What's a good starter bike for carrying two

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dr_bar
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#11 Unread post by dr_bar »

cb360, you would have walked with that friend to the local pub right???? 8) :drunk: :wink: lol.
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Sev
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#12 Unread post by Sev »

My friend has a maxim 400. Together with his GF, I'd say they easily weigh over 320lbs. We've done 3 or 4 hour trips at highway speeds together.

A 650+ will easily handle whatever you need it to do as far as two up is concerned.

As for riding with a passenger, I'd say at least 1000km of solo riding. It's what I did. You need to be able to direct the bike, even with some one sitting on the back giving commands to the opposite of what you want. If she leans against you in a turn, she could stand the bike up if you're not ready. If she wiggles around to much you could turn when you were going straight.

The last girl I had on the back of mine had the annoying habit of shifting around as I was slowing down. Turns out she was scared to move at high speed, so when we got down to 10km/h or so she repositioned herself. The problem is, I have WAY less stability at low speeds, so the bike wobbled a lot. This scared her and to tell the truth me, my bike is top heavy as is, and the passenger sits up a good 4 or 5 inches above me, which puts a lot of weight really high. I'm... digressing. My point was that riding two up can be a lot more difficult if the other person doesn't know what they are doing. You need to be able to override any inputs they might make.
Of course I'm generalizing from a single example here, but everyone does that. At least I do.

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#13 Unread post by Randy »

I like it how Lionlady said to enlist a seasoned pillion. While I totally agree with the concept, I sincerely doubt my inexperienced "pillion" would be thrilled about an experienced "pillion" zooming around town with me.

But, as usual, Lionlady is right on target.
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cb360
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#14 Unread post by cb360 »

dr_bar wrote:cb360, you would have walked with that friend to the local pub right???? 8) :drunk: :wink: lol.
Nope. I'd have rode my bike. I go once a week... I just don't drink :lol:
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#15 Unread post by michaelbr1 »

Okay All, I'm grateful for all the good and well taken advice. Though I didn't clarify, I wouldn't be taken my lady with me until I had riden for a while solo. This is something we are working into, but we still have to look at what we eventually want to do so we can make the proper choices now.

Thanks.
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#16 Unread post by dr_bar »

Then there's always the choice for both of you to ride solo.. Take the course together and go through the joy of learning to ride as a couple. Then you look for two bikes about $2-3000 apiece....
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#17 Unread post by Aggroton »

dr_bar wrote:Then there's always the choice for both of you to ride solo.. Take the course together and go through the joy of learning to ride as a couple. Then you look for two bikes about $2-3000 apiece....
:laughing:

thats what i was thinking...who wants to ride "dog"? :wink:
thats a sweet bike.
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#18 Unread post by ZooTech »

Aggroton wrote:thats what i was thinking...who wants to ride cookie? :wink:
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#19 Unread post by Analog »

man, that cookie looks good...
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Re: What's a good starter bike for carrying two

#20 Unread post by Dennis27 »

michaelbr1 wrote:Want to purchase a used bike for the wife and me to ride around together on Sunday afternoons. I live in Florida and want something powerful enough to carry both of us yet not so expensive that we have to take out a second mortgage on the house. I was thinking somewhere around $5,000 to $7,000. This will be our first bike so I don't want to put a lot into it until I'm sure we will like riding.

What's a good used bike to look for?

Thanks
Mike, I have a 2003 ZR-7S I just bought it in Feb. for $5,800.00 its a 750CC lots of torque for 2 people. I've put 1,300 miles on it. My girlfriend has been on it with me for most of the miles. I'm 220lbs and shes about 130. (dont tell her I told anyone) I'm selling it for $4,700.00. Its a sport/tourer. Nice all around bike very comfortable seat. Its Yellow ... a nice safe color... shoot me a PM if your interested. PS. I'm in Frederick, MD. Its still under factory warranty and comes with the bike until next Feb. Never abused and never laid down. Its basically brand new.
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