Opinions on motorcycle choice for wife?

The Suzuki or the virago? Or both?

Neither of them seemed to be a problem for me, but I admit I wasn't
scraping the road.

 

havent ridden the Suzuki but the virago is a little long in the wheelbase
and has
SFA in regards to ground clearance so scrapes very easily

they are an ok cruiser but not a great learner machine IMHO

 

... and I knew it too :-/

 

In aus.motorcycles on Mon, 18 Sep 2006 13:07:48 GMT

Indeed

So make a fancy looking gift certificate, and have a list of all the
2nd hand bike places with you, and a couple of spare saturday
mornings.

By the time she's done the course she'll have an idea of what the
bikes she used there are like, so she's got a baseline.

Ring around the shops maybe, finding out what is in stock. Get her to
sit on every learner legal bike there is, because it's amazing what
other people like! You might think she won't like a certain bike but
she might surprise you.

Zebee

 

Spare Saturday mornings! There ain't no such thing!

true, very true

Cool, so I get the surprise now.

Thanks for your thoughts.
David

 

That, in my opinion, is leaning perhaps a little too far the other way...

I've got quite a lot of experience with Spada's both falling over and
actually properly crashing (both under my lack-of-control, and at the
hands of others). I've never damaged a radiator, frame, or engine cover
(and I doubt I'd ever have damaged an oil cooler if they had one).
You're pretty much guaranteed to damage indicators, and to bend or break
clutch or front brake levers (depending on which side it falls). If they
fall hard, they'll bend or break a clipon - in bad cases that can
sometimes dent the tank, I managed that once at Lemming Corner, a friend
of Teddie's manages it on the way into Kangaroo Valley - both
medium-speed crashes, where the front end washed out on a slow
(25-35kmh) corner.

I'm pretty convinced the accepted wisdom of "faired bikes cost more to
fix when you drop them" is true enough, the only noticable exception
being where you're capable of repairing (or bodging) fairing panels and
mounts yourself, and you aren't fussy enough to insist on repainting and
re-stickering when the fairings get scratched up. A pre-crashed and
scratched up GPX250 or ZZR250 isn't going to be any more expensive to
repair back to "scratched up" state that a naked bike, but putting a
super pretty babyblade back to showroom condition after you forget to
put the sidestand down one day _is_ going to be expensive...

big

 

My wife's 1st bike was a 10year old Suzuki GS500E. Cheap to buy, cheap
to run, cheap to maintain and they hold their value. The engine is
pretty much bullet proof and compared to the 250cc it was a lot more
comfortable when sitting at 100km/h on longer rides due to lower revs.

 

The GS500(E) does look good, although maybe difficult to find one that
fits the budget. Oh well, haggling can be fun!
Thanks
David

 

I waited and waited and waited and said what the hell is going on here

I blame Phillip Island

 

I had the same reaction to the first faired bike I rode - it felt
REALLY weird not being able to see the front wheel turn.

JL

 

Yes, I agree. When the ute reversed into my bike and knocked it onto its
RHS, the only damage (and there was a lot of damage) that a fairing
*might* have prevented was a $200 alternator cover. The fairing repair
would have been heaps more than that. I think Nev.. is right when it
comes to a high-speed off, but most LAMS riders don't have those kind of
events.

 

huh there is 3 types of noobie crashes

sub 10 KPH carpark, driveway etc
sub 40KPH your roundabout , around the burbs corners
and your throw it away undera guyard rail/in the bush destroy most of the
fairings

 

Well, fairy nuff, but in my (fortunately second-hand) experience, the
first two dish out much the same damage.

 

Ours fitted in your budget, cost a whole $3300. My wife rode it from
Brisbane to Tassie and back and in the 3 weeks and 6000km+ on the road
it needed a new battery, clutch lever (don't ask), and set of tyres
(tyres cost less than my bike's rear tyre). The other option was the
Kawasaki ER-5.

Good luck, and shoot anybody who suggests you get a bike to bike
intercom system cause two bikes is the only way to tour with the better
half.

 

its funny , quite often the zero kph drop with crack farings , smash mirrors
and brake levers ,foot pegs due to the gravity and sudden stop from a
decent height

where quite often the 2nd low side will often just result in a bit of a
scuffed up
bike and be picked up and ridden away as it lay down gently and goes for a
bit of
a slide

 

is she cute? she can ride me if she likes