| Author | Message | ||
     Jarhead |
Vegas, when did this accident happen? | ||
| Bomber |
I think it's a mistake to ask others to ride over their heads -- there's folks I just won't ride with anymore due to their "they can keep up or not" attitude -- me, I'll either alter my pace to suit, or not ride with the folks that I can't keep up with, or with those who wish to smell the roses when I'm intent on strafing apexes -- it's part of the discussion that happens at the start of group rides (and a big thanks to Ferris for the use of his talk) we are, all of us, responsible for our own actions, for sure, but we can, whether we mean to or not, influance those around us -- it's a mistake, I think, not to take that into account, especially is you're witih folks that are still at the beginning of their learning curves (like, o, 8 months, for instance) | ||
| Trolldaddi |
When I ride with my wife I lead and adjust to my wifes speed. If she starts to fall behind I will slow up and let her catch up. I never let her out of my sights, but we ride two totally different types of bikes, XB9R and a Honda Shadow. I would never take her through the twisties at a higher than posted speed, that may be boring, but I enjoy just riding, and riding safe with her. Steve | ||
| Raraf |
Now there is a thought! Axe The Ball & Chain 101! Note to self: Buy wifey turbo Hayabusa with no front brakes and make her play catch up in the twisty Rocky Mountains! | ||
| Cataract2 |
Last night at bike night I met someone who has been riding for 1 month. Her choice of bike. A 2005 GSXR 750. Her thoughts of the Buell, "Nice looking but to slow for me." I'm just waiting for the spare parts from a GSXR 750. | ||
| Rick_a |
I just ride by myself due to being a jackass all around. I talked to a fellow yesterday who had purchased an '02 GSXR-1000 as a first bike having no prior experience...also riding with no endorsement. | ||
| Buelliedan |
Rick, Was his last name statistic?? | ||
| Buells Rule! (Dyna in disguise) |
Here's a question, if the women had wanted an XB12R instead of the CBR954RR would any of you have tried & talked her out of it? I have seen way too many of these topics..newbies/crashes/etc & for some reason the same people who think a litre bike is a poor choice, think an XB12 is a great choice. Personally I strongly believe in tiered licensing & think it should be mandated. Far too many people buy bikes that are far & above their abilities way too soon in the learning curve. Hell I have ridden bikes now for 25 years before I bought my first "superbike". I knew when I was younger that my ego & willpower couldnt handle a CBR1000 or FZR1000, etc. Sure you can kill yourself on an 80mph Blast, but things happen a lot slower on such a bike. Screw up on a litre bike or even an XB9 or 12 & you can be in serious trouble real fast. There is nothing wrong with riding a 250 Rebel, EX500 ninja, GS500, Blast, etc for a year or 2 to get a feel for everything. Then move up gradually. My wife had a couple years of off & on riding before I met her but it wasnt enough to convince me she was ready to ride a big bike. So enrolled her in the MSF course, bought her a Blast which she rode for over a year, then she rode my old Kawi 550 Ltd before moving up to the Yamaha Virago & finally the Harley. She knows her limits & has no urge to ride the R1 because she knows that even though she is a good rider & I trust her, the skills arent there to properly handle a bike like that right now. This woman should have had some better coaching, training, & a husband that actually cared. | ||
| Buelliedan |
I would not have let my wife get an XB as her first bike. She still has her Blast after 3 years of riding. | ||
| Thansesxb9rs |
Of course I would have talked her out of it, my girl friend wants a bike and she really likes the City-X, I told her no that if she wants to ride she will start on the Blast and once she has a little more experience then she can move up to a more powerful bike. Plus I would never ever want to make her feel she would need to catch up, I would just ride the posted speed limit even if that means it would be just her and I, but I would never have to worry about that because my riding buddies have more respect for their fellow riders, they would never ride to point that may make a newbie push their limits. Oh and the only reason she wants the City-X is because of the color and a little experience means a year or two. | ||
