| Author | Message | ||
     Garrett1998s1 |
Suggestions on a good starter bike for her? Tried selling her on a blast she just doesnt like the look of them. Needs to be something low shes only 5'4". Cruiser style.Reliable and inexpensive. Looking at getting her into a class through our local HOG chapter. Any advice on a bike would be great. Thanks Garrett | ||
| Eboos |
I have been thinking about getting a 883 low for my girlfriend. She is 4'11" (wicked small). The bike seems to fit her fine and has more future potential then a Blast in my opinion. I would say that your wife would probably feel comfortable on either the 1200 or 883 low. The best part is you will be able to recycle your upgraded S1 parts onto the Sportster, and are already familiar with the mechanical ins and outs. I do not really know what the metric side offers in a smallish cruiser with respectable power. | ||
| Crusty |
Garrett; if she's taking the Riders Edge course, then she'll be learning on a Blast and may have a different opinion of them when she finishes the course. It's one of the most novice friendly bikes out there. My wife took a local MSF course on a small Honda. We then bought her a Yamaha Vision which she was having a bit of a hard time with. The first time she sat on a Blast she loved the way it felt. We bought one and she rode the wheels off it for 10,000 miles. She grew to absolutely love that bike. However, if she's fixed on cruiser styling, I'd say try a Suzuki 650 Savage. It's a single with a four speed trans and has a belt drive. It doesn't handle nearly as good as a Buell, but it makes reasonable power for a beginner without being overwhelming. | ||
| Kdan |
I know a husband that killed his wife with a brand new sportster. My girlfriend rolls a Blast. | ||
| Aldaytona |
Bike for my wife, anyone know where I can deal like that? | ||
| Superbee24 |
Do you want a bike in trade for your bike or do you want a bike in trade for your wife? If its the first one, do you have any pics of wife?  | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
A Kawasaki Vulcan 500 is a great beginners bike. The bike can probably had used for less than $3k. It has the same motor as the Ninja 500 slightly retuned, puts out 50HP at the crank. It is a parallel twin, 6 speed, liquid cooled, reliable as a stone axe. The valves are screw/locknut adjustment (in my opinion the next best thing to hydraulic). It is very sedate at lower RPMs but ironically will probably out accelerate any Harley with the exception of the V-rod.  | ||
| Sgthigg |
I just last week bought my wife an Suzuki 650 Boulevard. Had it hid on the Garage and surpised her with it when she came home from work...It was awesome! It is a Single cylinder, light, easy to control..And will definetly get up and get around traffiC when need be(decent torque). So its not dangerous slow. This also makes it something she wont get bored with after 2 months either....Hell the rear brake is better tha non my xb..lol..Not that I use my rear alot bought it works pretty damn good on the suzuki. I think its perfect for her everytime I sit on it. Check on out if you havent got her one already.. Have her sit on it and see how she likes it. Most importantly SHE LOVES IT!! | ||
| Josh_ |
Suzuki Savage 650 is a great beginner's bike also. Some problems with a Sportster (bearing in mind my first 2 bikes were Sportsters) is they are pretty top-heavy and you'll really hate dropping it. Started with a used light Japanese bike or Blast ($1800 used! How can you go wrong?) until she gets the hang of it. | ||
| Sarodude |
If she really doesn't wanna do the Blast thing, I'd recommend the Savage. The Rebel is nice & rideable - but likely too anemic for street use. Also, the Savage sounds AWESOME uncorked. Used to work with some dude who rode a visiously Savage sounding Savage. -Saro | ||
| Josh_ |
Speaking of Sportsters and Savages, the Savage sounds *really* good with a stock 883 muffler on it. | ||
| Cochise |
Hey JLB, I noticed you didn't say anything about getting your wife an S3T. | ||
| Bevmiller |
Can't help but chime in here. My husband started me out on an old Honda XL175 in the dirt. I went to a Honda Rebel 250 , then Suzuki Intruder 800, then to 883 Sportster Hugger(had a Blast for a couple of years too)Now I have an XB9S and love it.Anyone see a pattern here? If you want her to ride, start out small. If you want her to fail start out on a Sportster! | ||
| Cochise |
some friends that I ride with teach people to ride. They start out on a four wheeler that they have that still needs to be shifted like a motorcycle so they learn the shift, then put them on a dirt bike, then progress like Bev says. | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
Cochise, she rides the S3T just fine, it's the tip toe part that weirds her out. She's not very confident on it. I thought it would be a good step up from the Blast but it was too big of a step Don't worry I've been riding the hell out of it.  | ||
| Burnmyheartdown |
For the love of god, don't get her any sort of cruiser. I took my dads 883 out one day right after my blast.... no brakes, no handling, poor acceleration, shaky as hell. the blast is infintely prefereable in my opinion, and besides, who cares about looks on a first bike anyway besides super squidS? | ||
| Oldog |
JL: not kidding here platform shoes? if she can tippy toe it just a thought, mebe it was gas .. | ||
| Garrett1998s1 |
