This is pretty fun! My wife decided she wants to learn to ride, so we begin looking for a bike she can ride. Since she is only 5 foot nothing, it's gotta be small. Then I remembered that her older brother had a bike, and it's sitting in a shed in MO.

Well, long story short, we got the bike here to Colorado, and it's in better shape than I thought. It's a 1978 Yamaha DT100 Enduro- a tiny little two-stroke steet legal Dual Sport. It's perfect- she can flat foot it, and pick it up!

I've been working on it- it hadn't been started since 1983! carb rebuild, points, tires, chain, etc... It runs great now. Perfect for learning- soft low end power, geared low, lightweight.

Today we went to a parking lot and spent about an hour and a half learning. She is HOOKED! I had to come to work, but she didn't want to quit. We're off together on Tuesday, so we'll do more. Today, she got up to third gear, learned about braking, practiced figure 8's . She's picking it up quick.

Check out this video!-

http://media.putfile.com/Faster-27

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/108120488-L.jpg

congrats.Sounds like things are headed in the right direction with safety in mind.Thumbs up Hayduke!!!!

Safety First! She WILL be taking the MSF course in the spring. But a friend of hers (another newb girl, who took the course) felt like it would be best to have at least some knowledge of how things work before the course. Less intimidating that way. Now that it is Nov., though, and with weather and no MSF courses nearby, she'll probably have it dialed before she takes the course. ;)

We started out just learning clutch and brake control, then slowly adding other elements. Any other suggestions?

Woohoo! Tami got her permit today-

https://hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/108481591-M-1.jpg

And her mighty Enduro got Bad-Ass new tires! :mrgreen:

https://www.smugmug.com/photos/108481642-L.jpg

https://www.smugmug.com/photos/108481623-L.jpg

Congrats Tami and Hayduke.Let the good times roll :h0064

Tami! Congrats, kiddo!

Laurie will come ride something tame with us sometime, I'm sure. I'll show her how to throw her bike off the trail and down the mountain... You can show her how NOT to do that.

Thanks guys! Yesterday was really fun! I took Tami out to practice on some dirt, and she did great. She rode some loose rocky stuff and she started standing on the pegs when it got really rough. Remember, this is her third time on a motorcycle! She did so good, that we decided to practice around the block. She did that for awhile, so we rode out of town on some county roads- both paved and dirt, and a loop of about 25miles! She got up to about 48 mph, (which is about top speed on this little bike).

Here are a couple of pics-

https://hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/108761260-M.jpg

Determination-

https://www.smugmug.com/photos/108761251-L.jpg

Check out this little video clip-

http://media.putfile.com/MVI-2757

Wow,must really be a pain :r001 to learn to ride a bike in all that terrible scenery :lol: Bye the way,nice riding gear Tami.ATGATT.Really glad to have another riding couple around.Let the adventures begin!!!!!!!!!


Mike

Wow,must really be a pain :r001 to learn to ride a bike in all that terrible scenery :lol: Bye the way,nice riding gear Tami.ATGATT.Really glad to have another riding couple around.Let the adventures begin!!!!!!!!!


Mike

It is really distracting. :lol:

We rode a little today, too. About 75 degrees and sunny. Is this really November?

http://hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/109016304-M.jpg

http://hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/109016309-M.jpg

ATGATT!

http://hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/109016325-M.jpg

http://hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/109016337-M.jpg

That bike looks pretty normal with her on it, till it is next to the KLR...BTW I am not making fun of her size, she's taller than my wife :smile: , and I am 6'3...Doug

Hayduke, congrats to you and the Mrs. on the excellent learning to ride project! I have this theory that these days people (even tall people ;) ) are taught to ride on bikes that are too big and by too big I'm 250cc or bigger. I think it's much better to start out on a bike that is not going to be a handful to pick up or push around or seem intimidating to those with zero riding experience.

Hayduke, congrats to you and the Mrs. on the excellent learning to ride project! I have this theory that these days people (even tall people ;) ) are taught to ride on bikes that are too big and by too big I'm 250cc or bigger. I think it's much better to start out on a bike that is not going to be a handful to pick up or push around or seem intimidating to those with zero riding experience.

I agree completely. But for 5'0" people, it's hard to find something that is not intimidating, but is still street legal.

My next search is for a larger countershaft sprocket for this bike. It's geared so low, that she is taking off in second now so she doesn't have to upshift within 10 ft. It seems to have enough power to pull a little higher ratio, and it wouldn't be screaming at 45 mph. She doesn't need to go much faster, but it would be nice if it was a little more leisurely for the bike.

