CBR500R for wife

[arjayes]

For the last six months or so I've been bugging my wife, who has never ridden a motorcycle in her almost 56 years on the planet (other than as a passenger), to consider getting into riding. I really wanted her to start on the dirt, but once she finally started showing some interest she took off in a completely different direction and wanted a damn Harley! I talked her out of that with facts (that "worst bike ever made" article helped) and at least got her looking mainly at smaller Japanese bikes.

After much research, shopping and discussion we finally settled on a Honda CBR500R. I really wanted her to have ABS but no dealers had the ABS model in stock, so we picked up a new 2014 non-ABS yesterday. She doesn't have her M1 license yet, so I got to ride it home and put about 30 miles on it doing my usual break-in routine. What a fun little bike! About 425 lbs, well under 50hp, torque almost flat above 2500 rpm, very easy to ride. 6 speed, FI, decent brakes, nice fit and finish, but crappy suspension of course. 4.1 gallon tank and 60+ mpg so she'll probably have more range than my SuperT. Overall very impressed. But small! I'm 6' with creaky knees and it took some effort to fold myself onto the thing and be able to shift. Eventually found a position that worked and had a blast on it. Perfect first bike for my wife and I think it will keep her happy for a long time.

Not much out there between 250cc and 600cc. For new riders this bike really hits a sweet spot and comes in three flavors (sport, naked, mini-adventure), all available with ABS. Honda really hit a home run with these bikes and I bet they're selling a ton of them.

Sadly this will delay my long-planned FZ-09 purchase, and I somehow forgot to factor in all the gear she'll now be buying. But I'm feeling pretty darn magnanimous today and I like it! ::016::

 

[snakebitten]

Good job!
I did something similar 13 years ago. But I didn't ask. Just risked it and brought home an SV650.

She said "for me?", with a big grin on her face. (step 1)
Then explained she needed to take the local msf-course at the junior college.
She said "ok". (step 2!)

She passed and enjoyed.

Gotta be honest, she put few miles on it. A few on a DR350. A few more on a cr230.

But it was worth the effort. She never really was interested in my bikes before all that. Now? She'll cross continents on the back of mine. So even if your original plan gets rerouted, I predict a larger overlap in both of your motorcycle interests. It's win win in my book.

 

[arjayes]

Yeah, she's got the usual sequence ahead of her. Takes the local MSF course in the junior college parking lot next month. If she passes that then she can take the written DMV test and be free to roam. I hope she gets hooked and confident and comfortable, but no way to know. She was a wild Texas girl when I met her (she grew up in Harlingen), but is very risk-averse when it comes to any possibility of bodily injury. One oh-my-God moment and she may be done with it.

I'm not big on 2-up riding, but if it comes to that I guess I'll adapt. Want to have her along, but hopefully on her own bike! By the time I retire I may not care about doing the twisties any more and will just get a Goldwing and drag mama all over the planet in the back seat. But man, I hope it doesn't come to that!!

I joined the FZ-09 forum and there are more than a few guys over there in their 70s and 80s. Those are my role models!!

 

[elizilla]

I think she should have gotten the Harley. And I'm saying that as a person who'd rather have the CBR500R, hands down.

I guess I have become sensitive to this "choosing a bike for my wife" thing because people ask me about it all the time. I'm a woman, I like motorcycling, I must know what bike someone should get for their wife. Right? And it seems to me that people (guys) don't think about the fact that one of the most fun things, right at the beginning, is choosing the bike. Choosing the bike is a super fun thing to do, and they've taken it over, and made it all about them, all about their own preferences. Heck, make sexist cracks about women and shopping, if that's what it takes to let go of this mentality that says you should be the one to pick her bike.

If a chrome cruiser with pink tassels and airbrushed flaming skeletons floats her boat, that's what she oughtta have. Because she's the one gonna ride it. Having someone tell you all the very good reasons that something you like is stupid, sucks the fun right out of the whole deal. It's got nothing to do with whether you are right, and everything to do with her ownership of this thing.

 

[Big Blu]

I think she should have gotten the Harley. And I'm saying that as a person who'd rather have the CBR500R, hands down.

I guess I have become sensitive to this "choosing a bike for my wife" thing because people ask me about it all the time. I'm a woman, I like motorcycling, I must know what bike someone should get for their wife. Right? And it seems to me that people (guys) don't think about the fact that one of the most fun things, right at the beginning, is choosing the bike. Choosing the bike is a super fun thing to do, and they've taken it over, and made it all about them, all about their own preferences. Heck, make sexist cracks about women and shopping, if that's what it takes to let go of this mentality that says you should be the one to pick her bike.

If a chrome cruiser with pink tassels and airbrushed flaming skeletons floats her boat, that's what she oughtta have. Because she's the one gonna ride it. Having someone tell you all the very good reasons that something you like is stupid, sucks the fun right out of the whole deal. It's got nothing to do with whether you are right, and everything to do with her ownership of this thing.

+1 Oh yea, good on ya girl! ::008::

Paul

 

[arjayes]

I think she should have gotten the Harley. And I'm saying that as a person who'd rather have the CBR500R, hands down.

I guess I have become sensitive to this "choosing a bike for my wife" thing because people ask me about it all the time. I'm a woman, I like motorcycling, I must know what bike someone should get for their wife. Right? And it seems to me that people (guys) don't think about the fact that one of the most fun things, right at the beginning, is choosing the bike. Choosing the bike is a super fun thing to do, and they've taken it over, and made it all about them, all about their own preferences. Heck, make sexist cracks about women and shopping, if that's what it takes to let go of this mentality that says you should be the one to pick her bike.

If a chrome cruiser with pink tassels and airbrushed flaming skeletons floats her boat, that's what she oughtta have. Because she's the one gonna ride it. Having someone tell you all the very good reasons that something you like is stupid, sucks the fun right out of the whole deal. It's got nothing to do with whether you are right, and everything to do with her ownership of this thing.

Hi Katherine. I'm just seeing this or I would have responded earlier. I can assure you that I did not force the CBR on my wife. If you knew her you would know that that would not be possible. She was all over the place during her search, and I stayed out of it for the most part because I knew that if I did force a bike on her it would come back to bite me! She nixed the Harley mainly based on her own research - not my advice (despite my claim above that I talked her out of it). I know where you're coming from with your comments, though. I know how guys can be, including me. In this instance, however, the woman got her way.

I've only logged about 60 miles on the CBR but it's a sweet bike. Very smooth and easy to ride. And peppy enough to be fun.