UselessPickles
New Member
First a little back-story...
My wife recently upgraded from a Honda Rebel 250 to a Honda Shadow Spirit 750. She likes the increased power, it's comfortable, etc., but the cornering clearance sucks, and she likes cornering fast. The Rebel could actually corner very well, and I would have a hard time keeping up with her on some freeway entrance ramps on my Yamaha FJR1300. The new Shadow drags pegs around almost every corner, even sometimes just turning at an intersection (usually left-hand turns with the wider radius and longer time to accelerate through the corner).
So I've been looking for alternatives that would be (or could be easily modified to be) comfortable for long trips, is light enough and/or has a low enough seat height that it can be maneuvered easily in parking lots, but can corner quickly and has more power than a 250 so that it can comfortably cruise on the freeway with passing power available. The FZ6R looks like our best hope.
Now here's the problem...
No dealer within southeastern Michigan seems to have an FZ6R in stock, so we can't even find out if it's a bike that my wife could comfortably sit on, hold up, etc. I also just missed the only Yamaha demo ride event in/near Michigan for the year. Is there anyone in the metro Detroit area that would be willing to meet up to talk about the FZ6R and let my wife sit on it? I'm in Farmington Hills and would be willing to travel a bit (~50 miles or so) to see a bike in person.
If the sitting session goes well, it would be a huge bonus if we could make some kind of arrangement for a test ride. We could go for a ride together with my wife on her bike so that you can evaluate her riding skills first, then maybe swap bikes in a parking lot and spend some time getting used to the low speed behavior of the bike (clutch, brakes, turning) in the parking lot before heading out on the road together for a fully supervised test ride.
I know that most people would never let a stranger ride their bike, so I won't push for a test ride if you don't want to allow it, but I'd at least like my wife to see one of these bikes in person and sit on it to find out if it's worthwhile to consider purchasing one. Any volunteers?
My wife recently upgraded from a Honda Rebel 250 to a Honda Shadow Spirit 750. She likes the increased power, it's comfortable, etc., but the cornering clearance sucks, and she likes cornering fast. The Rebel could actually corner very well, and I would have a hard time keeping up with her on some freeway entrance ramps on my Yamaha FJR1300. The new Shadow drags pegs around almost every corner, even sometimes just turning at an intersection (usually left-hand turns with the wider radius and longer time to accelerate through the corner).
So I've been looking for alternatives that would be (or could be easily modified to be) comfortable for long trips, is light enough and/or has a low enough seat height that it can be maneuvered easily in parking lots, but can corner quickly and has more power than a 250 so that it can comfortably cruise on the freeway with passing power available. The FZ6R looks like our best hope.
Now here's the problem...
No dealer within southeastern Michigan seems to have an FZ6R in stock, so we can't even find out if it's a bike that my wife could comfortably sit on, hold up, etc. I also just missed the only Yamaha demo ride event in/near Michigan for the year. Is there anyone in the metro Detroit area that would be willing to meet up to talk about the FZ6R and let my wife sit on it? I'm in Farmington Hills and would be willing to travel a bit (~50 miles or so) to see a bike in person.
If the sitting session goes well, it would be a huge bonus if we could make some kind of arrangement for a test ride. We could go for a ride together with my wife on her bike so that you can evaluate her riding skills first, then maybe swap bikes in a parking lot and spend some time getting used to the low speed behavior of the bike (clutch, brakes, turning) in the parking lot before heading out on the road together for a fully supervised test ride.
I know that most people would never let a stranger ride their bike, so I won't push for a test ride if you don't want to allow it, but I'd at least like my wife to see one of these bikes in person and sit on it to find out if it's worthwhile to consider purchasing one. Any volunteers?