LANCER wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:09:


I beg to differ with Lancer.
No girl should need help making up her own mind, especially on something semi-major like this. That is dooming you (roscowgo) to failure, because you will NEVER know her mind, and as an added bonus she is giving you mixed messages.

It appears she wants you to do all the work and then she thinks she can have all the fun afterward. You gonna take tha MSF for her too?  ???

You deserve the same respect from her that you give to her. You've been helpful, and she's not been appreciative.  Sounds like she is not being honest with HERSELF, let alone you, so you get the wishy-washy behavior.

Anything else you wanna know about girls, ask us ladies on the forum. WE appreciate you guys!  

well thats kinda the thing.    If i point her toward something bike related.....i get...... wah wah wah (charlie brown teacher noises)

If i sit back and mind my buisness i get bombarded with bikebikebikebike!   I'm certainly not pushing her.    To tell you the truth, the half arsed stuff scares me spitless.    What if she decides she "just doesnt care" right before a smacktard in an SUV pulls out in front of her.


To the earlier post about her wanting me to do all the work, and she gets all the fun....that was my take on it too.     And the reason i told her that i'd gladly go look at a bike she finds, or give her some ideas about a beginner bike. But that i wasnt gonna do her dirty work for her.    


I do agree about never knowing her mind though. I gave up on that while asking for her to hand me a wrench and she made some comment about tulips.

SavageWahine wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:09:


I agree - if she's that flaky OFF a bike, it is not going to be any better once she gets one.  

There one guy here not to long ago got a savage for his significant other that went to waste.

She took the MSF course but I think dropped out cause she couldn't get out of 1st.  She could put along in 1st but as soon as she went faster she would panic and crash into something.

So, have her take the course.  Find out if she's got what it takes and likes it.  Then get a bike for her.  otherwise it's a waste.

Roscowgo, geez, tell her to quit whining & take the MSF course.  If she's still not sure, tell her to take the course a second time or to see if there are some private lessons available.  One other thought, have you by any chance shown her some of the bigger scooters or even some of the automatic motorycycles like the Q-Link?  I'm not questioning her riding / shifting abilities but I know some riders who prefer the simplicity of riding that way.

I don't mean to be overly harsh but i'm with the other women here.  She needs to make her own decision on whether this is right for her or not.

I am an MSF insructor.In my experience sometimes it's better if you don't take the course with her.But everyone is different.Believe me(1) no one will be watching her, they are to busy looking to where that shifter or brake pedal made off to.(2)Most people taking the course are newbies.I have yet to see students make fun of each other.It's usually the other way around,they try to encourage each other.Sometimes too much because they will go to each other rather than a ridercoach with questions.    Good luck

For what its worth - I will share my thoughts.  I bought a "first bike" (a Suzuki VZ800 Marauder) this past April.  My wife LOVED it and wanted to share it with me, which I was more than happy to do.  We already had our learner's permits from the DMV before we took the MSF class, so we rode it just a little bit around the block and in some vacant parking lots down the street from our house.  I found it to be a handful and the misses was a little bit scared of it.  After the MSF class I quickly became comfortable on it but my wife did not take the class with me (mostly because we couldn't get our schedules worked out). She took the class a few weeks later.  During the time between my MSF class and hers, she almost dropped the Marauder in the street and it scared her pretty bad.  She told me in no uncertain terms that she was NOT going to ride that bike - it was just too heavy and cumbersome (she is a small girl).

I was really bummed, but I didn't pressure her.  I waited a couple of days and then told her that I would buy her something smaller if she still wanted to ride (I knew she did).  That weekend, we were off to go look at Rebels.  Try as they might, the Honda sales people could not get her to warm up to the Rebel.  She said it just felt like a toy (too small and too light).  I was bummed again - BUT there was this beat-up, nasty looking Savage on their lot and we walked over to try it out.  She tossed it back and forth a couple of times, turned to me and said "this is my bike".

Since we couldn't possibly work a deal on that Savage (it really was a mess), I started looking for a better one (my wife sometimes likes to let me do the dirty work, too).  I found a couple more that we passed on (just not the right deal) and then I found one.  It is a 2003 and it had 2300 miles on it.  I paid $3000.00, including tax and dealer fees (UGH) and I kept it in my neighbors garage for a couple days before giving it to her on her birthday.  After she took the MSF class, she tried the Marauder again and now she wants it!!!  So now I guess I have to decide what I am going to ride next.  It may be her Savage!

The point of this long story -

I would recommend that SHE decide on a bike AFTER she's completed the MSF class.

I would not pressure her into doing anything - not even the MSF class.  If she wants to ride, she will make the move.  You go and take the class without her if she isn't ready.  I think it is better that way anyhow.

It is reallly very barbaric and incomprehensible, but it is true that salesMEN very often do not take women seriously when they go to buy a vehicle.  You might try to find a dealer that has some female sales people.  There are a few around here (so I am sure you can find some wherever you are) and they treated my wife like "one of the girls" when we shopped there.  She was definitely more comfortable in that situation.  The salesWOMEN we met were also riders and so they could empathize with my wife's concerns better than even I could.  They may even inspire your girl to get the show on the road.

If you look around, you will find yourself an LS650 - they are fantastic bikes for smaller people, and they are pretty common.  If you let this one go, you'll find another - possibly even better - deal when the time is right.

Good luck to you.