Need help! New rider coaching!

[WHM1]

Sit back and let here take the course. All you will do is drive yourself and her nuts.
After the course and when she starts to ride talk about riding as you would any other rider not a I teach you point of view it will go fine IMO always seems to.
My sister is small her first bike is a 2002 FB with a S&S engine beach bars and she dose just fine with it.
IMO bigger bikes are easier to ride in a lot of ways than small ones. I will never fully agree that riding some 250cc metic is easyer than a resonable mid size like a dyna or softail.
As long as she can sit well on it feet flat understand about putting foot down when stopped on lose gravel and sand she will be fine.
Good luck remember she is your girl friend not your daughter .

Gotta agree with Smitty. I found out the best thing was to let someone else teach her (plus she attended the HD rider's course) and not get rapped around the axle about it. I give her technical type tips but try and stay away from riding instruction; we are both happer for it. & my wife IS on this forum....

I also agree that you do not have to learn on a smaller bike. Sporster riders please do not get upset with me. My wife want to learn to ride and she wanted a smaller bike... I talked her into the Deluxe Softail and she learned to ride on that bike. She took the 4 day Rider's Edge course and then we did a LOT of parking lot riding. Doing the same thing over and over until it started to get boring. Then I would trailer our bikes out to some very quite back roads and rode there as much as we could. She has now been riding over 2 years with 20,000 miles on her bike and has not had an accident. We do a lot of touring and long rides and I am glad she learned on a bigger bike... makes the long rides more bearable.

 

[futurerider]

My son and I just took the MSF course. He had never driven a clutch of any kind either, he went over the bars twice within 15 minutes, the instructor took him to the side for 10 minutes and worked with him - no more senic air rides and never had another problem. I believe they were better able to instruct him than I would have been. Good luck to you and the wife

 

[NEWHD74FAN]

Well, I really cannot thank you all enough, I've read all postings and can honestly say I'm begining to be a bit more excited about this and have began to realize that this MSF class is a bit more involved than I originally thought it to be. And am looking forward to facing this with all the advise and expierences given below in a positive way and not all worked up about it like I have been the past few days. I let her read my original posting and all the replies, in between the laughing she was doing about what I had said about her, she said its so neat that you can find this kind of support from such nice people that you've never met and cannot wait to become a member and post her "new member posting". Again thank you all very much for I recieved a solid nights sleep last night!

09GLDR - glad you are warming up to this new discovery phase for your gal. Like you, I had similar misgivings converting my "soccer mom" anti-biker gal into one of us...yeah I got a whole lot of flack from both my daughters saying I was bad influence, being irresponsible and not acting my age...(funny how roles change with that one...)! :bigsmiley20: But after the MSF course and a few years of riding in, my daughters are now happy and guess what, my oldest daughter's husband now has my 93 Katana to "warm up" his skills on...he also wants to get into motorcycling, so I started him off with one of my older mountain bikes that he rides often as well, so two-wheeled sports have finally worked it's way into next generation...and now two grand children...look out for grandpa...ya gotta love it. It is a lifestyle and does take committment...but I would not have it any other way!

By the way, got her a new multispeed cruiser bike and she is loving bicycling all over again (she let our younger daughter borrow hers' and it got stolen) the 2nd year she was going to Texas U in Austin for her MBA five years ago, but she still did okay as well.

 

[175mws]

let the class do the teaching, I tried to teach a friend on her new vespa yes a vespa, GTS250ie very powerful for a scooter. needless to say she crashed it on her first ride. 1k in damage to a 6k scooter. so after she took the MSF class and failed after 4day. but that gave her a start she practiced everyday for two months now she rides to work more then most of the MC riders and loves it. so just let the class do it.

 

[Doug_09ultra]

Bottom line is she is signed up for the Riders Edge course. they typically use Buell Blasts for their classes. These are 500 cc (approx). motorcycles. The instructors are very qualified to teach the course. If she has what it takes to become a rider, (which is mostly desire) she'll be fine. Trust the course instructors. If they think she's not ready for the Dyna, they'll tell her so. I went from not being a rider to riding my Ultra as soon as I finished the course.

 

[pookibr]

Wow, I considered my sportster "easy to ride" Never ridden anything bigger than my sporty. I just knew the 2 hondas that i rode were terrible to ride. I did sit on the 883 sporty and didnt like it at all. Sat on my 1200c and loved it. It just fit me and felt good.

 

[09GLDR]

Update on original post...Well guys and gals, I must say I am truely impressed with the MSF class. On 6-14 she passed her class and for her NEVER being on a bike she has impressed me. We've just been spending time in a parking lot and in the subdivision. For me knowing her and knowing what it takes to ride one I must say that class is a must for anybody wanting to get started for the first time. She has been stoked about the whole ordeal and is staying focused on improving her skills she learned in the class, she has even corrected me on some bad habits i've developed over the years, go figure. She has also realized and accepted there is alot more to it than she originally expected and doesn't think she'll be ready to go on the road this summer, but can't wait to get home and practice every day after work so she'll be ready for next summer. And now that I'm alot more at ease about the whole thing, I am looking forward to sharing my passion for the open road with her. Again thanks to all the members who gave all the positive feedback and tips it has really helped!

 

[Joe Schmack]

.... have you considered to change the girl friend ?


JS

 

[09GLDR]

One more thing, She had me order her some 16" apes for her Dyna (she's pretty tall so they come just below her shoulders) She had me put them up until she gets better on the bike. What do ya'll think, put them on for her to learn with or wait till later?

.... have you considered to change the girl friend ?


JS

Well, lets put it this way, she just took it a step closer..

 

[The4opps1]

You could probably discuss the "big bike vs little bike" theory all day long and not arrive at a unanimous conclusion. More important, IMO, is how well she rides after taking the course. Some folks just have an innate ability to pick up something and do well in it. Yes, experience does play a role, but I'd follow the advice given and let her take the course and go from there. If she finishes the course, and feels comfortable on the bike, that's what matters.