Wife and motorcycle

[ndivita]

After those attention-grabbing headlines, here is the scenario.... My wife just recently passed the tests and got her MC endorsement. She is a novice rider but seems to be enjoying learning to ride. She is practicing on a friend's Ninja 250. She wants to ride distances and wants her own bike; pillion on a rented Gold Wing or even my FJR is OK but she wants to be riding her own mount. I get that. She's infatuated with a 2009 BMW F650GS; 28,000 miles, good shape, all service and recalls done, for sale by dealer. I rode the damn thing and must admit it is a hoot and it gets pretty good reviews. For my part, I have identified a certain Honda NT700V; 2010 model, 3,100 miles, custom aftermarket seat, bar risers, peachy bike, for the same price. The BMW will require at least $1500 more to outfit it with lower seat and proper panniers and top case. She wants the BMW because, after seeing and sitting on another NT700V, she pronounced the Honda "dull." I have pointed out the usual factors pointing to the Honda: cost, reliability, ease of maintenance and repair, better dealer network. There is nothing "dull" about a mechanically uneventful long distance tour by motorcycle. Did I mention reliability? She hears me but it is not sinking in.

Help a brotha' out...

 

[Fred W]

Forum member FJRed's spousal unit, we'll call her "Grace" ('cause that's her name), had a brandy new NT700. After a few months she got rid of it and bought the BMW GS. You might want to PM him for the full details, but my recall is that she found the Dullville too heavy and unweildy around town and in traffic. The BMW is just right.

 

[ndivita]

Forum member FJRed's spousal unit, we'll call her "Grace" ('cause that's her name), had a brandy new NT700. After a few months she got rid of it and bought the BMW GS. You might want to PM him for the full details, but my recall is that she found the Dullville too heavy and unweildy around town and in traffic. The BMW is just right.

The truth outs...

 

[beemerdons]

Forum member FJRed's spousal unit, we'll call her "Grace" ('cause that's her name), had a brandy new NT700. After a few months she got rid of it and bought the BMW GS. You might want to PM him for the full details, but my recall is that she found the Dullville too heavy and unweildy around town and in traffic. The BMW is just right.

ndivita, My Man Fred is 100% correct, do not touch a Dullsville with a ten foot pole. As past President and Officer (20 years) of the largest BMW Club in Arizona, a number of our Club Members have rented the Honda NT700V on overseas tours and have absolutely hated it. One of our group rented a Dullsville in New Zealand and hated it so badly that the Tour Company delivered a replacement bike to him on the South Island.

3 years ago this week, GregM's Girlfriend GSJane and I picked up our brand new BMW F650GS Twins, and we have loved them ever since. Jane has over 20K on hers and has followed SkooterG all over the Western United States and into Mexico. I now have 15K on mine (multiple bike ownership) and it has performed flawlessly. Any questions, please feel free to contact me at either: [email protected] or 1-480-440-4666.

All Photographs and Text are Courtesy of FJR Forum Administrator SkooterG:

Yes, that's right. Life long blind faithful member Beemerdons has added a new steed to his stable - and it's from the land of kraut. In keeping with Beemdons advanced age and mental retardedness, he got herself a girly-man bike. Take a gander:

So that one is not Beemerdons bike, THIS one is.............

The brand spankin new 2009 BMW F650GS not looking so girly in this photo.......

And the obligatory photos of the girly-man bike with it's girly-man, old fart curmedgeon, villiage people imitatin owner:

And with his sweetheart of a peach g/f Donna to finally bring some class to these photos.....

LOOK WHERE YOU'RE GOING!!! NOT AT ME!!!

And some piccies of El Pendejo and his new toy with my g/f GSJane and her not too old yet F650GS of a different color........

Drinkers of the Kool-Aid sharing some warped fellowship with a 'High-Five'. The Rev. Jimmy J would be proud!

GSJane looking Too Kewl For Skewl! She loves her fine example of German engineering. The Kool-Aid is strong with this one.

And the Twowheelnut memorial salute..........

