Wife is on a Scooter

[misterprofessionality]

I'm just so darn proud. I got her on a scooter rental finally, after spending about 6 months teaching her to ride a bicycle properly. she kept the bike up, learned to pull away and stop reliably, and learned some turns by looping around culdesacs and taking apex rights and lefts at intersections.

I also got stung by a wasp while following her on my own scooter. good times.

Point being, the lady can now pilot a two-wheeled vehicle in the most basic sense. We're debating getting her her own cheap chinese 50cc that she can ride into the ground before the new Super Cub hits dealerships, but i can see the spark is lit. she's already got "engine eyes" and keeps pulling up information on a Vespa GT250. She's not quite ready to learn transmissions yet, but that's why I want her to get a Super Cub, so she can shift without having to manage a clutch. Am I making a mistake keeping her away from transmissions for a while?

 

[redbirds_imp]

Sounds like she's starting out right.
A friend made the mistake of starting his wife out by teaching her to ride his 1100cc cruiser. It did not go well.

 

[misterprofessionality]

Sounds like she's starting out right.
A friend made the mistake of starting his wife out by teaching her to ride his 1100cc cruiser. It did not go well.

You never know. some of us have wives with frighteningly powerful legs.

 

[KiowaEagle_imp]

I'm just so darn proud. I got her on a scooter rental finally, after spending about 6 months teaching her to ride a bicycle properly. she kept the bike up, learned to pull away and stop reliably, and learned some turns by looping around culdesacs and taking apex rights and lefts at intersections.

I also got stung by a wasp while following her on my own scooter. good times.

Point being, the lady can now pilot a two-wheeled vehicle in the most basic sense. We're debating getting her her own cheap chinese 50cc that she can ride into the ground before the new Super Cub hits dealerships, but i can see the spark is lit. she's already got "engine eyes" and keeps pulling up information on a Vespa GT250. She's not quite ready to learn transmissions yet, but that's why I want her to get a Super Cub, so she can shift without having to manage a clutch. Am I making a mistake keeping her away from transmissions for a while?

Yes, if you teach her with a clutch it will be harder but in the end better for her because it will be much more natural.

I taught my daughter how to drive a car with a manual transmission. She may not always drive a manual but she'll never forget how to.

 

[PowerDubs_imp]

How old is she? Can she drive a stick?

 

[misterprofessionality]

How old is she? Can she drive a stick?

she's 30. Sadly, we've got no opportunity to teach her how to drive a manual car. You can't rent them, and we don't exactly have a social circle full of people with manual cars who would let her borrow one. Without the car to drive, there's just no way for her to learn that. I can, so I could teach her if I had the vehicle, but there's just no opportunity. This is actually kind of tragic because she really wants to see if she likes driving a manual Mini (Minis are really meant to be driven manual, and she's got an Automatic now).

I'm just so darn proud. I got her on a scooter rental finally, after spending about 6 months teaching her to ride a bicycle properly. she kept the bike up, learned to pull away and stop reliably, and learned some turns by looping around culdesacs and taking apex rights and lefts at intersections.

I also got stung by a wasp while following her on my own scooter. good times.

Point being, the lady can now pilot a two-wheeled vehicle in the most basic sense. We're debating getting her her own cheap chinese 50cc that she can ride into the ground before the new Super Cub hits dealerships, but i can see the spark is lit. she's already got "engine eyes" and keeps pulling up information on a Vespa GT250. She's not quite ready to learn transmissions yet, but that's why I want her to get a Super Cub, so she can shift without having to manage a clutch. Am I making a mistake keeping her away from transmissions for a while?

Yes, if you teach her with a clutch it will be harder but in the end better for her because it will be much more natural.

I taught my daughter how to drive a car with a manual transmission. She may not always drive a manual but she'll never forget how to.

my fear is that there's too big a difference between learning a bike and learning a car to give her so much to worry about. a car isn't going to fall over on its side while you're distracted with learning how to work the clutch. on top of that, like i said in the OP, she only just learned how to ride a bicycle this year. she'd never ridden one as a child. it might be hard to imagine, but think about how your perception of balance would change if you had never ever learned to ride a bicycle. learning how to ride a motorcycle suddenly becomes much more complicated. I watched this poor girl fall off a ruckus the first time she tried it, and i didn't even think that was possible for an adult. My theory is that once her sense of balance and throttle control are at the place where they're fully natural and engaged, she can start fiddling with her left foot and left hand.

