Legal opinion needed concerning Kids on motorcycles.

You brought up interesting points about rights and costs.
Perhaps we should look at perceived risks, vs real risks.

If you ask most smokers a general question about things to do to decrease their chances of medical problems, most will cite "use seat belts" as a way to protect themselves.
In actuality,  seat belt use is something after the decimal point compared to the dangers of smoking.

Unfortunately, this situation is a no win.

Only possible way is to take the ex out on the bike, so she can feel it 1st hand, and make sure he's not the idiot she believes him to be. If you can get her to agree, then take her out and get protective gear... helmet, jacket. Yeah, it's gonna be $400, but, that's about the cost of the consult to the attorney.  

Firstly, we need to recognize that this thread is now a year and a half old (Dec. /08), so any suggestions made at this time are probably moot points anyway.

But I think it's worthy of note that in neatgreek911's original posting, he states "after fitting her and myself up in all the safety gear (helmet, gloves, jacket and pants) as well as a nice dual seat with a backrest for her".  I would infer from that statement that he was NOT already in possession of this riding gear for his own use.  The perception of irresponsibilty of that issue, particularly helmets, has been and is the ongoing subject of debate in many other threads on this site.  And this took place after he, by his own admission, had bought an 05 Harley Sportster, perhaps suggesting that he was also not already an experienced rider and previous or current owner of any other bike(s), and would  unnecessarily and/or recklessly be putting both himself and their daughter at risk.

Not knowing the personalities of any of these people, or their respective character traits, or how they ever did or do now relate to one another, there may be very valid reasons for his ex's concern for the safety of their daughter, not to mention the fact that they are one another's respective ex's, and she may not care about his safety at all.

It's also interesting to note that he has not once responded to any of the comments made by other contributors to this thread, suggesting that maybe he's not interested in anyone else's opinion but his own anyway...another reason why he's an ex?  Or did she initiate legal preceedings immediately, which terminated the whole process before he got out of the driveway?  Or did he take their daughter for a ride and suffer an unfortunate result?

We can but wonder and worry and hope for the best for them all.  

OOPS...got the calendar screwed up!!!  Only 8 months have elapsed, not a year and a half.  I think it's Oldtimers Disease.  Cheers.  

But, you brought up the point that he just started. Ex could realistically decide he lost the last brain cell he had left to him.  

I am now dealing with the same w/ my ex. Our son is about to turn7 at the end of Aug. He's been bugging me & my dad to ride for the past 2 yrs - feet were not long enough, nor would he have stayed still.

This year, he reached the pegs. I have a helmet (kid's noggin is big enough for my XS - which is same as most youth-Lg), already had 2-up seat & backrest. Put him in jeans & long-sleeve shirt (90+degree days in VA right now), long socks & sneakers w/o strings. This is the same type of gear my younger sister & I wore on the back of our dad's Virago (plus a jacket as needed). Dad got 137k out of that Virago - and no small part of it included one of his kids on the back.

I've been riding for nearly 4yrs - 17+k miles. Dad's been riding longer, all total (pushing 300k miles).

Son was excited to have done his first ride - first night Ex got him, showed him Internet videos of road-pizza & helmets stuck in cars, etc... and said son should demand armor-gear (which I can't even *find* at his size, only thicker-material stuff). Son now wants to ride, but is duly terrified. part of it is ex crashed my Harley into a ditch upon delivery after talking a lot of s*. Got his own later, but sold it w/ perhaps a handful of neighborhood jaunts on it. Methinks it's more sour grapes - as he smokes around child & has introduced(pushed) him into the SCA he wants to do.

I'm just going to take my cues from son. Other than adding a denim or similar jacket, gloves and perhaps the riding buddy/harness thing, I can't see that there is even gear (other than helmet & jacket) that I *can* buy him until he's older & fits more adult stuff. Oh - and I'm primary custody, income, and medical-ins provider.  

If he wants to ride, and you have custody, and insurance, then take him for a short ride around the neighborhood. Let him adjust to slow speeds on the bike. Yours is the easier situation than the original post. You have custody. Your ex has fear.
Don't take your son for long rides to start. Make them short, slow, and leave him wanting more. Reality overcomes fear mongering, but, it takes time and patience.

BTW, don't deny that accidents happen with your son, instead tell him about ways to avoid the accident (SIPDE - get him looking, and give him a way to tell you about what he sees as a problem, eg. 2 taps on left side if he sees a problem there, 2 taps on the right if he thinks there's a problem there). Show him you are thinking about it even before you get on the bike.  

VAharleygirl, something you can do is make him some safety gear. Get a denim jacket that fits loosely, turn it inside out, sew in some pockets in the sleeves (or get someone who sews if you don't) and insert something like soccer shin guards for protection. Maybe be able to do the same for back and shoulders if you want to go that far. If you can't find 'em, make 'em! For chest and back protection he can wear BMX body armor under his jacket (may even be able to sew it into his jacket, too).

Just an idea for you to get over on that sour-grapes ex who wants to cheat his son out of one of the best things he can experience in his life.

And teach your son to ride safe, watch out for cagers on cell phones, and to thank The Man Upstairs for every safe ride.

Good luck!