135 lb female follow-up report

[oldryder]

I posted last year asking if I could reasonably expect my daughter to handle the FJR as we take an annual X-country cycle trip and she was finally old enough to rider her own bike.

Got a lot of good advice, most important turned out to be lowering kit.

Anyway I graduated her from 250 Ninja (great learner bike she rode last year) to an old GS750 and then my "big bikes" (ZRX1200 and also TL1000R). The TLR in particular is a relatively heavy bike.

She also got a couple sessions track time (advanced riding instruction) on an SV650. IMHO the track time was extremely valuable as it taught her to "look thru turns" and also acquainted her with just how sharply you can turn a bike with proper technique. both are excellent survival skills for street riding.

So now she can handle the FJR with no problem and it not at all intimidated. The lowered seat height helps a lot!

 

[TCMike]

That's awsome that she can handle the feej. Sounds like you worked up to in a good order. Enjoy the ride!

 

[GunMD]

Good to hear. I am thrilled that you took so many steps to "do it right". More people should follow your approach in an effort be as safe as possible. Enjoy the ride.

 

[majicmaker]

That's awsome!! :good:

 

[CAJW]

Good Job! Your story is such a contrast to the typical ones I hear in my MFS classes on why they are there. The story line more often than not from my female students is "my boyfriend/husband bought me a full dress Harley and it's sitting in the garage waiting for me to learn how to ride it". I really like your example of transistioning up through progressively larger bikes MUCH better!

 

[oldryder]

thx for comments.

personally I think people that try to teach someone to ride on a heavy bike (no matter what is is) are making a big mistake. There are enough things for a new rider to master without adding in the techniques a smaller person needs to manage a heavy motorcycle.

whenever I hear a new rider (no matter what size they are) has gotten a big new bike (usually a harley) I always asked "have you dumped it yet?" the answer is almost always "yes" accompanied by a sheepish look and some comment about how expensive the repairs are.

 

[Mcgyver74]

Whenever anyone asks me what a good first bike is, (Depending on the person's stature) I usually recommend something like a Duc Monster 600 or older 750,, both can be docile enough that they won't bite a beginning rider yet can handle VERY well as the rider advances. Also, Duc's are pretty cool to look at and sound pretty nice (Monster is a wet clutch, no coffee can full of marbles sound there ).....

I've met a few people over the years who have gone in for more bike then they should have initially and were fine. It's not that you CAN'T learn to ride on a Full Dresser or Wing, but it is much harder to do. Heck I've met people who learned to ride on a Connie successfully. but why do that to yourself, I learned basic clutch and brake control on an old Yamaha MX100 dirt bike, and my first street bike was a 79 Honda CX500, followed by an 83 Honda V45 Sabre and then the Concours, it was a good progression for me and allowed me to learn the important stuff (swerving, hard braking etc) without having to also worry about steering a big heavy bike...

Just my 0.02

 

[DrFaulken]

135 pounds? GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY I bet that bike moves with her on it

Kudos to her riding the FJR. It is a lot "smaller" feeling than I expected, especially compared to BMW's K1200LTE monstrosity. After your list of her riding experience I am impressed, but not surprised, that she is riding the bike so well thus far.

 

[airboss]

Shh!, want to keep that under your hat. Daugther been Casting glances at my FJR

 

[Silver Penguin]

So now she can handle the FJR with no problem and it not at all intimidated. The lowered seat height helps a lot!

That is great news. Congratulations to her, and well done to you. I'm still a bit intimidated by my lowered FJR, but my inseam is unusually short. You're so right about the confidence progression with smaller bikes. Hope your daughter continues to ride safely, confidently and have fun.

 

[dsmack]

I love a story with a happy ending!

If everyone took as much care and forethought in helping their kids learn how to ride, there would be considerably less unfortunate statistics about beginning riders. The way you approached her training, with appropriate upgrades in weight and HP as she progressed, nearly guaranteed success!

Good for your being a caring and intelligent Dad, and most especially good for her for taking time to do it right! She will no doubt be a lifetime rider, who will enjoy her confidence and skill set that you helped her achieve. Doesn't get any better than that!

Don

 

[krashdragon]

Whoo hoo!

Good for both of you!

while I loved my slammed FJR, it's not the riding that bothered me with it, that was the easy part...it was the little stuff like slippery spots at gas stations, oily blacktop at stop lights on very hot streets, little stuff like that.....especially on a trip and riding while tired....yeah, I know I shouldn't do that, but...<BG>

Hope she has LOTS of fun with the FJR! It's a great bike....

Short inseams suck! <LOL>

Take care and ride safe!

mary

 

[Silver Penguin]

Whoo hoo!Good for both of you!

while I loved my slammed FJR, it's not the riding that bothered me with it, that was the easy part...it was the little stuff like slippery spots at gas stations, oily blacktop at stop lights on very hot streets, little stuff like that.....especially on a trip and riding while tired....yeah, I know I shouldn't do that, but...<BG>

Hope she has LOTS of fun with the FJR! It's a great bike....

Short inseams suck! <LOL>

Take care and ride safe!

mary

Couldn't have said it better myself, Mary!

 

[johnny80s]

It's great when your kids share your hobbies.

 

[DELETE-PLEASE]

Short inseams suck! <LOL>
mary

Short inseams and the bikes getting taller and taller. GREAT combination for us "less" than average height males, or even worse, the "average" height female!!! I mean they're cutting out the average height of an entire gender! more than 1/2 of the people on the earth!!! C'mon R&D!
Alexi

 

[oldryder]

Did our "warm-up" trip this past weekend.

Daughter rode the lowered FJR 400 miles on Sat to green Bay and 400 mile return on Monday. No problems.

I'm still teaching her little tricks like compressing the front suspension to get the bike moving backwards and I may replace the corbin seat for the big X-country trip. The corbin always gave me a sore butt after about 2 hours and it did the same to her. (I was hoping it'd be OK for her.)

 

[Panman]

I remeber your post and asking that, glad you took her thru the learning curve the right way.

My 25 year old son is now considering getting into riding, he is 6' 6" and I'm thinking of starting him out on a KLR.

 

[oldryder]

"he is 6' 6" and I'm thinking of starting him out on a KLR"

good idea to keep it light even for a big guy. problem for him will be finding a "small" bike with enough leg room. KLR should be a good choice as the adventure bikes have high seat heights and plenty of room between seat and pegs.

good luck. if you have a local opportunuity for "advanced riding instruction" its well worth the time and a great deal of fun. the ones we went to were like track days complete with instructors except there is no passing allowed in turns so most of the potential for crashes is eliminated except for what a rider does to himself (or herself).

learning to turn a bike correctly is lots of fun and may save your life someday when you come around a turn and the oncoming pick-up pulling a boat is 1/2 way in your lane.

 

[dsmack]

Another possibility that has some pretty good room for a tall guy would be the Kawasaki VERSYS.

Pretty much the same style and attributes as the KLR.

Don