Good beginner bike for a woman

Greetings again everyone

My Mrs. (beginner) wants to get into riding. We're trying to figure out what would be a good starter bike. She is average sized, but has short legs. She sat on my bike (26.8" seat height) and couldn't quite get her feet flat on the floor. As well she felt that it was quite a bit to big for her (558 lbs.). We would like if possible to stick with a cruiser type bike. Was just wondering if any of you have gotten any of your lady friends into riding, or, if there are any women posters or readers out there how you have gone about it and what bikes did you wind up choosing?

John

My lady had no problem with a V-Star 650 that was lowered a bit and she's 5' tall barefoot (she's riding a lowered Softail Deluxe now..probably the lowest seat height HD has even stock). Try looking at something like a Honda Rebel too as they're fairly cheap. Get one used (as someone posted here recently) to learn on. You should be able to sell it for about what you paid for it the following year. By then she'll have a better idea what she wants along with experience. Oh yeah..get her signed up for the MSF course ASAP.

Got a friend who purchased a Honda Shadow. Perfect bike for her to learn on. I asked her what she wants after this one. SHe said a Harley. What type she's not sure. My wife loves the Night Train. Some day she'll have on...

The Rebels are good to start on because you can always sell it to another new biker the next year. That being said, I find there are two myths that new women riders hold onto:

1. You have to be able to stand flat-footed. I might be able to put both my feet flat on the ground on my Softail, but I rarely do. Bikes are well balanced. It's good to have control of it and feel comfortable, but standing flat-footed is not required.

2. You have to be able to pick it up if you drop it. I know lots of guys who can't pick up their dressers, why is it expected that a woman has to pick up her bike if she drops it? Besides, there is a way to easily pick up a bike regardless of your size. I'm a careful rider. I stay aware. I do not spend my time worrying about what I'm going to do when I wreck. I work with a guy like that and I wonder why he even rides.

She should take the MSF course. She can try a small bike there, and it could be that by the time she finishes the course, she'll be more comfortable going to a larger bike that will last her a while longer.

I bought my wife a used Rebel for her to learn on. She really liked it and it's light enough for them to handle. Then when she got her license we sold it for about what we gave for it. She rode a Honda Shadow, an older one, and I did too, and neither one of us liked it very well. It felt really top heavy to us. After getting her license she purchased an HD Softail deluxe and gets along great with it. It's really pretty easy to ride.

I agree with the rest of the group... the Rebel or the Shadow... a Suzuki Marauder or smaller Boulevard would also be good.

Honda also made a 450 Rebel, they are a tad harder to find, but will run highway speeds with ease.....

Yamaha Dragstar 175cc

The baby dragstar (V star) is a great little lerner as although small (two models 175cc / 250cc) it appears to be bigger and gives the lerner more confidance when moving on to a larger bike after passing the tast. My better half is only 4'8" and had no problem controlling this bike.
Having said that get round the sales rooms get her sitting on all the models get the right one then go out and look for a secondhand one.
Look forward to welcoming her to the ranks.

Goats_hogs: Where are you located? I'm just west of Richmond, IN. Do you ever ride on the Thursday night ride out of Dave's cafe at Hagerstown? I have maybe three times this year.

Riders course

For sure take a riders course I took one even after riding for years stopping for years then getting back on. Learned a lot. I would recomend a 500 or so Honda, Yamaha, Buell ect