My girlfriends wants to ride 2 up!

[Catcha23]

My girlfriend of a few months now wants to experience riding on the Kat with me. She says I get a gleam in my eye when I start talking about my bike and how great it feels being on the open road and she wants to share the experience with me.

I would love for her to experience it with me, but I'm just afraid to let her ride. I love her too much and would not want anything to happen to her if a cager just so happen to plow into us or something. I would feel terrible!! She wants to go shopping for all the gear and everything soon, but I'm trying to get the right words together to explain it to her that I love her too much to have something to happen to her on my bike. It's not that I'm selfish and don't want to share my first love (lol) but the thought of us in an accident and her getting killed or injured and my injuries minor..... would kill me!! I ride within my abilities and do nothing fancy while on my Kat, but that doesn't mean that a cager could run us down at a light or something.

As riders, we all take a risk starting our bikes up each day/ every weekend. I've come to terms with the thought of actually being killed on the bike and just say prayers before, during and after rides. Bottom line, I love her too much to have something happen to her, so I'm going to have to tell her in the nicest way possible to beat it, this Kat is mine.... all mines!!

[SilentTJ]

well... personally, i'd say let her join you. turn the situation around. lets say she was the one who loved bikes, and you were in her shoes. would you want her to tell you no? granted in this role reversal, you wouldnt know the love of riding you do, but just think about what you'd be missing out on. what's going through your mind is normal paranoia and the desire to protect your love. but you're also being selfish. i also look at things in life with one thing in mind. sure there are risks, there are ALWAYS going to be risks, but are you really willing to let those risks prevent you from living your life? and at least she's willing to get all the proper gear and starting out the smart way. and who knows, maybe after a few rides, she'll love it so much she'll want to get her own bike. then you can sign her up for the MSF course, get a nice 250 of her own, and you can ride together, without having dead weight on the back of your bike (no offense).

and on a side note, lets be honest. when a woman gets an idea in her head that she wants something... is there really any hope of talking her out of it?

[meanstrk]

Quit being selfish and let her ride. The down side is that the bike becomes a wedge between you two.

Seriously... If she wants to share the passion with you, good for you both. It will give you something that you both love to do together and help bring you together even more. Just make sure she wears decent gear and go with it. Start slow and work up. People here know how me and my wife ride together, but we did not start that way... We worked up to speed together and love riding together.

If something is going to happen, it's fate, but practice helps eliminate those odds. Just think how you would feel if she were to get in a car accident tomorrow being "safe" and you two never got a chance to share a similar passion....

[plupien79]

Just let her know the risks... Full disclosure...

There is something nice about having your lady right behind you...

[Tinkerbell]

If you don't want anyone on YOUR bike fine, I understand that. But to inhibit someone of doing something they might actually enjoy is really selfish. I'm sure she is an adult and can make her own decisions. Get her one of her own, some gear and quit being overbearing.

[professa_riddler]

Let her share it with you. I think it would add more to your relationship. You guys can take day trips together and sightsee like never before. Actually, you will be killing two birds with one stone. You'll be able to spend time riding while being with your girl. Plus, the travel and the exploration. Sounds like a win-win to me.

[Chuckwick357]

Wow I have never heard it put that way. So what you are saying is riding a bike is too dangerous, but not for you. If she is any kind of woman the moment you give here the bikes are too dangerous speech she will be giving you the if it’s that bad you need to sell it speech.

Truth is you have a woman who sees your passion for riding and instead of getting ****y she wants to share your pleasure. My advice but that woman a ring she is one of the few!!

[Salz07]

Buy her a bike .

[HexKrak]

If you tell her the bike is too dangerous for her it's definitely going to be too dangerous for you in return. Gear her up get her interested if she wants to pursue it further get her in the msf then a kat 600 or ninja 250 of her own. I can understand you wanting to protect her, but you can't expect to protect her less than she wants to protect you. Ride safe, both of you, and have fun

[RossW]

My girl has never been happy about my bike but a couple months ago she started toying with the idea of taking the motorcycle class and maybe getting a bike if she liked it. I must admit, I was kinda scared by the idea.

Then I remembered all those times she told me to be careful and all those times she said she was worried about me when I was late getting home from work and I realized that the nervousness I was feeling was exactly what she felt every time I went riding. The kinda put things in perspective for me and now I hope she ends up liking riding as much as I do.

Would I ever let my girl ride on my bike with me? Certainly not, but only because I don't trust myself. Remember, if you love her too much to let something happen to her hopefully she feels the same way. Turnabout is fair play. If she wants a bike, let her get one.

[Chilli99katana]

I understand how you feel, I say tell her nicely that you'd love to let her ride along but rather she get her own bike and enjoy the experience herself. I'd say you were more cautious than selfish.

[Robgsxf750]

Rubbish. Take her for a nice (slow and safe) blat though the twisties. If it's her first time she'll think she's on the racetrack, even if you're doing 50mph. She'll be holding on to you really tight and she'll be pushing into the small of your back with her hips. Once she gets off after having that big vibrating throbbing machine between her legs you'll thank yourself that you took her for a ride.

[SilentTJ]

remember, this will be her first time on a bike. idk about you, but i remember my first time hitting the streets, i felt like i was flying. then i realized i was being passed by crappy cars and looked at my speedo to realize i was only going 35 in a 45. lol. so it doesnt have to be a fast ride. you don't even have to take any twisty roads. just stick to some nice smooth roads that are very easy to handle, cause the bike is going to handle very different, you need to adjust for that as well. and you're really not gonna like having her on the bike in terms of bike performance. but that's just it, you dont need to ride like your normally do when she's with you. you slow everything down, you take things more carefully and cautiously. you'd be surprised how a slow easy ride, which may seem like a rather boring ride for you, will be the ride of her life. then once you get home, you go for the ride of your life

[ViperTom]

Let her ride with you but make sure she knows the risks. I would pull some videos off the net of great riding on scenic roads and horrific crash scenes (the worst the better). After seeing both sides of the picture then let her decide if the risk out ways the benefits.

[The CyberPoet]

Gear for her, new riding techniques for you (much easier on the throttle, brakes, earlier gear changes).

If what you're saying is that you don't have the time under your belt to feel comfortable with a passenger, esp. one of the size/weight/etc. of your girlfriend, that's a different story -- and I respect that.

Have you ever ridden two-up before? If not, you need to establish some very careful ground rules (always get on the bike from the left, always get off the bike to the left when dismounting, never step on without warning me & getting my OK, never step off without warning me and getting my OK, this signal for slow-down, this signal for stop ASAP, this signal for I-love-you, this other signal for I'm hungry/thirsty/need-a-bathroom, never do this [insert list -- biggest one is leaning over to look backwards while you are in a turn]).

My most serious accident (and indirectly, my only other serious accident which happened while trying to nurse the bike home from the first accident) were both the fault of the passenger [literally] and my own fault for not briefing them sufficiently (forgot the ever famous "no leaning down & looking backwards while I'm banked over in a turn!" -- her actions cause me to have to go off-road to keep it up, which ended with a big boulder in my way).

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

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