The Wife is looking for her own wheels

[Wade 2000]

I finally got her to ride a few years ago and she got hooked. Absolutely loves it, so much in fact, she has been looking for one for herself. I'm very exited for her because I know what riding means to me, but at the same time I'm nervous to watch her as a beginner. Not because she is a female but because I'm her husband, protector, you know. I was the same way watching my little brother start riding.

I'm just wondering how many couples here both ride?? Any issues with that besides doubling the $ ..

[BuckShot]

You need to talk to Sarges46...I'm sure he will pipe in sometime on this one. Rick and his wife both ride long distance together.

[eusa1]

The wife and i both have our own bikes, you can look at her profile here, her handle is "lucy2"

She has been riding her own bike for over 10 years now.

She learned the basics on an enduro and quads and moved to a street bike ten years ago.

Her first street bike was a 535 virago that everyone should learn on !

Her second bike was an 1100 virago and made several 5 to 600 mile day rides

She now rides a custom painted 2006 tour deluxe and loves it!

We spend most all of our free time going for a ride or planning the next ride.

Come to the International rally this year in Galena Illinois and we will show you around!

We have been host at this location a couple times before and have a blast.

Call, text, or e- mail me , the number is in my profile

Mike/Cherie

[bongobobny]

You're going to find quite a few!!! May I suggest a Yamaha 650 for a good starter bike??

[MiCarl]

My wife, a reluctant passenger, popped up in 2011 that she wanted to try riding her own.

 

I think Bob gave good advice: The V-Star 650 or something similar would be a good starter bike. In the case of my wife we stumbled on an old 750 Shadow that already had beginner scars.

 

The very first thing is get her enrolled in the MSF BRC. My wife and two of her friends took the course together last spring and they ride better than many with years of experience.

[bongobobny]

Good advice Carl!!!

[Wade 2000]

The wife and i both have our own bikes, you can look at her profile here, her handle is "lucy2"

She has been riding her own bike for over 10 years now.

She learned the basics on an enduro and quads and moved to a street bike ten years ago.

Her first street bike was a 535 virago that everyone should learn on !

Her second bike was an 1100 virago and made several 5 to 600 mile day rides

She now rides a custom painted 2006 tour deluxe and loves it!

We spend most all of our free time going for a ride or planning the next ride.

Come to the International rally this year in Galena Illinois and we will show you around!

We have been host at this location a couple times before and have a blast.

Call, text, or e- mail me , the number is in my profile

Mike/Cherie

 

We've been looking and the Yamaha vstar custom fits her real well. 650 or 1100 I just want her to get something she won't outgrow overnight but still a good beginner bike. I am coming to the IR cant wait!

[Wade 2000]

My wife, a reluctant passenger, popped up in 2011 that she wanted to try riding her own.

 

I think Bob gave good advice: The V-Star 650 or something similar would be a good starter bike. In the case of my wife we stumbled on an old 750 Shadow that already had beginner scars.

 

The very first thing is get her enrolled in the MSF BRC. My wife and two of her friends took the course together last spring and they ride better than many with years of experience.

 

Definitely gonna take the rider course I may even do it with her

[EL Cid]

My wife and i rode together for 17 years.One of her first bike was a 1100 Virgo, a great first bike . Light and nimble, close to the ground. Cruise around town, with windshield and bags go anyewhere.

Then she had two ventures. Said the fun cover the cost. LOL

No one makes a better riding partner.

 

Leonard Huff:322:

[Wrench]

Definitely find something that fits her, and she's comfortable with. I know this is a Yamaha site, but take a look at the Suzuki Volusia/C-50. It's a very well balanced, low bike and doesn't weigh a ton either. I know several female riders that got their start on the Suz and say they're glad they did. Keep us posted on the progress, and good luck!!(to you both)

[Wade 2000]

My wife and i rode together for 17 years.One of her first bike was a 1100 Virgo, a great first bike . Light and nimble, close to the ground. Cruise around town, with windshield and bags go anyewhere.

Then she had two ventures. Said the fun cover the cost. LOL

No one makes a better riding partner.

 

Leonard Huff:322:

 

I wish they still made the Virago, great bike. The closest I ever came was a Maxim 700 think it was a 85-86 that was light and easy

[eusa1]

I wish they still made the Virago, great bike. The closest I ever came was a Maxim 700 think it was a 85-86 that was light and easy

there are still many virago out there and they hold value real well, i sold the wifes 94 1100 with 48000 miles on it last summer for $3500.00 to the first guy that came to see it.

the 535 is still easy to find, and pound for pound is the lowest seat highest hp ride you can buy.

both these virago models are shaft driven also. less maint..$

[Wade 2000]

Definitely find something that fits her, and she's comfortable with. I know this is a Yamaha site, but take a look at the Suzuki Volusia/C-50. It's a very well balanced, low bike and doesn't weigh a ton either. I know several female riders that got their start on the Suz and say they're glad they did. Keep us posted on the progress, and good luck!!(to you both)

 

Yea we looked at the S50 but the tank is too small. The C50T comes well equipped I think it's a better bike than the C90 . I think she wants to get a used one to start so it'll probably come down to the best deal. But the Suzuki is one that she's got her eye on

[Wrench]

You can find some pretty decent deals on the C-50/Volusia, I had an '02 and loved that bike. It was big enough that the wife and I had plenty of room, and plenty of power too. There's a Suzuki forum that I still belong to, volusiaowners.com, that is a wealth of info on the bike, and usually there's a couple for sale there too.