| Vegasbueller |
Jarhead: Not sure exactly, but within the last month from what I could gather from the folks at SBN. | ||
| Court |
All you guys who are "telling" your wives..... Tell me more about this. Sounds like an interesting and novel process.  I met my wife through motorcycling and she was a tiny person, riding a tiny TW200 and making regular trips to Baja where Chris Haines kept a tiny bike. She rides a BMW F650 now and is "XB Low Curious". Not sure I want to tell her what to ride. One of you want to call her and TELL her? | ||
| Buelliedan |
Court, I think an XB low would be perfect for her. But as you said you can't tell a women, especially your wife anything. | ||
| Buells Rule! (Dyna in disguise) |
What do you tell a woman with 2 black eyes? Nothing, you already told her twice. Note..I do not advocate hitting women, just repeating an old joke. | ||
| Bkw_bmw |
All you guys who are "telling" your wives..... Tell me more about this. Sounds like an interesting and novel process. Yes, I agree, please expound. So what do you say to the wife when she mentions she is getting tired of riding pillion on the K-Tank and would like to start riding again. "Alright!" you say - as the mind starts whirling to turn this event to one's own advantage - how about a groovy Cityx? "Cute" is the response but no real interest shown. O.K. plan B: Let's check out the new Street Rod. "Hmmm" is the response...cool, some real possibility here..."but a bit pricey, isn't it?" Damn. "You know I kinda wouldn't mind have a Yamaha like we used to own." Ah-Ha Plan C: Yammie R6 - potential track bike. But noooo, right category but way off base: Meet the wife's new bike:  Turns out she has been checking the R1's out on her own - while I was at work - for about six or eight months. Oh yeah she picked out her helmet:  BTW, Dyna, didn't you mention once that the wife would like to have - her own - busa?  | ||
| Midknyte |
What do you tell a woman with 2 black eyes? Nothing, you already told her twice. Note..I do not advocate hitting women, just repeating an old joke. hehe. Actually, on first read, I figured you'd have been the one with the two black eyes - for having "tried" to tell her... | ||
| Buells Rule! (Dyna in disguise) |
Yes she does want one.......but she just likes the looks & personally I think she gets off on saying "Busa"  She wouldnt care if it only went 60 mph. Hell she sat on the R1 started it up & I told her to take it down the street...she chickened out & wouldnt do it. My wife loves riding but she is more into the cruising slow/posing aspect than anything else. Will see what happens when I get a couple dirt bikes & convert the X1 into a track bike for her. | ||
| Uwgriz |
convert the X1 into a track bike for her. Or maybe for you to use a Blackhawk instead of the R1? | ||
| Along4theride |
I have a friend who is looking to get off the back and get her own bike. She has never driven a motorcycle, she rides a 4-wheeler around a bit but that is the extent of her expertise. She wants a 12R as her first bike. Her B-friend obviously isn't the one to 'talk her out of it' so I have been talking to her about it. I haven't TOLD her not to get it, I just pointed out that it probably will be too much bike for her. Especially since she doesn't have ANY experience. When I got into street bikes I made a plan and stuck to it. Even though I grew up on dirt bikes I took Riders Edge and then I got a Blast. I told myself I had to keep it for 1 year then I could get something bigger, which I did. The last several months of my year were hell cuz my riding ability surpassed the bike but I had made a plan with myself for safety reasons and had to stick to it. You can always get another bike, a bigger better one. It's best to start out with one you'll outgrow than one you can't handle. Sometimes it's best to have a friend 'give a woman advice' rather than try to tell her what to do. | ||
| Buells Rule! (Dyna in disguise) |
You can always get another bike, a bigger better one. It's best to start out with one you'll outgrow than one you can't handle. Yep, always can get another bike. Cant get another life if you mess this one up though. Or maybe for you to use a Blackhawk instead of the R1? You would like that wouldnt you? | ||
| Uwgriz |
