Hopefully near Lynnwood.
I've been riding for 40 years, mostly Harley's.
My son is in drivers ed, getting his car drivers license in a month.
Told him I'd give him one of my Harley's when he got his motorcycle endorsement.
But I'm not letting him take my bikes out on the street until he knows how to ride.
Suggestions?

Was thinking:
Motorcycle course, or buy a moped or a dirt bike for him to practice on.
Have a 1/4 acre backyard but don't want it to end up looking like a motocross course.

Thanks in advance.

I'd say find a 400-600cc bike on craigslist but I just looked and they are mostly overpriced (a 600cc bike from the 80s is not worth $3k, sorry)

Maybe check with Rix. He probably has a line on decent used bikes.

If he goes through the state approved course they will supply the bikes.
Might check in with Lynnwood HD and them if they are still doing the training.

Go here also.
https://www.msf-usa.org/

This is the route I went when I got my endorsement. Good program, and they give you your endorsement at the end of the course.

I'll take a Harley.

(I grew up riding dirt bikes, got my endorsement at 18. Haven't ridden a bike in many years but you'd damn well better believe I renew that endorsement every single time!)

This course is good https://evergreenmotorcycletraining.org ... ourse-brc/

They provide the bikes too

Thanks guys.

I remember taking the MSF in renton boeing parking lot for $50 - under 18 state subsidiary.

I also remember being a chicken on the road until I got a bike that was fun to take sideways and learn the limits.

Dirtbike to MSF to dirtbike is my recommendation.

Lots of good advice here. I'm going to go ahead and lock this up before someone comes in with horror stories and pictures of letting their 16 year old ride.

Nobody knows how to ride after a MSF course. They know how to start, stop and navigate. MSF is just the gateway.

A HD is a lot of bike for a kid. Honda Shadow 750 or VLX 600 is great learner bike. Fixemupparts are cheap. More than enough power.

Hell, I put my boy on a Moped. Had to peddle that thing to get it started. Top speed with wind at his back was about 30mph. Rode it back and forth to high school for a year, and all over town, without laying it down, and then bumped him up to a Yamaha 750. But, that year was skill development period. And, he bought his own damn HD!

Good luck.

Also with a state aproved course you do not have to take a drivers test you just hand them the the test results and they endorse your liscence at least that is the way it was 16 years ago. I would start him on a lighter bike and then move him up to a Harley if I were you though.

Take the course to get basics and license. Buy him a dual sport and start off road and then move on to street when comfortable.

The course doesn’t do much more than 30 Miles an hour, parking lot only. Since your a rider you know that coming into a corner with too much speed can be bad. I always try to make sure new riders keep that in mind.