It took my wife awhile to warm up to the bike. Of course I think part of it was she just got tired of the fact that any time I said anything to her it was motorcyle this or motorcycle that. The other day she saw a bike and said that it was pretty. It was a 99 TLR and after she said that a small tear welled up in my eye.
Progress is being made: the other day I had to catch up with her after work, and since we needed to take seperate cars anyway she actually suggested I take the motorcycle. *stunned*
All kidding aside, I think that the biggest issue is the initial shock of, "You want a -what-?" She knows that I'm a very conscientious and focused on safety. (I'm also a licensed pilot)
Very nicely written and insightful. Welcome to the group! :thumb:
Now get a camera and take pics of your ride. That's what the Wall of Fame is for. :)
Welcome, Badger!
I didn't stall my bike as it came out of the dealership- I had it delivered (dealer is ~20 fwy miles from my house). The guy parked in the complex garage.
The hardest part was getting it out of the garage, since I had to come up a very steep slope, stop to check for traffic, then go again. I couldn't get it going again once I had stopped without rolling backwards into the garage door. I ended up dismounting the bike and pushing it up the hill. (very very hard).
About two weeks later I could get going again without rollling backwards at all.
Hey Badger, what part of the Commonwealth are you from? I'm in Norfolk.
Pictures? I've been too busy riding it to stop and grab the camera. :)
As for location, I'm in Waltham. I picked up the bike at Greater Boston Motorsports...Mass Ave at the beginning of rush hour is an interesting test for the clutch/throttle challenged. I think I've got that worked out now, though. I spent the weekend going up and down rt's 20, 30, 9, and briefly 128 out to Framingham and back. Tooled around Lincoln for a while, but bagged that after I ended up in an extended 25MPH zone with a local law enforcement officer in tow...not that I wanted to speed, but it's not good for the engine break-in (that's my story, anyway 8) ).
Wow. I've been riding for over a year, 3 or 4 months on the GS, and I haven't even ventured out on 128 yet. Route 128 feels like being the ball in a pinball machine, and that's in a car...
QuoteWow. I've been riding for over a year, 3 or 4 months on the GS, and I haven't even ventured out on 128 yet. Route 128 feels like being the ball in a pinball machine, and that's in a car...
At 10:00am on a Saturday morning it was pretty empty (relatively speaking), and I wanted to make sure I got the engine up to speed early enough to positively seat the rings.
QuoteOkay, so did everyone stall their first bike leaving the dealership?
No, the first thing I did was drop it :oops: . Then picked it up and said "well got that out of the way" wife said " :nono: "
Quote from: JMyrickNo, the first thing I did was drop it :oops: . Then picked it up and said "well got that out of the way" wife said " :nono: "
Welcome, Badger! Just like Mr.
Purple hater above :P, I dropped mine the first day, too, and my boyfriend had to help me pick the poor bike up. :oops:
I haven't dropped him in months now! And I don't stall him much anymore, either. ;) :mrgreen:
QuoteNot sure if you have run across message threads about the speedometer reading low yet, but it's true.
I assumed as much. I wasn't as concerned with speed as I was with the tach...as long as I wasn't significantly slower than the ambient speed.
QuoteOf course, who knows how fast the minivan was going. It might have passed you even if you were really going the speed limit.
Considering the road, the odds of -anyone- going less than 10mph over the speed limit (55) are remote. More often, traffic moves at around 75 with about one car length between vehicles...any more would be inviting someone to cut you off.
OK speedo error I get, but is there tacho error too ... on a GS there may be, but my virago 1100 there is a discrepancy between the 2 ... at 3K rpm the speed is 45, at 5K its 81+ ... :lol:
Cool.
Srinath.
Welcome to the fold! It only gets better...
What color did you end up with?
I didn't stall leaving the dealer, but i did stall leaving that gas station right next door to it :lol: :lol:
And my GF started out like you wife though, now she thinks bikes are pretty and I actually got her to come for a ride with me. When he got off I asked her how it was and on a scale of 1 to 10 how scared was she. She replied with "7, that was crazy and the road gets real close when we lean. I will have to ride with you more to get used to that feeling."
Yup folks she said "...ride with you more..."
My reply was "Welcome to the dark side, eventually my apprentice you shall get this bike." She laughed and then thougt about it :lol: :cheers:
It took a lot of proding to get my wife to allow me to even look at a Motorcycle. It finally came out, though, that the reason she didn't want me getting a motorcycle wasn't safety or cost, but looks. That's right. She thinks sport bikes (including the GS) look stupid, so she didn't want me to get one.
I decided if that was all the better reason she could come up with, I was getting a motorcycle. She's been slowly coming around. She's still thinks they look dumb, but at least she'll allow be to get one.
QuoteWhat color did you end up with?
Blue...mostly with the fantasy that I could secretly replace it with a blue gixxer without my wife knowing :) Actually it was because I didn't want a black one. I figure any additional visibility is a bonus. I was hoping for a yellow '04 holdout, but no joy.
QuoteAnd my GF started out like you wife though, now she thinks bikes are pretty and I actually got her to come for a ride with me. When he got off I asked her how it was and on a scale of 1 to 10 how scared was she. She replied with "7, that was crazy and the road gets real close when we lean. I will have to ride with you more to get used to that feeling."
The first (and only) time I took my wife flying, on the fear scale of 1-10, she was somewhere around a 22. We took off, headed out for about 10 miles (about 5 minutes) and then had to turn back. She's a trooper (and she trusts me) and has indicated that she might be willing to try again. I'm trying to convince her that it would be worth it to get in the plane to have lunch on Martha's Vineyard, or lobster in Bar Harbor. No luck yet...it might involve Zanex. I'm not holding my breath until she asks for a ride on the motorcycle.