Hayduke,you might try OldBikeBarn.com.They claim to have every part for Japanese bikes thru 1960-1990


Mike

I can't believe how good Tami is doing, especially in the dirt. I'm grooming her to ride the same rocky loose crap that I like to ride. :mrgreen:

Today we did some drills in a parking lot, then headed up "Methodist Mountian" to the powerline road for some dirt practice. This road gets real ugly in a few places, with steep hills for a beginner and loose rocks. She's doing great standing up on the pegs and picking lines. Only got alittle out of control once, when she lost traction on a steep climb, got too far back, and held on to the throttle making her take off. Our drills with the clutch worked, though, when she instictively pulled in the clutch and got the bike stopped. Really cool that we're working on dirt technique already. I wouldn't have ridden these roads on my 6th or 7th day on a bike (or maybe I did, I was only like 5 years old).

some pics from today=

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/110642356-L.jpg

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/110642349-L.jpg

loose downhill-

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/110642370-L.jpg

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/110642385-L.jpg

Steep uphill-

http://www.hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/110642396-L.jpg

She is looking GOOD on that bike. I hope the good weather keeps up, we may get to Phantom Canon yet this year.

Nick

:c00272 Ain't it fun :lol: :lol: :lol:

That's great Hayduke! Having a significant other that rides is so special, it really brings the two of you together in a way that little else can.

I hope this isn't a hijack but your post brought to mind a post I put up on FZ1OA a couple years ago:

My girlfriend Meredith has been interested in motorcycling for a while but never really went past the point of riding as anything but a passenger. And since I hate having a passenger, that wasn't working too well for me. I started asking her a few months ago if she wanted to learn to ride and she seemed pretty excited about the idea. I was excited, too, since I would love to have a significant other that is a rider.

So, I bought her a used Shoei helmet off E-Bay and a new Gericke jacket from the Iron Pony Closeout, and found a decent 1992 Ninja 250 in Louisville for a thousand bucks. She got her temporary permit and I picked the 250 up about a month ago.

She was thrilled when I brought the Ninja home. She knew that I was getting it but I think actually seeing it in front of her was a shock. She took to it immediately and she began riding that night by starting out in the alley behind my house doing clutch work, and then moving to an empty parking lot and doing laps, starts, stops, and turns for about 3 hours while I pivoted around in the middle of the lot watching her and yelling suggestions to her. The grin coming from under her helmet every time she roared by me was dazzling and I could tell she loved it.

Within a couple of days she felt comfortable enough to try riding on some quiet residential streets by herself. The first day she was riding, I was working so I couldn't ride with her. I followed her for a few blocks in the patrol car and then thought that I was probably making her nervous so I backed off and tried to anticipate where she would go so I could see her every few minutes and make sure she was okay without seeming too needy. She rode for several hours that night and then rode for several more the next few days, putting about 100 miles on the motorcycle just in town.

Within a few more days, she felt comfortable enough to go on a morning ride with me. I led, trying to find roads that had a mix of little traffic, few curves, minimal gravel / pavement seams / tar snakes; and trying to watch my speed. She kept up like a champ and I was enjoying watching her get ever so gradually more aggressive and lean the bike over in turns a little farther and then a little farther. I must confess, though, that I spent most of the ride nervously watching my mirrors for her and every so often had my heart jump into my throat as I worried if she would be able to negotiate a treacherous portion of asphalt that I had just passed over.

That morning ride led to several more morning rides, each one getting longer and longer until we were doing 200 mile rides with no problem. Watching her unabashed joy at learning to ride made me remember the pleasure of just riding a motorcycle to be in the fresh air and to take the road less traveled. There was no need to go a million miles an hour or take each corner by scraping my pegs; I could just cruise and know that she was behind me reveling in the simple wonder of learning the motorcycle and learning herself.

Our morning rides led to the best and longest ride so far, a two day camping trip into West Virginia, to the New River Gorge. We left Wednesday morning and rode through southeast Ohio and into West Virginia, crossing the Ohio River near New Matamoras. WV 16 took us south right to the New River and we had a great night of swimming, exploring, and camping. The next morning we rode northwest via WV 60 and passed through Charleston before hooking north toward home. The ride itself is worthy of an entire post; but this is about her. She did over 750 miles in less than two days on the 250 and had a great time exploring the mountain roads of West Virginia.

I'm really excited to have a significant other who wants to ride. I was a little worried at first that she was just telling me what she thought I wanted to hear, but it is obvious now that she is loving motorcycling. She rides everywhere, and takes the bike regardless of weather conditions. She is dreaming about buying her own motorcycle. She is reading "Proficient Motorcycling" and has signed up for the MSF class. ?Rider? and ?Motorcyclist? have replaced ?Cosmo? and ?Vogue? on the back of my toilet. I've walked in on her having conversations with her friends and family on the phone, and the talk invariably is centered around motorcycling. She still has to comb her hair and check her makeup when she takes off her helmet at gas stops, but I guess if she didn?t she wouldn?t be much of a girl, eh?

