New bike for the wife
SVinAustin said:
I am really hoping that my wife wants to keep it, at least for a little while. SHe is taking the MSF this summer and I hope she really wants to spend some time riding. Only problem is she really likes cruisers more but I think once she rides the SV she will like it.
Hmm... I am a little old fashioned here. I really don't think the SV is a good starter bike unless your wife is fairly tall (32-33" inseam min). When learning to ride, there is so much coming at you at once, it can be very intimidating. Having a bike you are not really comfortable on just compounds the issue. Beth is 5'5" and she started on a cruiser with a 25" seat height. The bike was very light. This let her focus on the new experience of being on a motorcycle and all that entails without having to worry about reaching the ground, dropping the bike in a parking lot, etc,... Also, the cruiser was not covered with expensive tupperware that could get damaged in a parking lot tipover, which did happen a few times.
Simply put, the little Virago was not intimidating. Once she worked up to the SVS, she loved it. But she told me that it would not have been so good if she had actually started on the SVS. I'm not saying it is impossible, but if your wife doesn't really go for it, try not to push her. The single most important thing about getting her into riding her own bike is to make her feel totally comfortable every step of the way. If she has a bad experience right off the bat, she may shy away and never try again.
Now I totally realize there are tons of people out there that will say I am full of crap and the the SVS would make an excellent starter bike. All I can say is, sure, for some people it would, for others maybe not.
Riding a bike for the first time involves processing a lot of sensory inputs that have never been encountered before. I'm not just talking about the speed. There is the whole feel of the bike, the position of the body, how the world looks when you are leaned over, etc,... It seems that for most people, the upright seating position of a cruiser is easier to get used to than the leaned over sportbike posture. Then there is the whole intimidation factor of being on a "sportbike"... oohhh.... aahhh... We know it is B.S., but beginners may not.
If you can find a nice cheap Virago 535, Suzuki Savage 650, Kawasaki Vulcan 500, etc,... that she likes and finds comfortable, it might be worth it to buy one, let her rack up some miles on it, then sell it for darn near what you paid for it and then move her up to a bigger bike. Beth now rides the VFR800 and loves it. Had she started on it, it would have freaked her out, she would have dropped it for sure, it would have cost us a lot of money to fix, and she probably would have gotten down on the whole riding thing. Thank God none of that happened.
buck000 said:
So what was your final set of rationale for the nice, nice bike? You know why I'm asking....
You are secretly envious...
:P