moto?

That is the question.

My parents never took me to the track. They were totally against it. Learned from my neighbor that did trials, he still does trials both modern and vintage and wins to this day at 70. I didn’t go to a track till I was 18 and had my own truck. I think my parents went to one race way back in 89 or 90 or so. I understand their fear and didn’t push it with them. They would freak out when I brought a new bike home and immediately took it apart in the garage. Haha

My dad drove tractor trailer for a living so he couldn’t always take me to the races. My dad would get a bunch of permission letters signed by a notoriety and would just leave the dates and locations blank on them. If he couldn’t make it to the race I could always go with a friends family that way. Just fill in the date and place and I was good to go. From the age of 14 and up I went to many races that way.

jtmaster wrote:

My parents never took me to the track. They were totally against it. Learned from my neighbor that did trials, he still does trials both modern and vintage and wins to this day at 70. I didn’t go to a track till I was 18 and had my own truck. I think my parents went to one race way back in 89 or 90 or so. I understand their fear and didn’t push it with them. They would freak out when I brought a new bike home and immediately took it apart in the garage. Haha

This is pretty much my story! Good parents, just didn't like the racing.....I learned from friends, but mostly on my own. I rode hard to the point of crashing be by design to find my limits

The day I turned 18 they never went to another race. Most of my friends at the track had pretty solid parents, so I still got to see good examples of functional, stable families, but I missed out on that myself. At least my kids don't have to worry about that. :-)

When it was time to move up to 125s from 80s, my Dad was done because I got hurt a few times. We did a race or two a month for a few years, it was awesome. I guess he thought moving up to big bikes would turn into bigger risk. I wasn't happy. All my friends still raced, I was at home on the weekends by myself with a bike to small to ride.

I built a track with a shovel. Yes a shovel.

I build a 30ft double, a 8ft high single where you could jump to what ever sand whoop you wanted to land in. 9 turns and all sand. I remember being so mad I was stuck on a 80 (105), I geared up one day, filled it up with gas and didn't stop motos until it blew up. 1990 KX . Below is a picture of the big single on my first 2 stroke.



Just like not having a place to ride, I got to work, I couldn't make a bike, but I could save my money and hustle to get one. So at 14, I did what I could, saved every penny. Put the stock cylinder on the 80 and sold it.

It took me years until I could be self-sufficient. I will never forget catching a ride to Birtch Creek to buy my first big bike, a used Team Green 1994 KX125. It was the hardest thing I had ever done, to work so DAMN hard to come up with 3k and to let it go. Sometimes I think that my dad did it on purpose.. Because I learned a lot.

This is me and my buddy Barry. I was on top of the world with my jeep, 125 and my 3 rail trailer at 17.



I could have just said, I was 17 when I took myself to the track. Do what you got to do my man. Sometimes it's just being patient. Sometimes the opportunity you want comes dressed in overalls and it's time to get to work to rely on nobody.

17

I started going without them at 16. They would be at every race but practice nights they would let me go with friends.
After MX I started road racing until I suffered a SCI at 26. My parents were still at every race. They’d jump on a plane or ride their Harleys out. They had just gotten off a cruise ship and drove straight to the track to watch my race the day I was injured.
I got into wheelchair rugby after my SCI and they try to attend almost every tournament I play in Florida and I’m 42 lol

My parents never took me to a race. Like a couple above they were good parents but were not interested in racing. All my dad would say is "quit that before you get hurt" or "there is always someone faster". He was probably right on both counts....My brother would drive me to the races and use the twenty my mom had left on the table the night before for gas...was always jealous of the families at the races, staying in their motorhomes with a trailer full of bikes...thing is there are only a small handful of those that had all that support still going to the races and I'm still riding/racing. So guess maybe it's not all that it's cracked up to be to get everything?

I was 16. Dad took me from 11-15, but once I got a drivers license and he could sign a notarized waiver I was on my own.

It never really was his thing and he didn't really understand how much you have to practice to get good. So it was easier once I could take myself to practice and be on my own schedule.

I was 16. I wanted a truck so I could haul my bike but I come home one day and there’s a Ford Pinto sitting in the driveway. I was so mad! Not only was it beyond ugly I couldn’t haul anything. Me and a buddy welded a trailer hitch to it and I bought a used 3 rail trailer and off we went. My dad still came to most of my races. My mom came to one race for about 5 minutes then left crying and saying my baby is going to be killed. 😳😳

At 16 dad would still take me to the races. But gate fees and bike Maintinence costs were on me. On a McDonalds part time salary that became impossible. Think it was his way of quitting racing without telling me we were done. Also his way of teaching me how to manage money. Which has gotten me a lot further in life than being fast on two wheels.

Mcflurry98 wrote:

I was 16. Dad took me from 11-15, but once I got a drivers license and he could sign a notarized waiver I was on my own.

It never really was his thing and he didn't really understand how much you have to practice to get good. So it was easier once I could take myself to practice and be on my own schedule.

I remember going to a race with my bike in the bed of the truck. I had took a young kid with me and we stop to get gas when this huge truck and trailer pulls up next to us. The guys get out and open the trailer and it’s full of nice tricked out bikes. The kid says “you’re in trouble, I bet those guys are fast”. We get to the track and they all ended up being a bunch of C class squids. My dad always told me that it’s hard to appreciate anything you don’t have to work for. I had just as much fun with one bike and my old truck as anyone else.

Couldn't get into any tracks by yourself until you're 18 around here. That's when I started driving myself. I never went by myself though. Always believed in having at least a buddy there for the "just in case" moments. Being a new father now, I hope I can make it every time my boy wants to go out (if he decides he wants to ride) and hopefully be able to ride with him haha!

My parents went to pretty much all the races with me. I had my own track on our property as well but never rode unless someone was home. After I turned 16, I did go with friends once or twice but I never went to a race alone. One time I went with a friend and his dad and I ended up breaking my collarbone. Going to the hospital under 18 without a parent isn't fun... especially in the days before cell phones were popular.

18. My mom always took me to the races, she was my biggest fan. My dad thought that I had some kind of a death wish.
The summer I was 17 was the only time my dad came to watch me race, after the first moto (I got third place) my dad says great job then starts packing all my stuff up,my mom is asking him what's he doing and he replies the race is over time to go home.He had no idea that it is a two moto format. When my informs him of this he couldn't believe it.

After Igot out of the Army I started racing again. I would always ask dad to come with me and sometimes he did. Some of my best races was when he was there. Mom never missed a race.

My parents never took me to the track, came to the track, or directly paid for anything related to bikes apart from pop taking pity once when the bike in a box I bought with paper route money turned out to be missing a key part. Had a friend a year older who didn’t have a father and was pretty independent, and the folks let me go racing with him.

Yes we forged releases as minors in the 70s.

Grateful for pop getting me out to see a Trans AMA round on e a year in the early 70s.

34 and my dad still comes to as many as he can.....

But in your situation if they can’t come, get yourself a good crew of moto buddies. Shit happens and you need the boys there to pick you up when you wallop into the ground. Don’t go by yourself.

Never. I had my DL when I was 15 and started racing at 16. My mother went to a few races but I always practiced alone or with some friends. Parents divorced when I was 2- didn't see my sperm donor again until I was 24.

I did FAR more "riding" than racing.

Lexington KY, 1978: