welcome, my wife is 40, and started riding her savage a month ago, after attending the msf course. mostly she rides along side of me, for now. i can watch the road for us, as she gets more comfortable with the controls and feel of being "in the wind". have you got a riding buddy?

welcome   the backfire thing is good so times it helps u some times one night i was driving home from work when the suz let out one  there was a cat on the side of the road that cat jump 3ft in the air i laugh my tushy off
good luck in ny that where i from and my bike is from



shawn

thanks all for your imput!

I have a small property, my driveway is short and hilly.

there is a fire house down the street,  with a parking lot and some neighboorhoods not far but not possible to get to without driving on roads.

Im planning on being out there on the quietest time on the day, 9:30-ll in the morning, after the commuters are at work.  on my days off.

I wish i had more open road to practice on, im not far from vassar college and they have a farm area i would have to take small residential roads to get there with minimal traffic.  I have to get used to the mirrors, and really looking hard for traffic, not stalling in traffic and the braking on my new bike.  there are some circular neighboorhoods again i have no choice but to be on minimally one lane each way roads.

will have to learn the basics of putting gas in, etc.

so tell me when you go into a parking lot where you have to stop and get a ticket how do you let go of the clutch? netural? with foot on brake and right hand on brake?

i know so stupid, trying to figure these sorts of things out.

hey can only the saddle bags made for the s 40 fit on the bike? with the supports? do they hold much?

my teacher has been teaching for over 20 yrs she teaches the msf courses too.  the private lessons was the best way for me with my schedule, i would love to have skipped the road test i take that next week.

i have lessons for four hours this week.

2 hrs tommorow and 2 hrs on thru, then after we work a bit thru we are going to the road test site to practice.


not picking up the bike until next week my helmet comes in a day or so.

will get the owners manuel then so i can read all about the different things on the bike in advance so i know  the particulars.

my hubby is getting his liscence too and a h.d. sportster, he has more experience than me, but never offically liscenced.  so i will have someone to ride with but is there anyone out there from the hudson valley NY?

sue

starmom wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:05:

Hi Mom Yes put your bike in neutral. Use either brake to hold the bike. Probably the front brake so you can put both feet down while doing your business. If you're on a hill you will need to switch to holding the bike with your back/foot brake because you will eventually have to apply some throttle to take off so you will want to free up your right hand. Use the rear when taking off on hills anytime.

Regarding fueling - keep your petc0ck in the "ON" position all the time. Practice switching to reserve from the seated position without looking. This is what you'll have to do if you run out of gas on the main tank while riding. Keep track of your miles after filling your tank full. Stop and refuel at 100 - 125 miles. Probably 100 or less to give your butt a break

Congrats on your new S40...I've been riding for decades and love our little thumper..she's forgiving and enjoyable to ride.  My wife took the MSF and got her license last year but didn't get much saddle time in before her Yamaha Vision became a parts bike for mine.  So two weeks ago we bought our first S40.  Wifey crashed it in practice..lol...fixed it back except for a couple dents in the tank and some road rash on her arm.  We pick up a red one for her this weekend.  She'll continue to get her skills up on mine, since it's already been dinged.  It happens....maybe not to everyone, but if it does, remember bikes can be fixed or replaced, and wear your safety gear at all times...even for slow speed practicing!  

As far as the backfiring....there are alot of fixes posted in the forum for it.  I've noticed that mine only seems to backfire when using the motor to help slow the bike.  It's an old habit and most riders do use that method to help slow th bike. But, if you don't want to hear the backfire, you can also just engage the clutch, slow the bike with brakes only (while shifting down to an appropriate gear) until you stop or get to the desired speed, then reengage the clutch.  Seems to work with mine.