Wife wants to learn to ride

[Swordfish]

Hi all,
My wife wants to learn to ride but she is scared to start learning on a motorcycle. She said she wants to learn on a dirt bike. Anyone know of a good way of going about this? I don't have a dirt bike. I recommended the MSF course but she wants to try the dirt bike first.

I'm located in Maryland if that helps. Just throw some ideas if you have any!

 

[orourkei]

check to see if they have any motocross race tracks in the area. find the person / persons in charge and talk to them. more often than not they will have extra bikes at race / practice days that you may be able to rent. also check out mini-moto tracks too with a similar aim

 

[Fizzer6R]

your wife is smart yes, google/search for dirt riding in your area, doesn't have to be a MX race track, many places have acres of land and you pay $25. or so a day to ride trails or just open areas. if they don't have rentals, then there may be shops around that rent small bikes for $100-150.day.

if she's really into it and wants to ride a lot to get experience, you could get something decent off local craigslist around $1k for a TTR/CRF 100-150cc, use it for 6months to a year and sell it for about what you bought it for.

 

[Swordfish]

check to see if they have any motocross race tracks in the area. find the person / persons in charge and talk to them. more often than not they will have extra bikes at race / practice days that you may be able to rent. also check out mini-moto tracks too with a similar aim

your wife is smart yes, google/search for dirt riding in your area, doesn't have to be a MX race track, many places have acres of land and you pay $25. or so a day to ride trails or just open areas. if they don't have rentals, then there may be shops around that rent small bikes for $100-150.day.

if she's really into it and wants to ride a lot to get experience, you could get something decent off local craigslist around $1k for a TTR/CRF 100-150cc, use it for 6months to a year and sell it for about what you bought it for.

Good ideas! I searched for some places and they are about 3 hours away. Not bad. Going to keep looking around. I posted an ad on CL if someone would let us use their dirt bike on their property for her to learn and would compensate them. No bites so far.....I wish I could teach her on my FZ6R, but one drop could be super expensive!

 

[Fizzer6R]

Good ideas! I searched for some places and they are about 3 hours away. Not bad. Going to keep looking around. I posted an ad on CL if someone would let us use their dirt bike on their property for her to learn and would compensate them. No bites so far.....I wish I could teach her on my FZ6R, but one drop could be super expensive!

just keep asking around and you never know who knows who. you can try asking a local shop, try someone in the parts dept instead of a salesman. the problem with someones property you don't know is they are worried about the legalities if there's an injury...

 

[Riccochet]

Ehh....it's good for learning balance, but that's about it. Literally everything she'll learn on dirt she'll have to do the exact opposite on the street. Don't plant a foot for tight turns, don't rely on rear brake, counter-steer instead of steer, shifting instead of clutching.

You get confidence, but that's quickly dashed the first time you get on the road with a street bike.

 

[Invader Jim]

I started riding in 2008. About 20 years ago I was at a cousin's house and he had a dirt bike. They let me give it a try. First thing I did was accidentally pop a huge wheelie and fell off backwards. Nobody explained to me before getting on about easing off the clutch. If she goes the dirt bike route make sure she gets some decent instruction. The dirt bike I was on was not very forgiving. MSF bikes in my experience are very forgiving. I think she is much more likely to get injured on a dirt bike than in an MSF course.

 

[MistahT]

There's a parking lot near me they use for Basic Rider Course. A car can't slip through the gate, but bikes can. Instructor told us we can go practice any time the course is open, no one will yell at us unless we are stunting or doing stupid shit. Got a few friends with Ninja 250s if you want to bring her down to Moco one day.

 

[Fizzer6R]

Ehh....it's good for learning balance, but that's about it. Literally everything she'll learn on dirt she'll have to do the exact opposite on the street. Don't plant a foot for tight turns, don't rely on rear brake, counter-steer instead of steer, shifting instead of clutching.

You get confidence, but that's quickly dashed the first time you get on the road with a street bike.

the fundamentals of riding in the dirt are very much the same on a street bike. there's a reason many of the best racers started off road, and still train that way. the whole sliding it through a turn comes from that. I'd bet a good majority of new bikers simply panic when either the front or back gives a little and end up crashing - this is something should be learned in the dirt 1st, not road.

 

[Nastybutler]

the fundamentals of riding in the dirt are very much the same on a street bike. there's a reason many of the best racers started off road, and still train that way. the whole sliding it through a turn comes from that. I'd bet a good majority of new bikers simply panic when either the front or back gives a little and end up crashing - this is something should be learned in the dirt 1st, not road.

While I never rode a dirt bike, I did ride BMX and mountain bikes growing up and I've found that that experience really helps when my tires lock up. Except for when my rear tire comes loose under hard acceleration. That I'm not so used to (don't really have that much pedal power to simulate that on a pedal bike) and have to fight the urge to chop the throttle. But if you ride a dirt bike that happens all the time, so it would really come in handy to be comfortable with that on a street bike too.

TL;DR: Dirt bikes will help her get comfortable with tires spinning/slipping on the road, and that could prevent some nasty accidents.

 

[latony007]

everyone has their own opinion on this one like 87 or 91 and i learned to ride on a dirt bike when i was about 12, however your not allowed on the street at 12 so we didnt have a choice. I think dirt bike riding is actually more likley to lead to crashes, granted your not likely to be hit by a car in the dirt but more likley to fall. I would personally take my wife to a parking lot with something like a susuzki boulevard S40 and get her learning to ride there. Most harley dealers will rent i think, you can try like an 883 which is pretty small or something similar.

 

[Fizzer6R]

everyone has their own opinion on this one like 87 or 91 and i learned to ride on a dirt bike when i was about 12, however your not allowed on the street at 12 so we didnt have a choice. I think dirt bike riding is actually more likley to lead to crashes, granted your not likely to be hit by a car in the dirt but more likley to fall. I would personally take my wife to a parking lot with something like a susuzki boulevard S40 and get her learning to ride there. Most harley dealers will rent i think, you can try like an 883 which is pretty small or something similar.

that is a major point - would you rather dump a 200+lb bike in the dirt or 400+lbs on pavement?

keep in mind some top racers have off road schools, because the skills learned there directly translate to making you a better rider on the road

 

[Swordfish]

There's a parking lot near me they use for Basic Rider Course. A car can't slip through the gate, but bikes can. Instructor told us we can go practice any time the course is open, no one will yell at us unless we are stunting or doing stupid shit. Got a few friends with Ninja 250s if you want to bring her down to Moco one day.

I may have to take you up on this offer! I will PM you soon on specifics!

While I never rode a dirt bike, I did ride BMX and mountain bikes growing up and I've found that that experience really helps when my tires lock up. Except for when my rear tire comes loose under hard acceleration. That I'm not so used to (don't really have that much pedal power to simulate that on a pedal bike) and have to fight the urge to chop the throttle. But if you ride a dirt bike that happens all the time, so it would really come in handy to be comfortable with that on a street bike too.

TL;DR: Dirt bikes will help her get comfortable with tires spinning/slipping on the road, and that could prevent some nasty accidents.

She's not really going to ride the bike a lot if that makes sense. It's just for her to learn how to use the clutch, shift, etc. I showed her the friction zone today on my bike...which was actually very fun (Even though we only went 10 or so feet).

Also thanks for everyones input as well. Didn't expect this many responses!!!!