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Hi All,
Hopefully this doesn't double post, but it looks like my original post didn't take. Anyway, here is my question....
I've been riding my entire life. I currently have a BMW 1200 GS and an old but minty beautiful R1200C.
After College, my daughter moved to the left coast and surprising to me (she was never much interested in riding as a kid) she took a safety course and got her motorcycle license.
Her thinking is that she wanted to buy a cheap Rebel off of Craigs List and asked that I check some bikes out when I visited. As background, I get out there once a month on business, and have often thought that I wouldn't mind having a bike out there for me when I visit.
So, I checked out these Rebels and they scared the bejeeebeees out of me when riding them (not to mention the fact that the ones she was looking at had carburetors and didn't like to start in spite of the warm SoCal weather) . I can't imagine riding such a small bike on the freeway. Now my daughter's commute is 5 miles on surface streets, so it wouldn't be crazy I guess, but such a small bike seems scary to me.
I've been interested in the CB100EX myself and have done some test rides locally. The bike is a big friendly teddy bear of a motorcycle with impeccable manners. And my daughter is very responsible so I'm not worried about her going crazy on it.....
The question is if it's outrageous to think that a new (but very responsible) female could handle the 1100EX? She's 5'8 with long legs, so I don't think that height would be too much of an issue. I'd hate to encourage her to ride it if it were too much though. Food for thought anyway. My daughter's ideal would be something like a used SR400 with the kick starter. Sounds good in principle, but having tried one on the road, it blows around a bunch.
Thoughts appreciated...
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G'day tommymck. Welcome to the forum. Your first post didn't appear to take because the forum software requires a moderator to approve any new member's first past. After that, go for it.
Forum member redbirds' wife, Sparky, has just acquired a 2013 CB1100. There was a younger member called elemenopi who hasn't posted for a bit who had a lovely 2014 DLX. Last I saw she was also a member of one of the CB1100 Facebook groups. Both those women handle the CB1100 with no problems. Gender will not be the issue here.
Me, I don't think the CB1100 is a good bike for a newbie, but I come from an era when few would have dreamed of a bike so big (capacity rather than actual size). Others on the forum disagree and a number of them have way more experience of different bikes than me. In the end, I guess, if she likes it and feels she can get comfortable quickly enough, it would be a great bike. The obvious family benefit is that you'd get to ride it too!
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(03-18-2018, 03:17 PM)Cormanus_imp Wrote: G'day tommymck. Welcome to the forum. Your first post didn't appear to take because the forum software requires a moderator to approve any new member's first past. After that, go for it.
Forum member redbirds' wife, Sparky, has just acquired a 2013 CB1100. There was a younger member called elemenopi who hasn't posted for a bit who had a lovely 2014 DLX. Last I saw she was also a member of one of the CB1100 Facebook groups. Both those women handle the CB1100 with no problems. Gender will not be the issue here.
Me, I don't think the CB1100 is a good bike for a newbie, but I come from an era when few would have dreamed of a bike so big (capacity rather than actual size). Others on the forum disagree and a number of them have way more experience of different bikes than me. In the end, I guess, if she likes it and feels she can get comfortable quickly enough, it would be a great bike. The obvious family benefit is that you'd get to ride it too!
Thanks for the reply Cormanus,
Yeah... That's my concern. Encouraging her to get something (even though I'd contribute to it) that wouldn't be appropriate for her. My issue is that small bikes just seem to be way unstable on the road. It's all relative I guess, but checking out these Rebels, they just seem very unstable. I've been riding since I was 13, which was a very long time ago. The bigger bikes just "feel" safer to me, which may just be my bias.
I guess I'm just looking for any reports from new riders who have ridden the 1100EX. The displacement doesn't scare me for her as much as the weight I guess...
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Welcome... (03-18-2018, 02:43 PM)tommymck_imp Wrote: Hi All,
Hopefully this doesn't double post, but it looks like my original post didn't take. Anyway, here is my question....
I've been riding my entire life. I currently have a BMW 1200 GS and an old but minty beautiful R1200C.
After College, my daughter moved to the left coast and surprising to me (she was never much interested in riding as a kid) she took a safety course and got her motorcycle license.
Her thinking is that she wanted to buy a cheap Rebel off of Craigs List and asked that I check some bikes out when I visited. As background, I get out there once a month on business, and have often thought that I wouldn't mind having a bike out there for me when I visit.