 

[emptysea]

Full disclosure - I have not read every word of this thread.

Wouldn't having her take the MSF course put her on a bike that she would have to shift? Also, is it possible for her to get her M designation on a scooter and wouldn't she need the M to ride a scooter over 150cc in your state ?

 

[misterprofessionality]

MSF courses around here are outrageously expensive, and they would put her on a bike that is, by her assessment, too big for her. she's aiming at something like a Super Cub or a little Vespa, not a Rebel or a TU250. She might eventually look that way once she's had a chance to ride a while, but for now she's walled it off in her mind. She's looked at the Vespa 250, but it's really more of a gag than an actual desire to buy one. basically, she's still scared of "real" motorcycles. I figure, i'd rather her play in her comfort zone than try to shove her into something she's unsure about. it would be a tragedy for me to put out this little kindle of desire to learn riding, just because I want her to jump in with both feet.

an MSF course might be more appropriate if she showed an interest in "real" motorcycles.

As far as the M goes, laughably, she can actually ride a 50CC scooter to the road test and use it, and they will let her. stupid, i know. that said, i don't think there's a great deal of difference between brining a 50 and bringing something like a super cub to the exam, and she doesn't need any of that at all if she decides to stick with a 50.

 

[Houtman_imp]

When I was 16 in Holland I bought a 49 cc Honda Cub and this moped started my long life love for motorcycles and in particular the quality of Honda motor cycles.

 

[riggies_imp]

Dirt bike. As someone who grew up riding bmx and dirt bikes, I can’t even comprehend not knowing how to ride a bicycle, but if I wanted to learn I’d do it on a dirt bike. On the dirt. Away from traffic.

 

[misterprofessionality]

Riggies, that idea actually did occur to me. there's an adventure park a few hours from me where you can get a dirt bike rental and tear a$$ all over the landscape for a few hours. that would be a good place for her to learn to shift without risking buying and destroying a bike.

 

[Banned_imp]

A scooter is how I started out riding, I bought a brand new '86 Honda Aero 50 as I could ride it on the road at 14. The reason I bought it instead of a dirt bike was because I didn't have anyone to teach me how to ride and thought learning everything all at once would be too much. I figured once I got the balance (I did know how to ride a bicycle) and throttle control I could tackle this thing called a "clutch". It worked and the next year I bought a '79 XL185 to learn the rest.

Seemed like a good way to learn to me.

 

[tnelson99_imp]

I always encourage new riders to start out on a scooter. It can be a little overwhelming to be a new rider and being comfortable in traffic trying to learn all the controls of a manual motorcycle. Imagine sitting on a motorcycle in traffic on a hill and stalling the bike trying to take off. I believe it's better to get them comfortable in traffic on a twist and go first then once they're used to being surrounded by traffic switch over to a motorcycle if they want. Just my .02

BTW: My daily driver is a scooter (2010 Honda SH150i). Sitting in stop and go traffic on a hot day isn't something I want to be doing on my CB. On a scooter with the engine behind you there's no engine heat making you miserable when sitting in traffic not to mention working the clutch non-stop crawling between stop lights.

 

[misterprofessionality]

I always encourage new riders to start out on a scooter. It can be a little overwhelming to be a new rider and being comfortable in traffic trying to learn all the controls of a manual motorcycle. Imagine sitting on a motorcycle in traffic on a hill and stalling the bike trying to take off. I believe it's better to get them comfortable in traffic on a twist and go first then once they're used to being surrounded by traffic switch over to a motorcycle if they want. Just my .02

BTW: My daily driver is a scooter (2010 Honda SH150i). Sitting in stop and go traffic on a hot day isn't something I want to be doing on my CB. On a scooter with the engine behind you there's no engine heat making you miserable when sitting in traffic not to mention working the clutch non-stop crawling between stop lights.

