HD there have been a lot of good advice, and not sure I could add much more except. Make sure you start riding for you and nobody else. I've heard people say ...."if your not having fun.....don't do it" and that is true. Riding is about the wind in your face, the smell of cut grass, the sights and sounds of being free to explore your mind. My wife rides her own HD but before she hit the streets she spent about 100 miles in a church parking lot. Another thing to remember when you pratice.....don't just ride on even payment.....find you a small hill in a safe area that you can pratice taking off from. The up hill take off's still freak out my Wife a little.

Riding is 10% mechanical, and 90% mental. The hard part about riding (and it takes a lot of pratice) is trying to figure out what the other guy is going to do.
Here is a trick I taught my wife (not that I came up with it) ....when you are coming up to a street where a car may pull out in front of you. Look at his front wheen and not the whole car. Most cars these days have some sort of Mag wheel on then and you can see one spoke of the wheel move before you notice the complete car moving.

Best of luck and be safe......I know Lucky will tuck you under his wing, it's what husbands are for.

The Night Dragon

what i will say ,i dont like being on the back of a bike ,i like to be in controll

so just cause u dont like to be on the rear ,dose na mean u wont like to ride the bike .

its like when im in a car ,i like to be the driver all the time .just go at ur own speed u will soon get the hang of it ,and go out with a good bunch of guys ,remenber biking is for fun ,so have fun and stay safe .

 Rex always knows the right thing to say!The course will be the key to a safe start and proper techniques...plus you will have fun!

Simple...Get a Trike. Its easy to ride and hard to dump.

no a bike thow ,is it ?

need some advice because I am at a loss for what to say or do.
my wife started riding about a year and a half ago. she started on a v-star 250 from scratch even had trouble on a pedal bike. she took the abate 2-day class and with some coaching was doing fine. then it happened she got hit on her way home from work from behind by a little old lady who could barely stay awake let alone drive. bike was toatled but she was ok except for a litttle road rash on her hand. she was wearing all her gear,helmet jacket etc., except for her gloves hence road rash on hand, the little bike had not even had its first oil change yet. a couple of months later she moved upto a v-star 650 of her own choice. i was very proud of her for having the courage and desire to ride again. however even though she has ridden on a couple long trips, which turned out to be a bit of a challenge due to weather i.e. wind and rain, and has done very well her confidence has not returned to the level i had hoped it would. she feels as though her riding abilty has worsened despite the encourgement she has gotten from me and other people we have ridden with. any ideas to help her with her confidence would be grateful. i do not want to push to hard and have her give up because of pressure but do not want to give up due to fear either.

Before I even purchased my bike I took the rider safety course. I also took a refresher course on my own bike three years later. It's amazing what they teach you and pratice on your own bike. Been ridin now for nine years, love every minute I'm on my bike. Good luck, have fun and ride safe.

I think the only way I actually saw some one get courage was in the "wizard of OZ' and it was the Lion. HD....Lucky can tell you courage probably isn't the word you need....it's called confidence and that comes with practice, practice, practice. Like anything...the more you do it, the better you become and the more confidence is gained with each ride.

Your fellow bikers are in your corner......go out and ride.....

Merry Christmas,

Lone Wolf Thor

Thanks!  It sure felt like an accomplishment at the time.  I'm sure now that was a start point.  There's a lot more riding in my future!

thanks for the advice. guess I am more frustrated than she is. I will keep everything in mind and help her along as much as I can.

Practice gives you confidance. If you have lost the feeling of riding from taking the classes, do it again. You will gain confidance from what you feel and remember doing right. You will also find out what feels wrong and talk to the instructors. They know what to look for to help develope a good rider. I bet your feeling start to shine brighter after the second time.

Hi guy's
I started riding in 1979, kawasaki Z2 750,I was in the navy at that time and my motorcycle day's were over when I was shipped overseas in 1984, I decided to get another bike in 2007. and bought a 2004 suzuki intruder (805 cc's), thought I needed moore power annd speed and traded it in for a 2007 vulcan 900, kept it until 2009...there weren't very many accesories available for my bike, I like them with what my friends call bling, so I traded her and decided it was time for a harley, japanese bikes are ok but I really wanted a bike built in the good old USA...I test drove at least 8 or 9 different harley's and fell in love with a 2008 FLHTC (electra glide classic), I thought this would be my forever bike because she had everything I had wanted (almost) LOL.. I added a few extras but hadn't counted on the weight of the bike when I laid it down, I am 6' tall and around 180 lbs. the bike outweighed me by 681 lbs, I really hated to ask for help picking it up especially after I dropped it in my neighbors azaelas, it took 3 of us about 45 minutes to untangle it from those darn bushes (LOL), that was really funny when I look back and think about it...so I got out my tools and removed the tour pack (more cussing this time) along with almost a case of beer, the repair manual was mostly useless for this process...it was a little lighter but I finally gave up and traded her in on a 2005 softail deuce, a beautiful bike with lot's of chrome but if you have a bad back it's really hard riding, I got my tools out again and took off the shocks and added a lowering kit..more cussing and beer!!!!the first set uf shocks bottomed out, I guess I lowered it a little too much, I got on ebay and purchased a used set of shocks, took the old set off, took the new(used) shocks apart and added another lowering kit again, not quite as low this time but the ride was still hard and painful..well to make a long story short (er) I traded her in after test riding 8 more used harley's.
I found my forever bike**a 2007 road king police interceptor, 8200 miles and in pretty good shape after being ridden by the NOPD (new orleans police dept) for 2 years, I haven't had to bring out the tools again and I drink less beer, the guy's really look hard when I pull up at a stop light, my bike looks great for it's age and I don't look bad at 52...my advice to all of you ladies is to not let anyone keep you from riding a bike if you want to, please take a training course, harley has a great riders edge course available, it's worth the price and peace of mind, I also joined ABATE of Louisiana inc. (american bikers active towards education), I have made so many friends there and hardly ever riding alone unless I want to, bikers on the whole are a lot more friendly than cagers and I have yet to see a biker on a cell phone while riding, I have even seen women cagers applying makeup while driving talking on the phone or texting while trying to remain in their own lane
keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down

