18 Sep 2008
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Registered Users
New on the HUBB
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Indiana
Posts: 2
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Best bike for the little people
So I am trying to decide how my wife and I should do some adventure touring. Should we get 2 bikes or get a bigger bike and ride two up? First some history; I have been riding on and off (mostly off until a few years ago) all my life. I got a DR650 about 3 years ago and have put around 20,000 miles on it. Mostly paved and gravel roads because the opportunity for anything off road in Indiana is limited. I have taken some long distance trips to the NC beaches and Outer Banks. My new wife thoroughly enjoys the motorcycle but has zero experience riding herself but is very enthusiastic about learning and riding two up on the DR is not fun for any longer trips.
Neither one of us are large people. I am 5’6” and about 145lbs and she is 5’2” and about 115lbs. My first thought, since she wants to learn to ride, was to get a couple of low mileage F650s and take our time so she could learn. Then in the next year start venturing out a little at a time. The positives of this are that we can have a couple of smaller bikes, carry more gear and it will be easier to travel to some out of the way places.
Then I have read that traveling together is better and more fun to go two up on a bigger bike but I am unsure that I am completely comfortable taking a bigger GS bike with both of us and gear around on a long trip. I am also afraid that a really big bike would limit some of the places we could explore. I know even taking the DR in the sand at the beach it would have been extremely hard with my wife on the back. So I have been looking at the new F650 twins. They have more power, should have less vibration but are significantly lighter and easier to manage than a big GS. But how well would they do and how comfortable would they be for two up touring? I’d love to have a F800GS and I suppose if I could lower it just a bit that might be the perfect compromise but I still don’t think it would be comfortable for 2 up touring.
Any thoughts from those of you that have been there and done that? I guess I could always find one F650 and enroll her in a MSF class and let her give it a try for a few months. If it doesn’t work out or if she doesn’t feel comfortable then we could sell that and look at other options. I do like the idea of us having 2 bikes but I want to be sure she is comfortable with it and it makes sense.
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