So, I checked out these Rebels and they scared the bejeeebeees out of me when riding them (not to mention the fact that the ones she was looking at had carburetors and didn't like to start in spite of the warm SoCal weather) . I can't imagine riding such a small bike on the freeway. Now my daughter's commute is 5 miles on surface streets, so it wouldn't be crazy I guess, but such a small bike seems scary to me.
I've been interested in the CB100EX myself and have done some test rides locally. The bike is a big friendly teddy bear of a motorcycle with impeccable manners. And my daughter is very responsible so I'm not worried about her going crazy on it.....
The question is if it's outrageous to think that a new (but very responsible) female could handle the 1100EX? She's 5'8 with long legs, so I don't think that height would be too much of an issue. I'd hate to encourage her to ride it if it were too much though. Food for thought anyway. My daughter's ideal would be something like a used SR400 with the kick starter. Sounds good in principle, but having tried one on the road, it blows around a bunch.
Thoughts appreciated...
The SR400 blows around... do you mean it gets blown around by speed plus wind?
It's great that you're helping her out, but a 540lb bike is a lot of weight particularly at walking it in / out of garage. Could it be that you're underestimating your riding experience which allows you to feel immediately comfy on the CB1100? That may not be the case for her w/out the same experience you have. Her riding style and needs may differ greatly from yours.
These internet "gems" have some truth to them:
"You should plan on your first bike being exactly what its name implies. It’s your first bike, not your last bike."
"If you take up riding and don't enjoy it, your first bike will be your LAST bike;
If you take up riding and love it, your first bike will be your first of MANY bikes."
If it were my daughter and she wanted to consider some different styles...
Suzuki TU250
Ninja250 - 300
Honda CBR300r
Honda CB500f
Yamaha Vstar250
If she doesn't mind the kick start, that SR400 would seem reasonable to me.
Good luck!
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I would just lend my voice to pdedse regarding a "first bike" choice. Yes, with 39 years and 400K plus miles, the CB1100 was the easiest new bike I think I've ever ridden. But if I could somehow see back to 1979 and imagine getting onto that 540 or 560 (haven't actually weighed mine) pound beast, I would have been pretty intimidated. Really easy to ride, but heavy for a novice.
My vote goes to the CB500F. Enough power for the freeway and reasonable weight. And it's a Honda.
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(03-18-2018, 09:22 PM)cookiemech_imp Wrote: I would just lend my voice to pdedse regarding a "first bike" choice. Yes, with 39 years and 400K plus miles, the CB1100 was the easiest new bike I think I've ever ridden. But if I could somehow see back to 1979 and imagine getting onto that 540 or 560 (haven't actually weighed mine) pound beast, I would have been pretty intimidated. Really easy to ride, but heavy for a novice.
My vote goes to the CB500F. Enough power for the freeway and reasonable weight. And it's a Honda.
Plus 1 !
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what pdedse says. I have an SR400 for commuting and around town, and the CB for out-of-town. The Yamaha doesn't get blown around any more than any bike in its weight class, and I found it a wonderful first/everyday bike for surface streets--only gets questionable over 50 mph. If highways are not yet part of the equation, I think she would be MUCH more comfortable with something like that. Has she sat on a CB or tried putting it on its center stand?
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Thanks for all of the replies! Sounds like she was on the right track after all. And by "blew around", I meant by relative wind (or cars going by or whatever...) I guess I'm just not used to riding light bikes on the streets. It's hard to take highways out of the equation in Burbank if you want to do more than just tool around, but that's probably fine for her.
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 Howdy and welcome to the forum. II don't think you said how big your daughter is and that comes into play as well. At 5'9" she can ride bikes comfortably that a 5'6" er can't. is she athletic? Muscular? Has she considered a scooter? A 400 Suzuki or Yamaha will easily keep up with freeway traffic and get 65 miles to gallon. If tall enough and stuck on a motorcycle I would be another vote for a CB 500X, an NC 700 or an SV 650.
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I had been riding for 21 years when I bought my CB and I don't mind admitting that at first I was a little bit intimidated by the weight.
The heaviest bike I owned up to that point has a curb weight of 480 pounds and I really noticed the added weight of the CB at slow speeds.
Being an experienced rider that intimidation soon faded and I couldn't be happier with the bike.
ferret asked some important questions about her physical ability, and this along with the weight of the bike, is something to seriously consider.
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