Wife wants a bike (recommendations)

[beegshot]

So the Gas prices here in the South went through the roof yesterday. I have a 79 Ford Truck and my wife drives an 03 Expedition (it's Yamahas and Fords at my house). Anyway, I'm trying to get the XJ11 on the road again so I can start riding it. The XV750 out in the barn really needs to go to the wreckers...so what kind of bike should I be looking for for my wife?

Constraints/Criteria:
She's petite (5'2")
Seat height needs to be low...like a 250 Rebel (I know, Honda)
Bike needs to be light...475 lbs max
No four cylinder motors...too easy to drop & heavy handling
Chain drive is okay...prefer shaft
Must be Japanese...no HD's or British electrical nightmares

That's all I can think of right now...wasn't there a 535 Virago?

Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.

Robert

[John]

Yamaha did make a 535 Virago. My wife learned on a 450 Honda Night Hawk, but she got tired of not being able to keep up wit the 750 that I was riding at the time. She bought an FJ 1100. A 650 Night Hawk would be good. It is a four cylinder, but it's not very heavy. How about a smaller xj? A 550 or 650 shouldn't be too heavy either An xs 650 perhaps?

[Pat Kelly]

My wife (5'6") learned on a Honda XL250R, moved to an XS750F, nad now (3 years later) rides a 96 XV1100 Virago.

[Dragonrider]

Like the other guys, I'd vote Virago. Powerful, low center of gravity (even on the big engines), and low seat.

Nice bikes too...

If you're looking new, check out the Yamaha Midnight Warrior. Sweet looking bike.....

[beegshot]

Wife wants a cheap bike

I forgot the most important constraint of all!!! I have no money!
Well, at least not enough to buy a new bike. After I made my post, I went over to scam-bay and looked at some 500/535 Viragos and 250 Rebels. There's plenty of them out there. I'm thinking we'd like something in the $500 to $1000 range. Thanks for the inputs...keep 'em coming.

Robert

[Hobbit]

recommendation

My wife (5'0") has a Suzuki Intruder 800, very low seat and nice pedal position. (The bike, okay.) It is shaft drive and gets about 40 mpg.
I've taught two other petit ladies how to ride using the Intruder and they both did very well with it.
It's also a pretty good looking bike and I picked it up for $2900 (1997).

[DiverRay]

You can also look for bikes on http://www.craigslist.org/mcy/ This is San Francisco, but they do have sites around the country. Just put in a maximum dollar amount, and Yamaha, in the search engine and go!
If you can find a local used bike dealer, have you wife sit on a few so you know about what fits first. That will save you a LOT of search time.

[fredintoon]

Suzuki?

Hi Robert,
how about a Suzuki Savage? Light(ish) weight, 650 single, electric start, low seat height & belt drive. The name is a misnomer, "Savage" it ain't but a Suzuki "Reliable" wouldn't get much market share eh? They weren't expensive when new, a used one should be in your price range.
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[mitch]

savage

my thoughts exactly Fred..............MITCH

[madbiker]

650 Savage my wife has one wt. is about 250 alittle bigger then the rebel but worth the money, it a snappy little bike my wife's about 5'4" she loves it .If you get a 250 a year down the road she'll want a bigger one.
Madbiker

[Yamaniac]

beginner bike

think I'm gonna teach my girlfriend to ride on the Hurricane once I get it going. It will probably turn into her Daily driver. Yeah, it's a rocket, but it's light, and if she respects it's power, she'll be alright. She's pretty small at 5-4. just my $.02

[Geezer]

Get what ever bike you find for her in the price range you can afford. Be flexable and shop hard. Odds are something will turn up that will work for you.

If you're not sure about some bike you find, ask here and odds are some one will have experience with that model.

Other than that, it's hard to beat an XS650 but I think she would have a little trouble with it at stops.

Tony

[midnightBill]

Try Honda Shadows like 500 or 600. My wife is 5' 2" and only 125 lbs and she can sit on it and be flat foot on the ground which makes her really comfortable. Power and ride is good too, not like an 11 but the weight is in her favor.

[excess11]

Classic Bike

How about a classic. I learned to ride on a Honda CB350, Great bikes,They are easy to work on and will run forever and still have lots of parts available! You should be able to find one on ebay that is in your price range.

[beegshot]

Bought a 250 Rebel

Won an auction on e-bay. Picked up an 02 Rebel with only 1900 miles. It's got a windshield and according to the ad is lady owned, lady ridden, and lady maintained. It's 350 miles away, so we're leaving tonight with the trailer to go pick it up. Riding lessons start Sunday. I ended up paying a premium for the young age and low miles...$2280. So much for a $500 to $1000 budget. It seems that's "par for the course" on all my projects/purchases.

Anyway, our gas bill should drop pretty quickly. And before long we'll be heading to the hills together. Hey, I just realized...I picked up ~25 Hp getting my wife off the back of my bike!!! Yee-Hah!

BTW, I looked hard for a Virago. But, the only ones for sale right now are in the NorthEast...too far.

Regards,
Robert