Shes sat on the blast her sisters boyfriend has one and she really just doesnt like them. She grew up on the back of her dads harleys she pretty dead set on a cruiser. But im not going to buy her a sportster until shes got a few miles and tip overs under her belt. Harley parts to expensive. Guy I work with got his wife a smaller Jap bike only thing he regrets is its top speed. She cant keep up more than 60 on the highways. Thanks for all the advice. Garrett | ||
| Buellgirlie |
you might consider (if cash allows) a softtail deluxe or dyna street bob. both have low seats and are nice harleys. i have a street bob (i'm 5'5") and the seat height is only 26". D | ||
| Littlebuggles |
Nighthawk 250's are fairly bullet proof. Get one that's been dropped a few times for cheap, then next year sell it for cheap after she's had a chance to drop it in the driveway and stuff... VTX's (don't know displacement for sure 125-250) with disk brakes and ninja 250's and 500's are great starter bikes and can be had for cheap, more of the ninjas around than the VTX's. VTX's have nice power to weight and can run all day long on a half tank of gas. Most of the small cruisers seem kinda underpowered (I get to ride a lot of different smaller displacement bikes teaching the ridercouse, I would prefer the sport type bikes for better power riding on the street). $.02 FWIW | ||
| Jimincalif |
The Savage 650 single is a slick little cruiser. Belt drive(!) for less maintenance/mess. Pretty cheap, easy to fix if dropped (nothing important sticks out!). Unbelievably smooth for a thumper - there's a counterbalancer in there. Stone-axe reliable. | ||
| Bake |
Mine's got a 883 Sportster and I'd rather see her on something that truly handles, unfortunatly she loves her Harley so I gotta say good enough! At least it's reliable and easy to service, sounds good and looks nice beside the Buell. | ||
| Eboos |
I have to say, I think that mindset and willingness to learn will play a factor here. The first motorized bike that I have ever been on was my M2. I have never even been on a dirtbike. I raced XC for a while and did freestyle BMX for years. Before I bought my M2, I did a lot of reading. Once I did get my bike, I went streight to a school parking lot and just practiced cornering, shifting and stopping. I did this for the first few days until I felt comfortable enough to try what I've been practicing on the street. Then I only rode on the streets around my house until I was ready to move up again. I think that with the proper preperation and the right mindset, you could learn on pretty much any bike. | ||
| Daves |
I agree Eboos Kandie's first bike was an 883 Hugger and she did just fine,moved up to the FXR2 within a year,her mom got a Heritage, they had been sharing the 883. Now they both have XB9Ss too. As long as the rider chooses to use their brain, a first bike can be any bike that fits them. Now if a person chooses not to use their brain then a moped is too much for them. The last time I checked all bikes come with individual throttles and their own set of brakes and handle bars. What a rider chooses to do with them is up to them. | ||
| Aeholton |
Bought a little 250 Ninja for my wife back around the beginning of the year. I would say it's nearly perfect for learning on. Light weight, comfortable riding position, the power is not intimidating and capable of keeping up with traffic. With the Muzzy full exhaust system on it has a sweet little exhaust note. | ||
| Paulson |
Honda Rebel 250 has cruiser styling with a very low riding height. Pity they don't make it in 500cc's. | ||
| Whatever |
I wouldn't buy a sportster for anyone... but that is just my humble opinion... I haven't ridden any of the newer models. The few I have ridden just didn't seem to handle right. My advice is get something that is not all pimped up for the first year... I taught myelf on a 1981 Yamaha 750 SECA I got for 800 bucks, and I rode the snot out of it for 4 years. If you are looking at doing some road trips get at least 750 cc's. In my opionion you need something with a little power to get out of the way in a pinch. If she is tooling around town only then hey a Blast is fine and they are way cheap! PS I am 5'4" and 120 pounds, and what I say about getting an older bike is... when you drop it you have to learn how to get out of the way before you hurt yourself. (Message edited by Whatever on April 17, 2006) | ||
| Ceejay |
The last time I checked all bikes come with individual throttles and their own set of brakes and handle bars. What a rider chooses to do with them is up to them. Right on Dave!  | ||
| Captainplanet |
Its hard to beat the ninja 250 for a starter bike. You can buy one used for about 2 grand, ride it for a year and re sell it for close to what you paid. The only downside is that if you drop one, the plastics are fragile and expensive. There are no available frame sliders for them either. | ||
| Billfish |
Too many sad examples around here locally of people male or female matched up to the wrong bike for a beginner ride. There is a very good reason the MSF courses are using the 250cc Honda Rebel. Plus the Riders Edge course use the Blast. Light, predictable powerband, well balanced(Blast), low seat for short riders, the list goes on. I personally suggest a 125cc dirt bike for the beginner. This allows them to learn the basics,(throttle, clutch, shift). Plus when they dump the bike the consequences aren't as severe as on the street. Listen to Bev! My .02 |
