The riding bug is biting my wife pretty hard. She has been looking at new and slightly used Sportsters. She's never ridden (although she is an excellent passenger). I'm more than a little concerned but I suppose that's natural. We've agreed that we're not even going to entertain the thought of buying her a bike until she takes and successfully completes a rider safety course. Any advice from guys that have gone through this?

 

Don't do it. My wife wanted to ride, took the course, did great. She just had to have a Fatboy, it has 1300 miles on it and we have had it 3 years. She wants to sell it and ride with me.

 

Good idea about the safety course. I would consider a Dyna before a Sporty; my first big bike was a Dyna and it is more stable than a Sporty. You also might want to consider a smaller, used bike that she won't freaq if she drops it a time or two.

 

Well, I bought my wife a Heritage and she loves it. She got her endorsement last spring and didn't like my XL1200, as passenger or as rider. But she just loves her Heritage. She's put on quite a few miles (about 5K) and can now really ride the hell out of the thing.

We go on a lot of in-state trips together. We're both happy. I like my bike and don't like riding 2-up. My wife likes hers. And so we ride more together.

 

I know this is a Harley forum and all....but man, I'd get her a cheaper rice burner to start with. A Savage, an M50/C50, Vulcan...the list goes on. But I wouldn't go spending the cash on a new/used Harley until she was absolutely positive she was gonna love it. Has she taken the MSF course where she gets to learn on a 250cc? Even those are excellent "learning" bikes.

 

get her something small so she can turn around in the kicthen

 

+1

 

get her something big, something she's not used to...like kolni.

 

For some reason she really digs the Sportsters. She admits that she's a little scared of the weight of the "big" bikes. I've tried to tell her how much happier she wouldultimately be on a Deluxe or maybe a Lowrider. She won't hear it. Tried to tell her that Sporty's aren't really starter bikes, they tend to be top heavy. She doesn't care. Tried to tell her we should look at less expensive used bikes...nada. LOL, did I mention she can be stubborn??? She makes good money and wants a newer bike if she's going toget anything at all. I admit, I like the idea of having a Sporty in the garage next to the Ultra, but for entirely selfish reasons!! Honestly, the idea of her getting hurt on a bike scares the crap out of me.

 

Haah!

Touche'