I?m having as much of a blast as she is, and am finding out completely new things about her. Some of the best conversations I?ve had with her in a while have been over early morning coffee after doing fifty miles. I?m hoping for many more miles, many more roads, and many more rides with her.

Nice addition, Meefzah! Tami is loving it, and I can tell she's gonna outgrow this little 100 real quick. It was worth getting it running, though. And to think, 4 years ago, when I got back in to riding, she wanted nohing to do with it. Now we ride everywhere, and she has her own bike....

glad to see she is lovin it ! I've had the wife on my sons KE 100, which from the looks of it is the same size as the yami, love that 2 stroke zing ! Viv is a bit heavier than tami though, so she gets a TW 200 for a
Christmas present that she has no clue she is getting !

glad to see she is lovin it ! I've had the wife on my sons KE 100, which from the looks of it is the same size as the yami, love that 2 stroke zing ! Viv is a bit heavier than tami though, so she gets a TW 200 for a
Christmas present that she has no clue she is getting !

NICE Christmas present! She's going to love it!

Woohoo! We bought Tami a new bike!!! She got a 2002 Yamaha XT225! Seems like a great companion to my KLR. We go pick it up on Wednesday if the weather cooperates. It's in great shape with 2100 miles. Really looking forward to the snow melting and doing some fun rides!!!

http://adventuregirl.smugmug.com/photos/108580515-M.jpg

We got it today!!!!

http://hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/123826920-M.jpg

http://hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/123826926-L-1.jpg

congrats.Tamis smile says it all.Now we're waiting for ride pics :smile:

Just to update- Tami took her first real dirt ride on her XT last Wed., and did good but ended up a little frustrated. On the tiny little '78 enduro she had, she could pretty much put her feet down whenever and wherever she felt like it. With the XT, though, she is learning that you have to pay attention to your stop zone. Put your foot down on the uphill side, for instance-
https://www.smugmug.com/photos/134408623-M.jpg
Check out our friend Kurt on his "Mighty 'Hunnert"-
https://www.smugmug.com/photos/134408632-M.jpg
I just did a Dynojet Kit and some major airbox mods to the KLR and she's running stronger than ever-
https://www.smugmug.com/photos/134411243-M.jpg
There were alot of really muddy spots and some steep places. This was steeper than it looks, and pretty slimy-
https://www.smugmug.com/photos/134412179-L.jpg
We hiked up to the "swinging rock" in Turret, where I did an impression- "herc- uh-leeze, herc-uh-leeze!"
https://www.smugmug.com/photos/134411257-L.jpg
On the way back home, we stopped in a big flat dirt area to do some dirt-parking-lot drills. She did great, until she came to a stop next to me, and put her foot in a hole-
https://www.smugmug.com/photos/134412186-M.jpg
This is where she started to get frustrated. She's also gotta start working out, 'cause she couldn't pick it up by herself.
Coming home was uneventful, until we pulled into our driveway, and our neighbors dog ran over to say hi. Tami was afraid she would hit the dog, and stopped abruptly, and proceeded to drop the bike into our car! I helped her pick it up off of the fender, and she went inside and cried. Really a frustrating day for her, but honestly she is doing great. She has only been riding since October or November, and this was her first time on any real dirt with the XT. When she is moving she has good technique and is doing good- she was up on the pegs through slippery mud with the bike wagging all over the place and she just throttled through it all day (roosting mud on me, BTW). She just needs to be aware of where here feet are going when she stops. We'll be practicing alot this month, then she takes the MSF Beginner course on Easter weekend.

Great looking bike. Wise choice... I really love riding my wifes XT225 too!!

I think you can lower the XT225 a bit to help with the height. Someone told me about some lowering links one time. {edit} Don't think it can be lowered as it doesn't have replaceable links.. {/edit} I'll look for that message. Most of the info I get for this bike is from http://www.xt225.com (http://www.xt225.com/)
{edit}I see you are a member there , sorry...{/edit}
and from http://www.angelfire.com/sports/serowpages/

The MSF course is a REALLY great idea.