 

[beemerdons]

Forum member FJRed's spousal unit, we'll call her "Grace" ('cause that's her name), had a brandy new NT700. After a few months she got rid of it and bought the BMW GS. You might want to PM him for the full details, but my recall is that she found the Dullville too heavy and unweildy around town and in traffic. The BMW is just right.

The truth outs...

Here is my very favorite photograph of mi "Salma Hayek", crossing the Rio Urique at the very bottom of Mexico's Copper Canyon with this fat, old ****** on her.

That is the beauty of the BMW F650GS Twin: You can ride pavement 1K+ miles to the rim of Barrancas del Cobres (Copper Canyon) in Mexico, ride offroad for another 1K miles, then saddle up and ride 1K+ miles of pavement back to Estados Unidos. These motos can do it all!

Photograph is Courtesy of Bill F. - yamafitter:

 

[phroenips]

After those attention-grabbing headlines, here is the scenario.... My wife just recently passed the tests and got her MC endorsement. She is a novice rider but seems to be enjoying learning to ride. She is practicing on a friend's Ninja 250. She wants to ride distances and wants her own bike; pillion on a rented Gold Wing or even my FJR is OK but she wants to be riding her own mount. I get that. She's infatuated with a 2009 BMW F650GS; 28,000 miles, good shape, all service and recalls done, for sale by dealer. I rode the damn thing and must admit it is a hoot and it gets pretty good reviews. For my part, I have identified a certain Honda NT700V; 2010 model, 3,100 miles, custom aftermarket seat, bar risers, peachy bike, for the same price. The BMW will require at least $1500 more to outfit it with lower seat and proper panniers and top case. She wants the BMW because, after seeing and sitting on another NT700V, she pronounced the Honda "dull." I have pointed out the usual factors pointing to the Honda: cost, reliability, ease of maintenance and repair, better dealer network. There is nothing "dull" about a mechanically uneventful long distance tour by motorcycle. Did I mention reliability? She hears me but it is not sinking in.

Help a brotha' out...

Don't forget the reason we ride: It's fun, and it makes our hearts go-a-flutter. Don't deny her that feeling

In the last IBR, we had one of our own (well, spousal unit of one of our own...OCfjr), complete the Iron Butt Rally on her F650GS. She did have a problem with a worn chain mid-way through it, but we later found out that the chain should've been replaced before she even started the rally. She loves her bike, and I think your wife will as well.

 

[ndivita]

BMW it is.

 

[rmcobb]

BMW it is.

Ahhhh, Grasshopper, you have learned the lesson well! :clapping:

 

[SkooterG]

How tall is she? How much does she weigh? How old? How strong?

While GSJane loves her GS, it is too tall for her. (She is 5'7") There have been many drops, and unfortunately she doesn't fall well.

We should have gotten her the GS with the lowered suspension. My fault there. I thought she would easily 'grow' into the standard height GS.

With a beginning rider, imho COMFORT, and CONFIDENCE are KEY!!!!! GSJane's first bike was a Kawi Vulcan 500. While the bike was too small for her, it had a ridiculously low seat height that gave her plenty of room to get her feet down and maneuver the bike. Also a really low CG. She had a PLETHORA of confidence on that bike. Now with the much higher GS, she has lost most of that confidence and I can see it in her riding at times. She loves the bike, and would most likely disagree with me, but I think we could have found her a better bike.

IMHO, the GS is a great bike that does a lot of things well. However, I don't necessarily think it's the best 'tourer'. Primarily due to a lack of wind/weather protection.

Do yourself, and your wife a favor - get a bike that she will easily be comfortable and confident on. And that may not be the one she covets from looks only. More times than not for a beginning rider, it means one that affords plenty of room to get the feet down. IOW, one that is EASY to ride. That's where the fun is. When you are a new rider trying to figure everything out, constantly struggling to NOT drop the bike is not fun. GSJane suffered a broken collarbone on one 0 mph drop, and is currently suffering from some bruised ribs from a 5mph drop in sand from our trip to Mexico three weeks ago. She's got approximately 17,000 miles on that GS, as well as a few on the previous Kawi Vulcan, so she is by no means a novice rider. Nor at 5'7" is she very short. Still, I need to figure out a way to get her bike lowered. The latest trip to Mexico convinced me of that.