best wishes

Hello out there...I don't know if it'll help in your situation, but I can tell you my "back in the saddle" story. I've been riding on my own since I was 15. My dad taught me how to ride a little Harley 125 dirt bike someone had given him because he got tired of me begging him to take me for a ride after the first time he putted me around a dirt track out in the North Carolina wilderness. I got married in '81 to a guy who wasn't bad looking, but had a sweet '75 Harley XLCH Sportster (that's what sealed the deal ;-) I was proud & content to ride behind him, but after the divorce (he was a jerk!) a few years later, I was single and wanting to get out & about again, but BOY did I get sick of the "Ass, Gas or Grass, Nobody Rides For Free" attitude of so many guys. I mean really, can't a girl go for a ride just for fun? Anyway, after awhile, I went out and bought myself a cute little '85 Honda Rebel and relearned how to ride by myself again. Loved it! Rode the hell out of it for 2 years, then I got into a bad accident on the Las Vegas freeway, hit a pickup truck at 75 mph. Not my fault (as in most cases) but I broke my pelvis in 4 places and was messed up for about 6 months. I swore off bikes for about 4 years,but my beloved mother (God rest her soul) could tell that something was missing from my life. I was moody and depressed at times, but I didn't know why. One day, she finally asked me point blank: "So when are you gonna get another motorcycle, because you know down inside that's why you're unhappy." Of all people, I never figured my Mom would be the one to see the obvious cuz she was very old fashioned and introverted, a housewife and mother practically all her life, yet she loved to feed the fire of her kids living life to the fullest even if she didn't get to. So with her blessing, I went out and bought a used '86 Honda Rebel and took baby steps just riding around the neighborhood and rural desert roads till I got my confidence back. My Mom taught me that if something really makes you happy, you can't be afraid of a few downfalls. There's risks involved in many things we do, but if you don't take the risk, you'll never know what you're missing! I'm 52 years old now, and still in the wind. If the love of riding is still with your wife, she'll come around when she's ready. Just let her know that accidents happen, it wasn't her fault. Just be as prepared as you can just in case with proper riding gear and be aware at all times. Hope this helps! Stay Safe!

Look me up if your ever in Southern GA. 

Practice, practice, practice! I got my first bike, 1982 Yamaha Virago 920, before I even learned to ride or got a permit (a friend test rode it and helped me load it, my son-in-law unloaded it for me at home and gave me my first lesson). I put 400 miles on (at under 45 MPH...lol) before taking the safety course and getting my endorsement...and haven't looked back since! After putting over 15,000 miles on my first bike, I traded up to my present bike, a Honda VTX 1300. I have put over 60,000 miles on it in under 4 years, including riding to work every day in heavy traffic in downtown Phoenix. The more you ride the better you get. I agree with what several others said here, ride at your own pace with someone you trust, where there isn't much traffic, and practice the basics constantly until you are comfortable. In no time at all you will wonder why you were ever nervous!

Well Deb, good things come tho those who wait. I'm sure you will get on a bike one day, then you will never want to stop!!!

Rex is on the money there - I got my wife back on track much the same way.

After many years of her not riding (even though she had a license), I sent her to the safety course - An Excellent Program for anyone to take. The bikes at the course were of course small lightweights. After she finished the course, I took her to an empty parking lot on a quiet Sunday morning and had her running the same basics they did in the course on my Softail (*brave soul I am) - after about 30 min of running around the lot, she felt ready for some back roads...then the comfort level climbed quickly.

* I was only brave because I told her if she dropped my bike I was going to buy a new one and she could have mine...she didn't drop the dang thing

I wish you luck HD Beech, it's gets scary out there but well worth it. I just got my HD for my 50th birthday. I seem to start everything later in life. Me, my husband and son ride dirt bikes but this is my first street bike. I took the riders safety course and found it to be the best thing I could have done. I still hear the instructors voice in my head when I'm faced with a challenge on the road. (too bad I didn't listen like that during school) My first ride was to a local famers market in our area (Toms' Farms) right after the rains. Learned a lot on that ride, mostly I wanted a windshield. But also to remember to zip up your jacket after getting gas. It's makes a good parachute when it catches the wind, almost blew me off the bike. If I don't expand my horizons and venture out I won't progress in my skills. There's times when I have to just tell myself "it is what it is", like with the wind and tire grooves. The grooves I try to move away from, the wind......well, it's unpredictable and it always seems to be blowing when I ride. Believe in yourself, be aware of your surroundings and don't put yourself at risk if your not comfortable. But above all else, have fun. Good luck, look forward to hearing about your riding adventures.

Good luck with riding. If you really enjoy it you'll find your place. Don't ride for others ride for yourself. when I started I was to stupid and stubborn to be afraid. now I think back at all the shit I did and it scares the hell out of me. Always repect the bike, and yourself, you know what you can do. Don't rush it, it will happen when it happens. I found that others advice only made me try to live up to their expectations. enjoy the wind. Ride safe
Lisa