Folks, I\u2019m entering uncharted waters here so please, cut me some slack\u2026I want to kick around a few thoughts about the new \u2018female\u2019 rider. This is a title that I\u2019m not completely comfortable with, but because I\u2019m not the coldest cube in the tray, I\u2019m going to use it until someone comes up with a better one. I also need to tell you that I\u2019ve been warned. Motorgirl states that she categorically hates the idea of a \u2018female rider\u2019 title and is emphatic that we should just be \u2018riders\u2019 and forget the female moniker, I can\u2019t help but agree, however\u2026from my viewpoint there\u2019s more than just a little testosterone stinking up the thought processes here.<\/p>\n
The issues:<\/strong><\/p>\n I want to buy my wife a bike. Jeez, I\u2019m such a nice guy. Somewhere in my mind\u2019s eye I picture her cutting a perfect line on her own bike, then telling me how awesome it was and how smart I was to suggest she ride. Oh Baby! Don\u2019t ask me if I actually found out if she really wanted to ride or was honestly more comfortable as a passenger. Nope, didn\u2019t ask that one, didn\u2019t even think about it, why would I? After all, she\u2019s gotta want to ride because heck, I do! Okay, I\u2019ll take a mulligan on the assumption that she wants to ride. So what\u2019s the score here? Who cares!? I say she wants to ride and now I\u2019m on a mission, whether she likes it or not. I want to come up with the right, correct and perfect ride for \u2018her.\u2019 What the hell, I\u2019m an accomplished rider. I should know exactly what she needs! Right. First mistake. Hey, it\u2019s a guy thing.<\/p>\n At this point I have just made myself a complex problem, you could call it a hole that I just can\u2019t help but make deeper. I\u2019m sure that some therapist would view me as creating an extension of myself and in doing so, I get to gleefully stroke my own ego. I digress, back to my hole. I have my own ideas, I know exactly what I like to ride, and I know the apparel I prefer to wear. I know the options I want on \u2018my\u2019 bike. I even know the colour. If I were to apply all of that towards picking the right motorcycle out for my smarter half it would equal\u2013zero, zip, nada. Guys, do you want the truth? All of your preferences mean absolutely diddly squat when it comes to picking out a bike for your better half.<\/p>\n Us guys need to understand something here. What we think is perfect may be a complete reject for someone else, and that someone else may very well be your better half. It also can mean the difference between life and real nasty alternatives. I recently read a report of a fatal motorcycle accident not twenty kilometres from where I live. A new female rider impacted the front of a truck when she failed to negotiate a simple curve. The result? An absolutely tragic loss of life, but what was behind the scenes? A bike she wasn\u2019t comfortable on? Maybe she was riding at a pace that was beyond her skill set and no one simply slowed down to her comfort and ability zone? Who knows? The long and short is that an important and precious life is needlessly gone and that turn of events set the local sport of motorcycling on its ear, and rightfully so. Lots of people can argue that she didn\u2019t do this or do that, but I\u2019ve seen like situations that speak a different language. Hubby wants mother to ride her own. There\u2019s what you want, ride like this, and it\u2019s perfect! What\u2019s-a-matter, speed up, c\u2019mon!<\/p>\n Intimidation versus education. Big difference folks.<\/p>\n So what to do? The big point: listen. Your better half may not want a Sportster, or a Katana. She may actually have a preference that will be in flux until the time comes to pick her second bike. She may want to start with a Honda 125 or a Suzuki Hayabusa, or any point in between. She may not want to reflect your riding style or brand affiliation. Suck it up Hombre; this is what should remain as the holy grail of any new rider. Choice. If I were to say to you: \u201chere is what you will ride and you will enjoy,\u201d I may end up with you giving me the bird and rightfully so. The new rider should have the advantage of serious, honest input and the ultimate end choice.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll be straight up here; my gal actually wants to ride, to the point that I\u2019ve been getting suggestions about \u201cmy own bike,\u201d ergo, clear sailing on that point. Where I really screwed up was by making the mistake of thinking that I knew what my wife wanted to ride. It had to be low and have a comfortable riding position. Here\u2019s what I draw from\u2026I grew up on sport bikes. I love the way you sit on a Ducati, for about an hour or first speeding ticket, whatever\u2019s shorter. I factor that in. I like long haul cruisers, kind of a straight up to La-Z-Boy, Barcalounger position. Yeah, turn up the tunes dude! Factor number three: Over the last couple of years I\u2019ve been mucking about with adventure riding and am really impressed with the riding position because you can take a ton of abuse and just shrug it off. Next factor is budget. Nasty word eh? All of these factors get summed up into my decision of what \u2018she\u2019 really, really wants. What a hole. Should I stop digging? Thanks, I needed a beer anyway.<\/p>\n Some good folks from Windsor, Ontario had a bike that I thought would be the bee\u2019s knees. I put a deposit on it. Then my wife sat on a similar model. Nope, nope, double nope. Not gonna work. No way. I stand there like a deer caught in the headlights. \u201cGosh honey, are you sure?\u201d I know, stupid question.<\/p>\n If I had just presented it to her like a \u2018done deal\u2019 she would have no doubt said wonderful things about me, ridden it once and then quietly put it away\u2026forever. If I ever did manage to talk her into riding it again she would be riding a machine that she\u2019s not comfortable with and because of that she is neither confident nor safe on. Aside from the fact that even a short ride is unsafe you can see how the whole \u2018come and ride with me\u2019 kind of crumbles into some nasty shards of shrapnel and perhaps an extraordinary case of road rash\u2026if you\u2019re lucky.<\/p>\n So what to do? Rule one: Find out if your better half actually wants to ride. Rule two: Motorcycle safety course. Rule three: Sit on everything out there and keep yer trap shut unless you\u2019ve got something truly constructive to say. Rule four: You have a ton of bad habits. You know it and so do I\u2013we share a dozen or so, thus there\u2019s no burning need to pass them on to a new rider. Let the pro\u2019s do the teaching. Rule five: Accept your better half\u2019s choice with open arms and then ride at her pace. If you\u2019ve done it right you will know that after the first riding season your new, extra special riding partner will have formed a better idea of what she wants in comfort, power, options and even the colour. Hey, isn\u2019t that the same thing you did after your first year of riding? Son-of-a-gun. Weird how that works out, eh?<\/p>\n Want a perfect, extra special riding partner? Let her do what you did way back when. Educate, never intimidate and you will have that riding partner forever and a day. Guaranteed.<\/p>\n Ride Safe. Ride (very) Far!<\/p>\n Stu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Folks, I\u2019m entering uncharted waters here so please, cut me some slack\u2026I want to kick around a few thoughts about the new \u2018female\u2019 rider. This is a title that I\u2019m not completely comfortable with, but because I\u2019m not the coldest cube in the tray, I\u2019m going to use it until someone comes up with a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49613,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,1856],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n