I know this is a Harley forum, but my wife has seen the new Ridley automatic transmission bikes and is hounding me to look into them. Has anyone had or heard experiences with these bikes.

 

I've checked them out (online) for my sweetie. Her take? "But it's not a Harley" She learns fast.

Good luck!

 

They look like a ton o' bucks for what they are... As much as any name-brand bike and all they offer is the auto...

Assuming I ever get another girlfriend (or, gasp, wife), I'd rather teach her to shift and put her on something of the same size for $5K less...

 

I ran into one this summer on a poker run here in NY. While they do look kind of cool, that's the best I can say for it. It was one of their 750 models (738cc) with the automatic. It sounded damn awful and accelerated like an electric wheelchair. The woman that was with the dude on the Ridley was riding 15-year old Kawi with an even older Windjammer faring and that thing blew the Ridley off from a standing start. It was quiet and the transmission would not allow it to accelerate very fast. They now make an X88 series, 1450 cc. (gee wat a coincidence!) can't say how that is.

 

i know someone with one..kinda nothing to them in my opinion. small pipes no character. the auto trans can get the woman out to ride with you if thats what you want.

a woman riding seems ok to me but id rather see her on a sporty.

a man on a ridley to me is like a teenager riding a tricycle.

 

I used to ride an automatic - not a ridley, but a scooter (vespa). It took about 20 mins to learn clutch control when I got my Harley, and I really wouldn't say an automatic is worth the money, nor the extra mechanical hassle. Its not like you get to let go of a handlebar when riding or anything, you still need both hands to steer (unlike in a car), if its anything like my Vespa was set up, you had both hands being used for the brakes, so again, no gain. Unless you have an aversion to the use of your feet while riding. I mean, you are still going to have to put them down at stops, but I guess, you could leave them up on highway pegs while shifting. Although the lack of movement will only lead to saddlebutt in a much quicker timespan....

You also don't need any more coordination than being able to ride a bike or drive a car, so again, no advantage there.

Having said that, I would imagine that for someone with a disability, perhaps preventing being able to use the shifter on the foot, that would be a great advantage for them to have an automatic.

What is it she finds so appealing about having an automatic?

 

A friend's wife bought an 883 sportster two years ago. She only rode it about 1200 miles the two years she had it. Said it didn't ride good. They stumbled across the Ridley at a bike show here in the midwest. She rode it around the fair grounds and loved it, so they bought it. It sound good (my opinion) and my friend told me it keeps up on the interstate at 70 mph but there isn't much left after that. However, it's slow on take off (maybe because it's an automatic) and I doubt if it will run much faster the 75 -80 mph and it isn't a Harley.