My Lady took the Lead.....

[Ice]

As some of you may remember my wife made her MC license last year. And we have had a few outings where she followed on her 650, well yesterday I took her up to Skyline Drive and once there said your turn, WHAT???  Was the reply, but she got on her bike and led me through the mountains for almost 100 miles, she did awesome and it gave her an immense boost of confidence to boot. It’s easy to follow not so easy to lead, and she had to learn to pick her own lines and speed through the turns. Again she did awesome I am so proud of her. 
So for any of you in my boat that have a wife that rides but she is not so comfy riding let her lead in a ride and she will get a big boost in the confidence range. As we rode back I saw a totally different rider than I have in the past year. She now wants to go on longer rides.....

[flamingobabe #44]

Good for you letting your wife take the lead....it makes her ride harder and feel more  in control of her ride.....it is really difficult to always follow someone....you end up riding their ride....I enjoy riding my ride.......good for y'all

[mario]

yup, that's great!   

[Jack]

I loved following my wife when she led.  It made the scenery that much better. 

[jer0177]

My girl started riding this summer, and she's ready to graduate from her Rebel 250 to something bigger, but the problem is she can't pick up the Valk, can't reach the controls for the Shadow ('96 VT1100C), because she's on the shorter side.

What is your wife riding?  If you don't mind, what is her "height range"?

I'm thinking a VLX or VTX1300 because she can lift both of those and reach the controls, but she's leaning towards a Victory Low (Kingpin, 8-ball, something along those lines), but my concern is that it's too much of a jump from a 250CC to a 100+ CI engine, and they're *expensive*.

[Jess from VA]

My girl started riding this summer, and she's ready to graduate from her Rebel 250 to something bigger, but the problem is she can't pick up the Valk, can't reach the controls for the Shadow ('96 VT1100C), because she's on the shorter side.

What is your wife riding?  If you don't mind, what is her "height range"?

I'm thinking a VLX or VTX1300 because she can lift both of those and reach the controls, but she's leaning towards a Victory Low (Kingpin, 8-ball, something along those lines), but my concern is that it's too much of a jump from a 250CC to a 100+ CI engine, and they're *expensive*.

I personally think the Vstar 1100 is a great bike for a height challenged rider progressing to a bigger bike.  No need to lower it at all and plenty of power to keep up with any ride.  My wife went from 250, to 600VLX, to 800a Kawi, to 1100 vstar custom. 

[POPS 57]

I was on a ride this weekend and talked to a Victory owner. He said his fuel pump went out and it was $ 575.00 for a new one. And you think parts are getting high for an out of production cycle. This is second hand so take it for what it's worth.

[mario]

we were looking at the yamaha stryker, online, for a friend.  nice bike, good reviews and low slung which review recommended for women riders, and easy to handle.  1300, watercooled, the only drawback is the gas tank is only 4 gal.  price is not bad, tho.
it's tough lookin', too, imo.  

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/648/7836/Motorcycle-Article/2011-Star-Stryker-First-Look.aspx
http://www.roadbikemag.com/home/2011-star-stryker-motorcycle-review-yamaha%E2%80%99s-new-midsized-custom-cruiser-strikes-the-right-chord/

[mario]

....and i don't know how tall she is, but i'm 5'7" on a good day and LOVE my 07 honda shadow sabre 1100.  we had to do some tweeking, tho, to get her just right for me, pullbackrisers etc. you can pick one up on cl, usually for a pretty good price.  someone's selling his on the vrcc ads, but not sure if he's in your 'hood.

[Cruzen]

I had a similar situation with my former fiancée except I kept her out front so I could keep an eye on her as she would tend to drop back and then would drop completely out of site.  I would have to pull over so she could catch up.  This was especially true when traveling through areas that had stop lights.  When she and I broke up she sold her bike, the one I had spent so much money outfitting to her liking, and moved out of state.  She no longer rides and is now content to go to political rally’s.  Enjoy the fact that your significant other enjoys the same hobby that you do.   Congrats!!

[Momz]

My wifes first bike was a GoldWing. She's been riding for 3 years now and this spring she became a Certified Rider Coach.

Last weeks ago she was chosen to demonstrate the Alternate MOST Demo at the MRFs "Meeting Of The Minds" international motorcycle symposium.

She has never been intimidated by any mototcycle.

[Ice]

My girl started riding this summer, and she's ready to graduate from her Rebel 250 to something bigger, but the problem is she can't pick up the Valk, can't reach the controls for the Shadow ('96 VT1100C), because she's on the shorter side.

What is your wife riding?  If you don't mind, what is her "height range"?

I'm thinking a VLX or VTX1300 because she can lift both of those and reach the controls, but she's leaning towards a Victory Low (Kingpin, 8-ball, something along those lines), but my concern is that it's too much of a jump from a 250CC to a 100+ CI engine, and they're *expensive*.

To answer your question, my wife is on the short side, she is about 5'2" and on a good day 105 lbs wet. She rides a Suzuki S40 its a single cylinder 650, the only problem with it is that it has a lot of vibrations due to one cylinder, but other than that it has plenty of power and makes a great starter bike, she can flatfoot it and is able to pick it up.
She wants to upgrade down the road to something a tad bigger with less vibrations but for the moment is happy with the 650.

[MNBill]

My son and I have gone the Victory route. He has a 8-ball all blacked out, 12999 list new. The bike kept up with my Valk and he said it was lighter feeling and way more power than a VTX. He liked it at highway speeds better as it was not feeling like it is always winding out like the VTX was. We have a STAND UP dealer here and that is one of the other reasons we went with the Victory. Check their website, they have a Victory tour that goes around and you can ride their bikes at the dealers and get $1000 for stuff to wear or put on the bike. Loved my Valk but wanted an Interstate with the radio and faring. 16999 for a new Victory and about 10000 for a used Valk in good condition, I took the new bike.

[jer0177]

My son and I have gone the Victory route. He has a 8-ball all blacked out, 12999 list new. The bike kept up with my Valk and he said it was lighter feeling and way more power than a VTX. He liked it at highway speeds better as it was not feeling like it is always winding out like the VTX was. We have a STAND UP dealer here and that is one of the other reasons we went with the Victory. Check their website, they have a Victory tour that goes around and you can ride their bikes at the dealers and get $1000 for stuff to wear or put on the bike. Loved my Valk but wanted an Interstate with the radio and faring. 16999 for a new Victory and about 10000 for a used Valk in good condition, I took the new bike.

We've done the Victory test ride, don't remember which model we rode, but the grips were sticky and the bike just didn't have the "fit and finish" I expected it to - things didn't line up, it made weird noises. 

I picked up my '99 I/S with 15k miles, in immaculate condition, in March for less than 7, from a Honda dealer, so, yes, they're out there.