Hi Everybody

I was talking to my missus on the phone last night and I suggested that she should get a bike! I said a nice VFR400 would be ideal to learn on, Michelle said she would like that and because she is a student it would be nice and cheap.

Now the reason for me posting this is I don’t want to emotionally blackmail her into something that she does not really want to do, so if anyone here has any good ideas of how I might give her a good idea of what to expect (good/bad) without boring or scaring the sh*t outa her or alternatively if you know of something that would be relevant to a young lady biker/motorcyclist please advise.

Thx in Advance

Jim

 

Changing what I said, after reading the post below me, mine sounds bad. put yes a training class, all ways come first.

 

Have her take the MSF beginning rider's course before anything else. Even if she never has the intent to pilot her own bike, but rides passenger with you, it's a good thing for her to know she COULD operate the bike in an emergency situation (it'll give her more confidence, and make her feel safer when on the road with you). It's also a good two solid days of BIKES, BIKES, BIKES... at the end of the course, she'll have a clearer idea of if it's actually something SHE enjoys, and she'll be well on the way to enjoying it SAFELY.

From there, either let her practice on your bike in parking lots for a while, or go ahead and invest in a small cc bike for her. Just don't pressure her, and make sure you buy her proper gear!!

 

what neebs said, MSF, gear, and lots of practice!

 

I agree, if she takes the course and doesn't like it, you wouldn't have invested a lotta money into a bike that she doesn't want to ride. if she does like it she'll already have some experience before purchasing her own bike. On the other hand, i never went to a course myself, i started on my husband's first bike and not to long after, i went and purchased my own bike. I started on an ex500, but if i had a chance to go back, my first bike woulda been the f4, just cuz it's so much smoother and easier to ride.

 

Woot just gave my girl her first ride on my bike, and I think we'll be buying anther one for her.. /me crosses his fingers!!

 

I dont think you should treat this any different from one of your buddies wanting to ride.
Women can operate these just as well as men can.

We all take the same classes and get practice the same way as everyone else.

(one for the ladies)

 

Definitely suggest taking a MSF course, my girl did last year loved it and got her liscence before me. Good idea for a starter bike too. My girl has an ex500 to start with.

 

Hi Everybody

I talked to the missus and we agreed that she should buy a 2nd hand smaller machine that she wants and feels comfortable with but I also suggested that she would have a much better idea by trying a bike for herself and since we only have one bike she should try mine, after much encouragement and double daring she scrambled onto my bike but her feet couldn’t touch the ground so I went pillion and helped with the clutch and we road around the car park .

I took the time to explain it is the same principle as a car with clutch and throttle control but we still had a few drive towards the parked car or the brick wall moments, (I never considered bailing out....honest) when I first learnt to ride a bike my mate told me to rev it hard and drop the clutch! it flipped and I looked more silly than normal so Michelle was allot better than me

Anyway Michelle is hooked I new all it would take was a taster.

I will book her CBT (Compulsory Bike Training) course and buy her a cheap hack to learn on.

Thx for the comments

Jim

 

Jim, let us know how she makes out, good luck, better be careful she'll be burning you down the road in a while