Too Fast! TOO FAST! TOOO FAAAST!

New blog post. My wife's first ride in the twisties!

http://www.spiritstrike.com/blog/2013/11/20/too-fast-too-fast-tooo-faaast

You're in my neighborhood. Good RR and better pics than mine

276 has tried to kill me several times so I tend to stay off it.

Hi kaosbandit,
Good rr, reminded me of a trip with the misses years ago..
. We lived at the time in the middle of England, my folks were in Somerset, on the south coast.. One Sunday I thought it would be fun to visit, so I suggested that kes and I ride... I had a gsxr750j and she had a honda vfr400r.
We had done a few local rides, and all went well, so she agreed...and off we went.. Within half an hour it rained so hard we were both swimming in our underwear, so by the time we got to my folks, she was pretty pissed....
Stripped of and dried everything out, had lunch and chilled, and then time to go..
Again it all started well.....so 50 miles in I said we should get gas before going to much further....kes agreed and so we filled up, next thing I know she's sitting on the kerb, tears in her eyes... What's up I ask , a little disconcerted, 'I'm done' is the reply......
Not quite sure how to answer that, we're sill an hour and a half from home....
'Can I do anything' I ask..... Silence......... Then a couple of expletives later she's up and running for the bike.....Helmet on, and we're hitting the highway...
So needless to say, when we get home I'm in trouble and were never doing that again..... Sad really, I had a really good ride.... Now she only goes pillion..

Thanks for checking it out! I agree that 276 is a sketchy road. There are treacherous potholes right in the best lines and lately the bicyclists have been a nuisance up that road. Nothing is worse than coming around a corner to find an SUV in your lane because they are trying to pass a guy on a bike.

We should go ride sometime. I also have a KLR so I can do some dual sport rides too.

Import, thanks for the story. Wish it had turned out better for you. I am hoping to avoid that, I guess time will tell.

My worst ride in the rain was on this years Mancation with some buddies. We had a couple of guys with us that were fairly new. We knew we were going to cut it close to miss the rain, but if we kept pace with what we are sued to we could pull it off.

Well, the new guys weren't able to keep that pace safely so we ran long and ended up in the cold rain in the dark in the mountains.....and THEN we hit gravel on street bikes!

I wrote it up on my blog. It was a 3 day trip but day 2 is the one I am talking about.

http://www.spiritstrike.com/blog/2013/5/14/mancation

My wife has her own bike, Honda GB400, loves riding it but it is a bit limited for longer rides so we bought a Triumph Sprint GT for 2 up trips and touring. First ride on the new bike we went for a run through our local hills around 60 klms of twistys, when we reached the coffee shop at hallway point, She says " That's the fastest I've ever gone up that road", to which I reply, "That's the slowest I've ever come up there".

Ditto on the potholes and I hate wobbly bicyclists in my apexes.

I kind of felt the same way :) Luckily, I had a buddy to back me up. To agree that I was actually slowed down. Its interesting what we get used to.

I'm going through somewhat of a similar dilemma currently. My fiance and I each have smallish bikes and she rides some but is very hesitant to try to go more than an hour from home. I noticed a used R1150RT for sale nearby for a good price with some nice farkles, and since she had test-ridden one with me before she was very enthusiastic about possibly purchasing said bike for two-up riding. The problem is the purchase of this bike would necessitate the sale of one of our current bikes (likely her 650GS). So while I like the idea of us each one-up touring in the future, I realize the prospect of dragging her along on the back of my bike would be much more realistic.

Great read, thanks for posting.

I took my wife for her first solo ride in the twisties back in may. She did great until about half way up to the Caesars Head overlook on 276, then she lowsided in a hard left hander... To say that it was really horrible is a true understatement. She was wearing all of her gear with the exception of jeans instead of riding pants. (They were out off her size when I went to buy her some.. I still feal bad for not getting them sooner.) Despite wearing riding boots she managed to break her left ankle. She's doing a lot betting now.

Her GS500 made out ok, just cosmetic damage to the fairings, so I stripped them. Having a hell of a time selling that thing on Craigslist if you know anyone looking for a $1000 bike..lol

That's a tough one. Short rides with both of you riding or long rides together. I've got a solution. Keep her bike and sell yours. Then your new primary bike will be the 1150 and you guys can still ride together or 2-up.

Dang! Sorry to hear about your wife's lowside. Glad she made it out OK though.

I may know a guy who would be interested in your GS500. Do you have pics or a link to the CL ad?

Thanks.

Sure, here you go.

http://greenville.craigslist.org/mcy/4236814679.html

Sucks to hear about her lowsiding for sure. Worst story I have is the ONE time I tried to get a little extra sporty on a section of twisty road with my wife on the back. She let me know she didn't appreciate it by punching me in the ribs a few times until I stopped so she could let me know she was scared. A helmet communicator would have been a better way to go, but she had no problem getting my attention pretty fast . Perhaps a little pregame huddle would have been a good idea as well, because I think part of her issue was she had no idea we were going to be on that gnarly of a road.

I guess that I am pretty lucky in that my pillion Wife has a very limited "depth perception" sense.

It keeps me out of trouble A LOT....

She has no earthly idea how fast we are truly going.

I really like reading this forum, Um how do you quote/copy someone's post to ask them a question?

Bottom right of the post of your fancy there's a quote button. Click that and it will pull up a reply box with the quote already in it!
Here is a forum strictly for questions & information about how the site operates. Ask Baldy, blame AceRph

I know that feeling. The problem for me before communicators is I never knew what she wanted. I joke with my wife that we have a car that can be driven from any seat. I think she feels out of control when she isn't the one operating the vehicle. Most of the time it isn't too bad, but every now and then I have to offer to let her drive. :)

I passed the link on to him.

In spite of being an avid motorcyclist for over 40 years I never encourage anyone to be a pillion or get their own bike unless they are personally motivated to do so. Over the years I've seen far too many negative consequences when people have been encouraged or even pushed to go 'outside their comfort zone'. Plain and simple...motorcycling isn't for everyone.