First bike for a new female rider

[SteveR]

As above.
Let her chose.
Picking a bike for her because you think it looks cool is stupid.....

Exactly

I see a lot of girls on sports bikes, after passing their tests - pushed into it by their male partners because they ride 'sports' bikes

The girls look petrified of the power, the crap steering lock and cramped riding position when they'd be better off on a sit upright bike with nice wide handlebars, a comfy seat and be able to look where they are going

Male ego, eh :whistle:

Sooooo true JB! I knew a young lass who has exactly that happen to her. Passed test, sports bike arrived. Did bugger all mileage on it as her bf was a fast riding, big swinging.....dick....! She confided in me one evening she enjoyed her first 125, was getting into the training 500 as it was similar to her own bike, but was scared of the Yam. I asked her why she did not trade in for a 250 or something and got a sad look. Last I heard the bike had gone.

[dodursley]

The TW125 is Yamaha version of the Van Van, generally cheaper than VV, a friend brought a TW off Will of this forum, his daughter and grand daughter also used it. What is wrong with drum back brake?

[Davy]

[video]http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSJVpvH8eG4[/video]

[-Ralph-]

but really i think a more enduro style bike will suite her to gain practice and build up a little basic technical riding skills like up/down hills riding over fallen tree and other such things as they come as there is a good area where i live i can take her and will be ideal in winter due to the mud

.... Maybe AJP125?

You've answered your own question by the sounds of it, she needs an Enduro bike not a trail bike, but it won't be as easy to learn road riding on, especially if it has knobbly tyres, she could have a few slide and tumbles over the winter on the tarmac that knock her confidence.

[WesleyDRZ400]

aagh, great topic. So 3 mths ago bought my other half CBT course, one sunday morning rushed her that we are going for a bike ride -so she should kit up, and we did, only i dropped her off at CBT centre and wished her a good day (she hated me)
2 mths ago we bought a suzi vanvan, and what better way to learn it than ride it back home on empty english sunday roads (thumbs) . plan was, before we get back to the london she should be confident enough to go through london traffic. she done well for first 40 minutes (still about 3 hours from home), then went too fast into the roundabout taking a left turn, slipped on the wet gravel in the middle of the road, marked whole side of the mpv on the other side of the road, caught mpv`s rear fender with front wheel which catapulted her and suzi into the air, landing her ass on the tarmac and suzi on her leg :unsure: . now the broken leg bone has healed already, but her bashed knee will take quite lot longer to recover.
anyways, good luck to your GF, and maybe as CBT instructor pointed out: vanvan`s are not the best first bikes as on the wet with em fat tyres they are difficult to control. :whistle:

ps: she is not to keen to try it out again since

yes i was thinking that also with the tire width

[WesleyDRZ400]

but really i think a more enduro style bike will suite her to gain practice and build up a little basic technical riding skills like up/down hills riding over fallen tree and other such things as they come as there is a good area where i live i can take her and will be ideal in winter due to the mud

.... Maybe AJP125?

You've answered your own question by the sounds of it, she needs an Enduro bike not a trail bike, but it won't be as easy to learn road riding on, especially if it has knobbly tyres, she could have a few slide and tumbles over the winter on the tarmac that knock her confidence.

i will fit road tires for learning in quite country roads and knobbly for the green lanes, also good for her to learn to change tires herself. i will teach her all the basics for servicing ect ect

[Lolo]

R1200gs called George would be the best first bike for a girl ever!!!! :whistle: :whistle: :whistle:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331653148244? ... 1555.l2649


:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[WesleyDRZ400]

Ask her what she wants

Not what you think she wants

Getting her feet firmly down & being comfy will probably be more important to her, not you

It's her bike so let her choose

I would have a guess and say after 2 years of her either riding as passenger on my DRZ or her ride with me on the back in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan & Kazakhstan i know what kind of riding she likes which is offroad riding hence thats what type of bike she would require would be a bike that can be used for offroad adv type riding and is light with low seat hight so she can get her feet down and be comfy (thumbs)

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I know what bike she would choose after meeting many other travelers on other bikes in central Asia and that would be the DRZ but due to its height and restrictions on cc size she can only have a bike up to 125cc.

I would want to get a bike i dont need to sell after a few months for a more offroad type model, there really is no black art to basic offroad riding skills or basics to ride a motorbike i taught her in half aday how to ride with good clutch control and going up and down the gears.

So really for someone who is small and requires a good bike for adv riding the are very limited choices hence what i have narrowed it down to with the first 3, i came up with these choices after speaking to a women who is in the same position due to her height and this women also rides long distances adv, she advised me on the XR125 which she rode from London to Mongolia last year.

So as there is very limited choice maybe the older yamaha DT's and same eire type bikes as these are a smaller design for the school leaver market back in the 90's adds them into the mix as they were reliable back then and are light with offroad capability with a low seat hight also

offcourse when we have narrowed it down she will make the final decision on how she feels on it but already knowing the basics of her requirements helps and advice from owners of such bikes helps also like the van van will not be ideal due to its tire width and the Rieju Tango 125 is not well made as i have been informed by a previous owner

[special one]

In my humble opinion, that Yamaha dt125 would fit the bill perfectly, great bikes and reliable.

[halfpint]

Just buy her a Dr 125 simple