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How long did it take you...

Coastal Coyote

Coastal Coyote

~bound~
Joined
Jun 2, 2008
Location
Boston, MA
Moto(s)
K1200RS
Name
Pieter
BARF perks
AMA#: 2852405
...to get your significant other to start riding with you? My wife doesn't ride and did not like riding 2UP on my old Honda Sabre or VFR. She's tall (5'10") and the seating position was just too cramped for her.

I've had the R1100S for just over a week and we've already gone on 2 rides together. She says she's much more comfortable on this bike, and has asked that we take the bike when we go out on a date in the future as well.

/kewlstorybrah

:ride
 
Never.

I love anything on two wheels and my wife doesn't like riding on anything with two wheels. So we compromise and I ride alone and she goes to craft fairs and other things I would not enjoy attending. It's okay if you don't enjoy all of the same things.

Actually, I did get her to ride out to Livermore with me last fall when they had the Triumph truck, to see how she would like riding on some of the big cruisers, like the Thunderbird 1600. She liked being a passenger on my KTM better than on a Thunderbird. I think she rode with me to the top of Mt. Diablo too, back in 1997 or 1998. It's not worth making a big deal about it.
 
My ex wife loves to ride and digs my new Harley :rofl

She's a great passenger and only weighs like 105# (she's available:laughing)
 
Yeah I definitely haven't pushed the issue over the years. Can't really force someone to enjoy something if they just don't. I'm just happy she seems to be changing her mind.
 
My wife went on my first two-up ride with me a few months after I got my SV650. She enjoyed the ride, but hated the seating position. Several months after that, I traded the SV for a VFR, and she was hooked. She probably has more pillion miles and track time then quite a few people on here.

It's taken a few years of pushing and prodding, but she finally has her license and the EX-250, though she doesn't ride it much. She still prefers to just sit on the back of my bike...
 
I'm still working on the significant other part. If she doesn't ride already or have a strong interest in it, I'll probably be dead or past the age where I can ride myself by the time I convince her.
 
The late wife used to hang out with an east side m/c club, and she wanted to ride, but she could never afford to buy the bike she felt comfortable on until the month before she died; she never got to ride.

The girlfriend has a motorcycle bigger and more powerful than the two of mine put together.
 
After 5 years of crash free riding (excluding a track day wadding), my wife warmed to the idea of riding 2 up. So I rented a Bonnie for a weekend and we had a great time. A few months later I rented a BMW 1150 and we had a great long weekend touring with friends. A month ago I was offered a great deal on an Aprilia Caponord - and she suggested I get it. Now its my wife who suggests going away for weekend tours. :thumbup

For my wife it took two things 1) crash free riding and 2) a "sensible bike"

So now my R1 is pretty much my track day bike :thumbup
 
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We went through MSF together - in the 7 years since then, it's been me trying to drag him out to do something other than commute on the bike...he's finally realizing that something other than commuting is actually fun.

But I can understand not wanting to ride pillion all the time - I absolutely can't stand it, but how to convince someone to try riding? Not sure...
 
Haven't ridden 2-up with the lady because a) I don't feel comfortable with the idea yet and b) I've heard that Monsters are not comfy for the pillion, hence why I removed the passenger pegs.

She does, however, want to get her M1 eventually, but is acutely aware of the dangers. Actually, she was rearing to get her M1 years ago until her best friend almost had to get her leg amputated due to an accident. Now she says if she does get it, she'll only do group rides for a cause and might get a Can-Am Spyder so she can feel safer. I'm all for whatever she chooses.
 
At the beginning of our relationship, my girlfriend loved to ride on the back of my bike; she couldn't get enough. However, as the crashes have added up over the years, she has been becoming more and more reluctant to get on. I think I have until my next crash, and then she's off for good.

And no, I haven't crashed with anyone on back.
 
It took my girlfriend a year to get on my bike. A year later we were married. A year later she had her own bike.
 
Took my wife on one ride about 15 years ago. Scared the crap out of her and we never rode together again. I was running a brisk pace down 9 and she was freaking out in her helmet the whole way but didn't make it known to me until we stopped. Thought about riding with me again, but then we had kids and agreed that we would never be on a motorcycle together again until our kids were fully grown.
 
Leave your SO off the bike then. Why ruin a good thing. It's your "alone time."
 
SO has been riding since he was 13. We started riding 2-up as soon as I moved in with him. Right now we do not have a comfy 2-up bike, and I am not able to ride solo right now. I can't wait until I am stronger and can ride with him. We might even borrow a friend's beemer and go for a loong ride together.
 
I think I waited two years before I let my wife get on the back. I wanted to make sure that I was comfortable with riding before I had her ride with me. Even then we had a little mishap: a 0 mph tip-over while trying to make a tight u-turn. Hurt my pride, hurt her ankle (when the bike came down on it), but it has not deterred her.

In my case, I was reluctant to let her get on before I was ready. I'm not sure how it would be if she weren't interested and I wanted her to. I think you just have to let her come around to it on her own. You can't force it on her. If she wants to, she will. In the meantime, just enjoy your time on the bike.
 
Pretty cool to hear the stories from the ladies. The majority of the "convince your SO to ride" stories I have heard are guys whining about the women in their lives that don't ride.

My wife will get on the back of the old Triumph I own, but she has no interest in the newer sportbikes. Doesn't bother me, as these days my sportbike is my trackbike, and she's either watching or in the pits.

This all reminds me of a gal that posted up on craigslist years back about wanting to ride passenger on a motorcycle, but her riding boyfriend recently left her. I replied, told her to be at x spot at y time, helmet on. We rode in the hills for a few hours, I dropped her off where I picked her up. We never saw each other's faces, but we had a great time.
 
What significant other?











(Any SO of mine can ride his own damn bike!)
 
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