 

[beemerdons]

Uh Greg, Nick already bought the bike!

 

[HotRodZilla]

Uh Greg, Nick already bought the bike!

Well ****...I was gonna recommend something like the GSX-F series bikes. Also a lowered F800ST. Its easy to lower and is tons of fun...If you haven't bought yet, take what Skooter said to heart. If she drops it enough, she'll end up hating it, and maybe riding too.

 

[ndivita]

This bike has the lowered suspension. It fits her already but we are going to find a low seat just to make sure. If she drops it, she drops it, but this bike floats her boat and it does get good reviews from many folks including folks on this board. We pick it up later today....

Here are some pics from the dealer's website.

 

[beemerdons]

This bike has the lowered suspension. It fits her already but we are going to find a low seat just to make sure. If she drops it, she drops it, but this bike floats her boat and it does get good reviews from many folks including folks on this board. We pick it up later today....

Here are some pics from the dealer's website.

Good Morning Nick, just totally disregard ******s HotRodZilla and SkooterG, those two are both as Queer as a three dollar bill! I was going to recommend you search for the low seat over at F800 Owners.com, but I saw that you had already logged in over there yesterday; great web site, with lots of good information for the Owners of the F800 platform.

Among the AZ Beemers with short legs owning the F650GS Twin here in Arizona, the most popular seat by far is the Sargent seat. Anyone in AZB under 5'-6" has a low Sargent seat.

https://www.sargentcycle.com/

 

[Fred W]

This bike has the lowered suspension. It fits her already but we are going to find a low seat just to make sure. If she drops it, she drops it, but this bike floats her boat and it does get good reviews from many folks including folks on this board. We pick it up later today....

Here are some pics from the dealer's website.

Beautiful. Hell, I'd buy that bike for myself!! Of course I'd want the normal (or higher) suspension back, but that is a bike that says "Ride me anywhere and everywhere!"

 

[ndivita]

This bike has the lowered suspension. It fits her already but we are going to find a low seat just to make sure. If she drops it, she drops it, but this bike floats her boat and it does get good reviews from many folks including folks on this board. We pick it up later today....

Here are some pics from the dealer's website.

Good Morning Nick, just totally disregard HotRodZilla and SkooterG, those two are both as Queer as a three dollar bill! I was going to recommend you search for the low seat over at F800 Owners.com, but I saw that you had already logged in over there yesterday; great web site, with lots of good information for the Owners of the F800 platform.

Among the AZ Beemers with short legs owning the F650GS Twin here in Arizona, the most popular seat by far is the Sargeant seat. Anyone in AZB under 5'-6" has a Sargeant seat.

Sargeant seat sounds like a good Christmas gift. This will be the first BMW bike "I" have had even though it is her bike. She will be counting on me for all matters involving repairs, maintenance, farkles, upgrades etc. I'd be lying if I said I did not have a little trepidation about having a BMW motorcycle but compared to most of you guys, I am easily *********** on things mechanical anyway. I imagine it will be fine and above all, she loves the bike. All I know is that I am one happy camper with my FJR and Blackbird.

 

[ndivita]

This bike has the lowered suspension. It fits her already but we are going to find a low seat just to make sure. If she drops it, she drops it, but this bike floats her boat and it does get good reviews from many folks including folks on this board. We pick it up later today....

Here are some pics from the dealer's website.

Beautiful. Hell, I'd buy that bike for myself!! Of course I'd want the normal (or higher) suspension back, but that is a bike that says "Ride me anywhere and everywhere!"

Worst case: If she loses her appetite for riding, I ride it. I agree it is a blast to ride and plenty of people take that bike plenty of miles on plenty of roads.

 

[beemerdons]

https://f800riders.org/ ndivita: 1) The technical section over at F800 Riders is really good, great pictures and tech advice. 2) The stock Owner's Manual is very informative on most maintenance items, better than any previous BMW I have ever owned. 3) Get a copy of BMW F800 and F650 Twins by Haynes Manuals. ISBN Number: 978 1 84425 872 7 I bought my copy from Amazon.com at 30% off the list price.

