By way of reference, wife is 45. Two years ago she rode a bicycle in company with that Armstrong guy.  Long ride, very nice.  She's an excellent rider.  Then had her face bashed in and ligaments in hands torn in a dog caused wreck.  Minor brain damage.  Now has most feeling back, but still has numb face and some short term memory loss.

Then this year, crashed our scooter at about 30 mph.  

So she's got some issues with two wheels.

Has ridden the back before, short distances.  Maybe 30 miles today and she really figured out how to get into it.  Relaxed, had a good exciting time.  Challenging for me, riding slow enough!!!  But it was fine.  Got up to 47 mph.  

Wondering how well the S40 will really double on longer rides.  If she likes this.  Maybe I would need to get a bigger bike.  What think you, the assembled mass of 650 single experts?

She was OK with maybe heading up to the Tallassee store tomorrow.  Perhaps I'll run her up to the overlook on 129 ("Dragon").  Funny that our local road has become famous!

i just got my wife on recently.  she had never been on a motorcycle before 2 weeks ago - i'm starting slow taken a couple short rides- hoping she'll get addicted

i wouldn't mind getting her a bike of her own if she wants - have to be a rebel  250 so i won't feel threatened!  

as far as power i thought the 650 did fine, we haven't been over 60 2 up, though

I've had a fair amount of experience riding 2-up until Shar got sick earlier in the year and is unable to walk without the use of a cane let alone ride.

I had no problem on 2-up short rides with her on the Savage. She eventually took the course and got her mc license with the intention of getting her own bike. Then she got sick and hasn't been on a bike since last year.

But, back to the case in point; The Savage was fine 2-up for short hauls of under 100 miles. Any longer and it starts to hurt. It hurts me, Shar and everything on the bike works a lot harder 2-up. Brakes, clutch, shocks and loss of speed. So, I've been riding solo most of the year and have become convinced that this bike is best ridden that way. Actually, I was asked to give one of Shar's friends a ride home a couple of weeks ago, and noticed immediately how hard the bike was working 2-up. What a difference!

I'm still looking for an Intruder. Either a 1400 or 1500cc because I do enjoy riding with Shar and want her (and me and the bike) to be comfortable. It's killing her not being able to ride and looking out the window watching me take off is not making her feel any better. I figure with an Intruder, she would be comfortable enough to sit for a few hours, especially the Intruder 1500 LC. I'll keep the Savage, but will have a bigger bike for 2-up and long haul riding soon. Actually I'm playing e-mail tag with someone who has a '96 1400 for sale, but he's asking too much for it. It needs a lot of work. The search continues.

I have had no issues riding 2up on my bike.  My wife is 5', 120 and i'm 5'11, 170 we have gone on 100 mile trips and have gotten up to 80mph with some slight pushing but 65-70 was no problem.  My wife's butt was numb after 40-50 miles but overall it is possible to ride 2-up.

My wife's seat has extra padding installed.  Not the bike's seat . . .

I doubt we'll run long distance.  Might run up to the overlook on the Dragon today, maybe 60 mile RT.  Most at moderate speeds.  Will see how she does!  And how I do.  I get tired after 100 miles anyway.

Should be interesting.

I'd considered the Vulcan and V Strom both.  V Strom looks great to me!

Harley Dyna Wide Glide looks good, too, but $$$$$$

My wife is always on the back of our savage her main complaint is that the sissy bar is too low and jabs in her back, strangely we've covered 150 mile distances and she hasn't complained about the seat, I don't think I'd last 5 minutes before getting off and hitching a lift.....

For me riding yes the front end does feel lighter, but worse I do notice the lack of power when say pulling out from a side road but the bike handles well whilst on the open road and has enough grunt to keep up with the harley guys when we scoot down to the coast on a Sunday.. And they can sure hear us coming since I knocked the baffle out of my slashcut... All in all I'll be getting something bigger next year for the both of us and keep the savage for my daily hack..

All up with gear, we're probably 380 lbs including tools etc.  That's about all I'd think about carrying.  

I tried a 100 pound person and hardly noticed anything!  But my wife would like object to me acquiring a regular 105 blond surrogate  . . . .  

I'll eventually get a fork brace and other goodies.  Money is just tight still.  At least the bike is cheap to run!

How 'bout putting her on the front?



We rode about 40 minutes up into downtown Kansas City for a meet-up with a group of pro/semi-pro photographers my wife is a part of.  They loved the bike and started taking pics.  It was my wife's first time on a bike in about 9 years.  She loved it, too, but after the ride home, complained her butt hurt.  Now she wants her own Savage.