That was my perspective too. I figured as well as being generally simpler to master, something without a transmission is also going to be slower, weaker, and less likley to get out from under her. Motorcycles are, by and large, outrageously powerful when you think about it.

funny you should mention not wanting to be in traffic on your CB, because I do that every single day. i've considered eventually getting a second bike so that I could learn how to do mechanical stuff (probably a 70's kicker air-cooled twin or something), but sometimes i think I might go in the complete opposite direction and just get a Zero so that I can commute with no transmission and no heat in the summer. The Zero wouldn't require as much maintenance, so I could leave it garaged until those hot traffic-jam days come around.

 

[emptysea]

My wife had a 2010 SH150i. That was a great scooter possibly one of the best scooters for novices...larger wheels for more comfort and stability, light enough to move around in the garage or parking area, quick enough to keep up with traffic. I wish we kept ours.

 

[tnelson99_imp]

My wife had a 2010 SH150i. That was a great scooter possibly one of the best scooters for novices...larger wheels for more comfort and stability, light enough to move around in the garage or parking area, quick enough to keep up with traffic. I wish we kept ours.

I agree. Mine is a keeper. I found it last year parked in someone's barn with 55 miles on it. Covered in dust and pigeon poop. I ride it to work year round. It's Italy's #1 selling scooter.

 

[use2b_imp]

I'm just so darn proud. I got her on a scooter rental finally, after spending about 6 months teaching her to ride a bicycle properly. she kept the bike up, learned to pull away and stop reliably, and learned some turns by looping around culdesacs and taking apex rights and lefts at intersections.

I also got stung by a wasp while following her on my own scooter. good times.

Point being, the lady can now pilot a two-wheeled vehicle in the most basic sense. We're debating getting her her own cheap chinese 50cc that she can ride into the ground before the new Super Cub hits dealerships, but i can see the spark is lit. she's already got "engine eyes" and keeps pulling up information on a Vespa GT250. She's not quite ready to learn transmissions yet, but that's why I want her to get a Super Cub, so she can shift without having to manage a clutch. Am I making a mistake keeping her away from transmissions for a while?

congratulations as it sounds like both of you are enjoying this.
I started my wife off with a Yamaha RD400 and she did great for never riding a motorcycle. she became efficient in no time while only riding on a large school grounds grass [ after school ] for safety plus she had no license. her only experience was long range bicycle riding as she even ride 22 miles one way to come visit me when we were dating = Keeper ..
unless she is going to stay with a scooter i would go ahead with the transmission teaching as i did my wife and four children . JMO

 

[Cormanus]

My first inclination was to take use2b's position on the basis that, if you can ride with manual transmission, you can ride anything and it's a pretty fundamental motorcycle riding skill. However, the fact that your wife has never ridden any two-wheeled creature until recently is a consideration. But—and perhaps this is the most important consideration—is what she's up for. If she feels up to the challenge of clutches and gears, I'd start there. If she'd rather snooze around on a twist-and-go while she gets the hang of it all and then try graduating, go with that. The more I think about it the more I'm of the view there's really no right answer to this question.

 

[misterprofessionality]

I'm on the fence too. that's why i put the question out there. I've come to the conclusion that it's a problem of availability. If i had 2 or 3 bikes laying around, i'd stick her on the smallest one and teach her clutches and gears. if it comes to shelling out cash to buy her a beater, i'm only going to spend money on the thing that she's most comfortable with. I think that's what it really comes down to. money is king, as usual. then there's her aesthetic attraction to a Super Cub, which is a step-through anyway.

Think the little C125 thumper can keep up with the Cb11 on the way to myrtle beach?

 

[use2b_imp]

older honda rebel's are tough and cheap , yet a real motorcycle and her feet would touch the ground easy
they use them here to teach people to ride and will keep up at the speeds you need to be taking her

check this one out that could probably be had for less = 2300 miles , like new $1300
https://www.cycletrader.com/listing/2001-Honda-REBEL-(CMX250C)-5003961201