Took the wife out for first time

[jjz28]

I took the wife out for the first time yesterday, she loved it. she only wanted to go for a couple of miles, so when we stopped, she said, "whats that way"? She wanted to go farther so we rode about 2 hours. At the last intersection I asked her if she wanted to feel a little of the power and she did, so i opened it up about 3/4 throttle through 2nd and 3rd and hit 75 real quick and then coasted down. She said it felt like we were going to wheelie. Anyway, she loved it and i think she might even want her own. We talked and i let her sit on the xs750 and its too tall, its taller than the xs1100. I may try to find a rebel or eliminator for her.

[DGXSER]

There are ways to lower and XS11 or that 750 for her. I think the 750 had the 17" rear wheel, you could swap for the 16" wheel from an XS11 special.

For the smaller bikes, I always liked the Nighthawks.

[jjz28]

Yeah, i like those nighthawks my self, and they can get out of their own way. The rebels dont have enough power in my opinion.

[DGXSER]

I took my MSF course on a nighthawk 250. Obviously they handle really well. Seemed to get up and go pretty well, but since we never left the course, I could not tell you about anything over about 30 MPH. If it were me, I'd look more in the 450 range. I would suspect those would have enough power to get up and go and still be very managable.

[jetmechmarty]

A woman 5' 1" tall can straddle and flat foot an 1100 cc Virago. I've seen it.

[tv5150]

Check-Out a V45 MAGNA

Check-out the last newer model (thru the 90's???) of the 750 Magna
I bought one for my X and she was 5' tall and she
rode it like seasoned rider AND it had enough
power to keep up with my GL18 Goldwing when we rode

[tv5150]

And THEN

After she got her "wings" I bought
this Pacific Coast that was a baby Goldwing
I had to get a Russel "Day Long" Saddle that was
custom sized to her...THAT made her happy for a while

[jjz28]

my wife is 5' 3" and 110 pounds, she cant come near to touching on my xs1100 and the xs750 is worse. I really like the magnas, i would like on of those myself. Another really low bike is the 85-86 suzuki madura and it has all kinds of power. I would love to find a 1200 madura.

[XS1100 Newbie]

A bunch of the Kawasaki's are low as well.

[tv5150]

Check-out the last newer model (thru the 90's???) of the 750 Magna
I bought one for my X and she was 5' tall and she
rode it like seasoned rider AND it had enough
power to keep up with my GL18 Goldwing when we rode

I found this pic with her on it so you can get an
idea of the fit of her 5' even frame, she could flat
foot it all day with no problem....
It DOES have the Corbin seat added, but even with the
stock seat she had no problem. I just went a little crazy
on the "mods" as I wanted it to be the coolest Magna around for her...

[mack]

Chick Bikes

It's been years but I remember Kawi's had a series of LTD's, and I think they were 250,450, 650 and 750 series. The cut of the bike was similar to the sf and they were a good bike. Check around and you could find a very cheap 450 to get her feet wet with. Then maybe in a year or two after you know she'll stay with it, pick up something with a bit more cruising weight and power.

[Eveready1100]

Hey Jeff,
Your 2D should have an 18" rear wheel. I'd measure up the height of your 16 incher on your SF and compare the height with the 2D's. Should be about 1 1/4" shorter in total depending on the tyre. The special wheel should nearly bolt straight on to the 750 (everyone's doing the 750FD swap aren't they?)
So I'd do a trail run swap over to see what spacers may be needed to do the swap, then pick up another 16 incher and maybe fit it with a 120/90 tyre to lessen the height a bit more. With greater clearance under the rear guard, a set of shorter shocks would also help with the height issue.
As the XS750's are a very slim bike, there shouldn't be any real problems with diminished cornering clearance like what there is with the 11's.

Then you could look at maybe scooping the seat a bit.

An added bonus..You'd have a complete emergency spare rear wheel for your SF!