Wife's new bike

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nofreeride

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 16, 2008
Messages
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Location
McMinnville, OR
Tax return and annual bonus, time to do my favorite thing besides riding motorcycles, and that's buying motorcycles (close 3rd is buying accessories).

Wife didn't have a bike, so it's her turn. She had liked the GS500F ever since she sat on one at the Seattle show. And I've been trying to talk her into a bigger bike.

We didn't go down to Cycle Country in Salem, OR on Saturday to buy a bike, just to look at a couple that I had seen on their website. The prices that were listed were quite a bit more than what you can find used from a private party. I wanted her to try the NightHawk 750, which is a standard with a relatively low seat height. She didn't like it: too big, too heavy, too tall.

They had an '07 Suzuki GS500F with 5,000 miles on it. As good as new, but for $4000, we could probably get something nicer, maybe even a Ninja 650R. We told the sales guy we were shopping for bikes under $3000 (which we were) and that we had an appointment to see another bike in about an hour (which we did). Well, he had to ask the question "If I could get you this bike for $3000, would you buy it today?" I said, "Look, I don't want to do a lot of back and forth here, but if we could get it for $3000, that would be a pretty good deal. If not, we really want to look at some other bikes." He did disappear and come back, saying his manager was busy. He said he didn't think they could do $3000, how about $3300? I repeated, "We really don't have time to do a lot of back and forth here. If you can sell it for $3000, we'll ride it home today. If not, we'll do some more looking." He left. I took a phone call outside, and when I came back my wife was sitting with the sales guy, laughing. "Come over here", she told me. "He says $3050". I said, "Yeah, I guess you can have the 50 bucks." She says to him, "That's your commission, right?".

We had to pay licensing on top of that, of course, but here she is:

2257187140103318019oedXee_ph.jpg


(photo is the actual bike, but from the dealer's website)

It was pouring rain and my wife wanted me to ride it home. I had brought only my jacket, gloves, and helmet. No rain gear or pants. My jeans were soaked through and my manhood was shriveled beyond recognition (from the cold rain, not from the sissy 500).

She seems to be a fine bike. There's a lot of hard work and heavy breathing above 80mph, though. We will probably get a taller screen and some luggage.

The wife's happy, and you know how important that is!

 
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:D just picking..sometimes those hosting sites are hell to link to. Nice looking bike, the silver is a good color for that style.

 
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Congrats to the missus! I freaking love GS500s (I like the old E better, though :p ). It's a damn wonderful bike, handles like a puppy, and should treat her great for years and years. A few things I've picked up having had a couple: If it won't run well over 80 mph, put the fuel cock on "prime." The vacuum valve is just restrictive enough to keep the bike from getting enough fuel. Also, it probably won't do 100 mph with bags on it. Ever. It'll squeak out 110-115 indicated but it's not really worth the effort of getting it up there. ;)

 
Nice little crotch rocket ya got there, Actually, I just got my pic/avatar thingy working and wanted

to see if it shows up...

I wanted to get my wife the sweet Yamaha 250 V-Twin, and then build a mini XR-750 flat tracker outta it, but she still can barely keep her Honda Ruckus up, had the Ruckus 18 months, and its got

62 miles on it, mostly around the house and down our lane, good thing its got an automatic shift tranny, she rides like a granny!

FWFE!

 
i don't want to be too nosey, but how tall is your wife? A friend of mine, of the female persuasion, is looking. She's all of 5' on a good day. We've been scouring websites, reading reviews, but haven't gone out to sit on bikes.

She's had a 250 ninja in the past, but wants something she can ride all day (ninja was not that comfy)

 
i don't want to be too nosey, but how tall is your wife? A friend of mine, of the female persuasion, is looking. She's all of 5' on a good day. We've been scouring websites, reading reviews, but haven't gone out to sit on bikes.
She's had a 250 ninja in the past, but wants something she can ride all day (ninja was not that comfy)
My wife is 5' 5". See Here for my previous discussion of Sport Touring Motorcycles for Women. You mainly want to look at the specs for seat height around 30" or less, then sit on a bunch of bikes, then look at possibilities for lowering the bike by way of seat, rear links, etc. The stock setup for the GS is about right for my wife.

 
i don't want to be too nosey, but how tall is your wife? A friend of mine, of the female persuasion, is looking. She's all of 5' on a good day.
My wife is 5'1" and had her GSF500 lowered with "dog bones" (I don't know if that's the right description) and it suited her just fine. She's now riding a factory lowered BMW F800ST and loves it.

 
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