It'd give me a shot anyway... My thoughts for a first bike are somthing forgiving both in terms of handling and power (none of the XBs apply here IMHO). Perhaps just as important - something that won't cause you to curl up in a ball and cry if it hits the ground, because most likely it will. Maybe something just this side of being willing to walk up to it in the driveway and knock it over just for kicks. (Message edited by uwgriz on March 04, 2005) | ||
| Buells Rule! (Dyna in disguise) |
Who wants to tell this chick her bike is too powerful for her? | ||
| Ted |
Squid. I don't want to see an 'after' pic. | ||
| Cruisin |
This is always a tough decision for me, and it really depends on who I'm riding with. With certain people we go in order of fastest to slowest, and make sure to stop every so often for everybody to catch up. We all get to have our fun and nobody has to worry about getting lost. The time we wait for the rest of the group is payment for being able to "play". This does NOT always work, though. There are times when the people I'm with feel they can keep up and out-ride themselves. I have finished a ride only to find out the person behind me has crossed over the yellow line numerous times because they were trying to keep up. Thankfully no oncoming traffic was around to cause problems. I now keep a mental log of who I can trust to ride their own speed and who I need to let lead. It might mean I don't go quite as fast as I would if I were by myself, but I don't need THAT accident on my conscience. | ||
| Midknyte |
 http://www.exackley.com/movies/crash/jackass.mpeg | ||
| M2nc |
I pulled up behind a foursome of HD's a few months back. A woman that had to be hundred pounds soaking wet was riding a new Softail Classic. We turned from one road to another at maybe 10 mph, she crossed the double yellow lines just trying to turn the bike 90 degrees. You don't have to be on a high-out bike, to be riding too much bike for you. What is wrong with a 500cc Ninja, or a VLX, or a Nighthawk or so many other good starter bikes? | ||
| Seanp |
The problem with those bikes is that they're considered "little" and "weak" by so many folks that new riders don't want to be caught on one for fear that their friends will make fun of them. I have a 500, and I have had people make comments about it, and I've learned who my real friends are and who the posers are. And I have put 4000 miles on my bike in 7 months, while a guy I know who bought a GSXR-1000 as his first bike has put maybe 800 in the same amount of time. So when it comes time for me to move up, I'll have at least 5 or 10 thousand miles under my belt, whereas the other guy, when he wants a new bike, because his is old, and has 9 horsepower less than the newest 1000, will only have about 1000 or 2000 miles... I can take a ribbing about my "little" 500, but I can still smoke most cars, so let other riders scoff. Screw 'em. My $.02 | ||
| Ethanr |
Sean, you're definitely doing it right. I put over 100K miles on 3 bikes 500-600cc before I bought my first "big" bike. (Though I waited that long because I couldn't afford one, not 'cause I didn't want one.) I've never regretted the years spent learning on smaller bikes. | ||
| Crazyhorse |
It's not the size but how you use it.  (Message edited by crazyhorse on March 05, 2005) | ||
| Kaudette |
When I first started riding street I had an old FZ 600 (after 15 years riding dirt on 250's)... I can still remember the day my uncle passed me the keys to his Gixxer 1000 and said - take her for a spin (at the time I had less than a year on the street - but had been riding for over 15 years). By the time I got around the block, I realized that although it was "fun" to see the scenery flatten in your peripheral vision when you hit the gas and the front end comes up, doing so at ~90 mps is likely a both exhilirating & life threatening activity. Imagining going out with the typical road burner crowd on that bike and trying to keep up would be insane. Sure, we all control our wrist, but it is the experience that lets you manage that wrist in percentages - 8 months, and you are still in on/off mode with the wrist - it takes a LONG time to get to the point where you are working down to the 5% gradients which is where you need to be to ride, correctly and safely, a litre bike like the CBR or otherwise. First tank slapper at 136 mph with 8 months experience - chances of survival on a 2 lane road - less than 1 in 1000... It is too bad that many people simply can't seem to appreciate the enjoyment simply riding without looking at the speedo. Best wishes for her family & friends, and RIP. |