[Miles]

My wife rides too. She has three bikes, but the one I would recommend that you look at for your wife is...wait for it...a V-4 Honda Magna 750. My wife is on her second one, and she loves it. As we all know how great the V-4 engine is, Honda did the job just as well with their V-4 bikes.

 

They stopped making the 750 Honda Magna in 2003, that was the last year. My wife has had both a 2001, and now a 2002. The 2001 and 2002 are BLACK bikes, and the 2003 was a Blue bike. I have tons of experience setting these up for touring, and longer distance riding. I install a Scottoiler on them, so that the chain gets lubed all the time.

 

Seriously look at a 1999 to 2003 Honda Magna 750.

Edited February 5, 2013 by Miles

[Aussie Annie]

Love the fact that Alan and I share the fun and enjoyment of riding bikes together. Over the years' most holidays have been rallies or AGM's where like minded people get together.

 

He has always supported me wanting to have my own bike, and is the best mechanic going even now, after the accident I still get to feel the wind in my face, all be it on three wheels now, and ride into the sunset with me fella

May you both enjoy many years of riding together

[CaptainJoe]

My wife penny 120 lbs sopping wet started out on a new 250 vstar. Wanted her to move up to the my 650 vstar but she really liked the white Honda 500 shadow. She perferrred it because of the weight. When I said lets get it, she said lets just wait alittle...

 

Currently she has lost interest in riding and the 250 is just sitting there. I'm hoping I can get her to ride this spring. If not will put it up for sale.

[jonesy]

My wife started on a Honda 600, went to a Yamaha 1100 in 2 yrs., we've gone 2 weeks at a time, most miles put on was 2500, most trips in the 1500 to 2500 mile area. The 600 didn't have enough power, she's been on the 1100 10 years now and loves it.

[ragtop69gs]

My wife and i both ride, Jeannie was on 2wheels for years , when she started to feel uneasy in the turns we sold her Honda 750 and bought her a RSV hannigan trike. She now rides more than she ever did on two wheels .

[bongobobny]

My wife Becky loves to ride, but prefers to be "ballast." If she ever did want to start riding her own bike we would have to look for a Hondamatic as she has no concept of what a clutch is...

 

Bottom line, as husbands we should always encourage our wives interests whatever they are, whether or not we are interested in the same thing...

[stevej]

Last summer, my wife also decided that she wanted to learn how to ride. After taking the safety course and getting her license, we went bike shopping.

 

They used Suzuki 250's for the class and she definately thought that it was too small of a bike. We looked at 10 - 15 different bikes from 500 - 800 cc. When we were looking, we did not put a lot of consideration into the size of the bike, only wanting to make sure that it was what she felt comfortable on. She sat on every bike that she thought she might like with either myself or the salesman holding it upright so that she was able to sit in the normal riding position.

 

It came down to a couple of Honda 750's, a Shadow and a I think it was a Spirit, Yamaha 650 and a Suzuki C50T. I liked the Yamaha 650, but in the end she chose a Suzuki c50t. Even though it was the largest of the bikes we looked at; for her, she said it felt the most comfortable, stable and she could put both feet on the ground. It does ride nice, but not like a Venture.

[GuardsmanUSA]

Gents don't discount our Ventures, my lady (a new rider) has been riding a 1980 Suzuki GS850L. It took sick and at the time I didn't have time to fix it. So I encouraged her to ride my 1984 VR. Bottom Line she will not give it back. She said that at 50 mph the Suzuki felt like a bicycle, wheras the VR feels stable and very comfortble. This of course compelled me to acquire another VR a similarly colored 1987 VR.

 

I do need to stipulate that she is 5'8" tall and pushes 200lbs (i hope she doesn't see this). I have been encouraging her to weight train with me so she has adequate strenght to right it if(when) she drops it.

 

My previous wife, a smaller lady, rode a ZX 6 to accompany me on my ZX 11. When she got tired of long trips on her ZX 6 accompanying me on my Goldwing, we went looking for a touring bike for her. We looked at the entire range of options, so it was a very considered decision she chose a VR as it fit her very well, she is just under 5'7" and 150 lbs and never had a problem handling it.

 

So for what it may be worth, in two cases woman have successfully taken to Ventures.

[rickardracing]

Cool. Just start her out on something small. My wife has a Honda 750 Shadow Spirit. Perfect size for her. Just do not let her get too big of a bike. I have seen a few women trying to ride bigger machines and they cannot handle them at low speeds or just plain move them by duck walking the bike. Just my .02

[Yamamike]

When I bought my 76 Virago, I expected my wife to catch the bug and have her own ride within a couple years but that's not gonna happen. When we first met she loved riding my YZ125 but 25+ years later, the interest is just not there . She rarely even rides with me (

[Panjandrum]

Dianne rides a 650 V-Star. I love seeing the grin on her face in my mirrors!

 

It is absolutely horrible to watch her go down, which she has done several times, two of them with injuries that prevented riding for a few weeks to a few months.

 

She is not a light-weight, and with the bike fully loaded with her and camping gear, she sometimes has difficulty keeping up on the long hills. We wonder whether an 1100 would not have been a better choice. The size and weight difference is negligible, and having that power would be handy at times. In the early days, you do not have to use the top half or third of the throttle. I did not discover the top third of throttle on my Maxim X until I well into the second year of riding it!