Just to update- Tami took her first real dirt ride on her XT last Wed., and did good but ended up a little frustrated. On the tiny little '78 enduro she had, she could pretty much put her feet down whenever and wherever she felt like it. With the XT, though, she is learning that you have to pay attention to your stop zone. Put your foot down on the uphill side, for instance-
https://www.smugmug.com/photos/134408623-M.jpg
Check out our friend Kurt on his "Mighty 'Hunnert"-

I just did a Dynojet Kit and some major airbox mods to the KLR and she's running stronger than ever-

There were alot of really muddy spots and some steep places. This was steeper than it looks, and pretty slimy-

We hiked up to the "swinging rock" in Turret, where I did an impression- "herc- uh-leeze, herc-uh-leeze!"

On the way back home, we stopped in a big flat dirt area to do some dirt-parking-lot drills. She did great, until she came to a stop next to me, and put her foot in a hole-
https://www.smugmug.com/photos/134412186-M.jpg
This is where she started to get frustrated. She's also gotta start working out, 'cause she couldn't pick it up by herself.
Coming home was uneventful, until we pulled into our driveway, and our neighbors dog ran over to say hi. Tami was afraid she would hit the dog, and stopped abruptly, and proceeded to drop the bike into our car! I helped her pick it up off of the fender, and she went inside and cried. Really a frustrating day for her, but honestly she is doing great. She has only been riding since October or November, and this was her first time on any real dirt with the XT. When she is moving she has good technique and is doing good- she was up on the pegs through slippery mud with the bike wagging all over the place and she just throttled through it all day (roosting mud on me, BTW). She just needs to be aware of where here feet are going when she stops. We'll be practicing alot this month, then she takes the MSF Beginner course on Easter weekend.

Through a combination of sliding the forks up, and cutting down the seat, and backing the preload on the shock, her XT is almost 3 inches lower than stock. But she still can only put the balls of her feet down.:)

https://www.smugmug.com/photos/125069343-M.jpg

Awesome stuff!!! This is what riding is all about. Thanks for the great updates.

Congrats on the new bike Tami.

Few tips....

Anyone can pick just about any size motorcycle up, it's all technique. Stand near the seat area and turn yourself around. Reach back and grab the handgrip and the rear rack bar. Push in to the seat with your lower body (Whatever hits) and begin lifting the bike, make sure the handlebar continues to turn all the way in to the tank as you lift it further up, this will give you more leverage. It won't take near as much effort as you think. If it does, simply adjust your technique because each person is different and you'll find the technique that works for you and makes getting the bike up extremely easy. Once you get the bike up where it's balancing itself, just lean it on your hip and swap your arms and turn back around. Once you master this technique, you can transfer some of it to picking up the bike facing forward.

As for not being able to flat foot, my buddy is a tad short and has this problem with his CR250F. If you don't want to do all the mods to lower it, then you'll have to learn to slide off to one side on demand. It's not a lot of technique as it is mentally remembering to do it and getting the timing down. This will more or less take seat time and constantly reminding yourself to do it. It will become easy and automatic soon enough.


Please keep up the updates, because I enjoy reading this type of stuff. Helps to remind me why I ride.

I sure wish I had roads like that to ride on also!

Update:

Tami finally got her license!!!! Two weeks ago we rode over to Montrose CO for her MSF Beginner Rider Course. With promises of "10% chance of precip., highs in the 60's", and because I was in the Experienced course on Sat., we rode the ST1100 2-up (she had to use the MSF bikes for the course). The BRC is a 3 day affair, and the first two days were great. The last day, however, was raining like mad and about 38 degrees. :( Her class was cancelled. So after finding creative routes to get home because Monarch Pass was now covered in snow, we found out that the last day was rescheduled for last Sunday.

Saturday night we drove over, because, again, there was a blizzard on Monarch Pass. But Sunday was nice and she managed to complete and pass the course!!!

http://hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/145920680-M.jpg

Here's a link to Tami's post about the final day of the MSF course

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4486778&postcount=328

Congrats on passing:cool0012:

And that ever present smile:)

Have fun riding in that beautiful country you live in:character00201: :character00201: :character00201:



Happy Trails

Mike

lucky bro... my wifey won't even look at my bike....

lucky bro... my wifey won't even look at my bike....


Wow- it's been awhile since I looked at this thread!

She's an addict nowadays. :)


http://hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/382624367_KgTmo-L.jpg

http://hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/276865124_MtcwA-L.jpg

http://hayduke.smugmug.com/photos/172499446_qwgsq-L.jpg

Wow!! Catching air now? Awesome!!!! :16a:

It does look fun.

I got my wife a Honda CRF230F. Such great fun teaching her how to ride. She's already wanting to move up to a bigger bike and wanting to ride on the road

thats great. my first bike when I was fourteen was a xl 100 i forgot how small they were.. I hope my girl wonts too learn to ride.