 

[ndivita]

https://f800riders.org/ ndivita: 1) The technical section over at F800 Riders is really good, great pictures and tech advice. 2) The stock Owner's Manual is very informative on most maintenance items, better than any previous BMW I have ever owned. 3) Get a copy of BMW F800 and F650 Twins by Haynes Manuals. ISBN Number: 978 1 84425 872 7 I bought my copy from Amazon.com at 30% off the list price.

At long last, the wife and I went on a ride together (she on her bike, me on mine) that was not limited to a parking lot or local streets. Success! We rode around 90 miles round trip from KC to Weston MO. She tailed me of course and the Scala Cardo G4 radios were invaluable. After a few minutes from home dingle-berrying around the neighborhood, she announced to me that she was never going to learn anything unless we went on a real ride. With the bikes well prepped and gassed, off we went. We eased through town on to the ramp dropping you off on I-35 North; across the Broadway Bridge to the exit to MO Hwy 9 north, thence to MO 45 and into Weston about 30 minutes later. A simple ride but a nice variety of roads for a novice. The baby bird's eyes have been opened! She is a timid soul by nature with no small number of anxieties but she has great reflexes and is fundamentally athletic and fit. She felt right at home on her little F650GS and seemed to really enjoy the open road and the few sweepers along the way. Not sure she could or would have done it herself, but that is not the point at the moment. She even told me I was a good instructor, and no one has ever actually accused me of that before. So the windows and doors are opened to some wider and longer excursions although I haven't the heart yet to tell her that the riding conditions were perfect yesterday, and they are frequently imperfect on the long rides. I think she has learned that the rider bonds with his or her bike under the right conditions and I have little doubt she is quite proud of herself. And I'm proud of her for stepping outside of her comfort zone and drawing some new outer perimeters for that zone. She has a new appreciation for my obsession with bikes and riding.

 

[beemerdons]

https://f800riders.org/ ndivita: 1) The technical section over at F800 Riders is really good, great pictures and tech advice. 2) The stock Owner's Manual is very informative on most maintenance items, better than any previous BMW I have ever owned. 3) Get a copy of BMW F800 and F650 Twins by Haynes Manuals. ISBN Number: 978 1 84425 872 7 I bought my copy from Amazon.com at 30% off the list price.

At long last, the wife and I went on a ride together (she on her bike, me on mine) that was not limited to a parking lot or local streets. Success! We rode around 90 miles round trip from KC to Weston MO. She tailed me of course and the Scala Cardo G4 radios were invaluable. After a few minutes from home dingle-berrying around the neighborhood, she announced to me that she was never going to learn anything unless we went on a real ride. With the bikes well prepped and gassed, off we went. We eased through town on to the ramp dropping you off on I-35 North; across the Broadway Bridge to the exit to MO Hwy 9 north, thence to MO 45 and into Weston about 30 minutes later. A simple ride but a nice variety of roads for a novice. The baby bird's eyes have been opened! She is a timid soul by nature with no small number of anxieties but she has great reflexes and is fundamentally athletic and fit. She felt right at home on her little F650GS and seemed to really enjoy the open road and the few sweepers along the way. Not sure she could or would have done it herself, but that is not the point at the moment. She even told me I was a good instructor, and no one has ever actually accused me of that before. So the windows and doors are opened to some wider and longer excursions although I haven't the heart yet to tell her that the riding conditions were perfect yesterday, and they are frequently imperfect on the long rides. I think she has learned that the rider bonds with his or her bike under the right conditions and I have little doubt she is quite proud of herself. And I'm proud of her for stepping outside of her comfort zone and drawing some new outer perimeters for that zone. She has a new appreciation for my obsession with bikes and riding.

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=143297 ndivita, very happy to hear that your Wife is enjoying her BMW F650GS, I do love mine! If you are looking for a vacation destination, our AZ Beemers Road Runner Rally is May 18-20 of 2012.