Don't say anything to her....sometimes, 'tis better to ask forgiveness than permission, especially if you already have the proper endorsement on your driver's license.... :mrgreen:

BTW, ignore my signature, unless she holds the checkbook....

 

There isn't any good arguement to ride a bike. I'm sure your wife does things that make her happy that are just a waste of time and money. This is more or less what motorcycling is. It is something that makes us happy.

www.kawasakimotorcycle.org/forum/main-lobby/30656-why-do-you-ride.html

 

Riding is dangerous, no way around that. Wearing gear and taking a safety course are two big steps in improving your chances against being in some sort of accident. With that in mind I almost went down once when I rode into a curve soon after a truck had blown its engine and spewed oil all over the road. It isn't all about the "other" guy. I have no idea what a winning statement would be. I tried for years...

That is until this year when I quit smoking. My wife told me I could have anything for quitting and after thinking it over... getting a bike was my "thing".

She cried when I showed her a picture of the bike I was going to buy and still is nervous when I go riding. Her fear is and was real, so I never slighted it and addressed it. She is warming up to it though and on Memorial Day said if she had a helmet we could take the bike to a local get together we were going to.

So... do you have any life threatening/disgusting habits?

 

1. Start leaving motorcycle magazines around the house.
2. Consider buying the Ride Like a Pro DVD and watch it with her there.
3. Show her what kind of riding/safety gear appeals to you.
4. Take her with you to the bike shops and have her sit on a few bikes also.
5. Don't argue about it...drop subtle hints about your love of motorcycles.

If she's determined to keep you away from motorcycles it's probably because she loves you. Give her time to come around...if she can. Some wives just don't accept us riding at all so try and think of how you would feel if it were her becoming interested in something you disapproved of and how you would react. Continue to show her love but also let her know it is something you intend to pursue.

P.S. I'm older than 30.

 

+1 on the older than 30. Sounds like you have the right approach and attitude about riding. I came off about a 24 year hiatus from riding. At first all the mags and brochures, didn't get much attention. Finally had to flat out tell her I wanted a bike again. She still thought I was nuts and kept referring to a mid-life adjustment or some crazy idea like that. Well, now that we have the bike, what was supposed to be MY hobby and interest, has turned into us spending a lot more quality time together, enjoying Friday night happy hours and poker runs. Heck, she even wants me to order that Corbin so she'll have a back rest. Funny how things worked out. Good luck!

 

Tell her about the safety course. You can take the course (have her come watch) without commiting to anything. That might make her feel better about your riding. Trained riders are much less likely to have accidents, although they do still happen.

 

You need to let her know who the man of the house is. Tell her you're going to get a bike no matter what she says. Get the biggest, baddest, most expensive bike you can find and park it in the living room just to remind her that you're the boss.


























Let me know how that works out for ya but if it doesn't, I have a spare room.

 

deny her something she really loves...call it fair

 

Sometimes there isn't much you can do to change someone's mind. However, you can always try

Pledging all the gear, all the time is a good start. Also think about starting on a smaller bike. Take the safety class.

I wasn't very keen on my DH riding either. He started out by doing the above. He also took me with him when he went gear shopping and bike shopping. I will admit that looking at today's riding gear calmed my fears quite a bit. Gear today is vastly better than the gear of the 70s (when my father rode). He talked about some of the points brought up in class and I got to read his handbook. My DH's enthusiasm was somewhat contageous; I did like seeing how excited he was about riding. Still wasn't keen on it myself, but I was warming up to it.

The single most convincing "argument" my husband used while learning to ride was unplanned. He let me watch a portion of his MSF class. I got to see for myself, how the class worked and how the safety techniques were taught. I had no reservations after that...and my DH had to buy 2 bikes

While I wouldn't bank on such a complete conversion, you might be surprised. However, in any case it may do a great deal towards helping calm your wife's fears.

Good luck!

 

Gear from the 70's..........When my father rode........I think I'm gonna cry

 

See- things like this give us wives a bad name

Last year I told my +30 yr old husband that I intended to learn how to ride, and he knew all too well that when I decide to do something there's no stopping me He had never harbored a desire to ride himself... that has now changed since I began riding. He will take the MSF in the spring and by next summer we'll both be enjoying the experience of riding together.

I agree that you should take the MSF... talk about it w/ her, have her watch some portions of it. Go to the shops with her, etc. Btw, does she like cars at all? Is she a good driver? If she's at all interested in vehicles of any sort, I suspect once she sees all of those shiny, gorgeous bikes on a showroom floor she'll be excited you're going to get one yourself

And aye, she's worried about you getting hurt... very practical. But there are many other ways one can become seriously injured. Don't make light of the risks involved in riding, but remind her that caging a bird isn't always the best way to get it to sing In the end, if you reduce the risks presented to you, you're going to be a responsible rider and it will probably bring you great happiness- something she should be happy about.

 

If she is like my X-wife just take out a large life insurance policy...

...She may write the check to the dealer for you! Just make sure to do your pre-ride check religeously.

Just Jokes =-D

This reminds me of that Lowe's commercial where the wife wants new floors and can't figure out how to tell her husband, then the kid just flat out yells up the stairs on her behalf. Later you hear the kid yelling to mom that dad wants a new motorcycle!

That one cracks me up.

GL

 

If she is like my X-wife just take out a large life insurance policy...

...She may write the check to the dealer for you! Just make sure to do your pre-ride check religeously.

Just Jokes =-D

This reminds me of that Lowe's commercial where the wife wants new floors and can't figure out how to tell her husband, then the kid just flat out yells up the stairs on her behalf. Later you hear the kid yelling to mom that dad wants a new motorcycle!

That one cracks me up.


GL

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Gear from the 70's..........When my father rode........I think I'm gonna cry

Awww, I didn't mean to make you sad. My mom made my dad get rid of the bike when they got married. I think she should have let him keep the bike and made him get rid of the booze instead. When I was a kid I would play with my dad's helmet and jacket. The helmet was a standard 3/4 helmet, enammeled steel with felt padding (which was deteorating). The jacket was 3/4 length leather with sheep wool trim! I remember both being *very* heavy...of course I was only like 6-7 so...

I wanted a dirt bike when I was a kid too, but knew better than to ask since I know what the response would be, i.e. NO. So I had to content myself with watching the dirt riders flying up and down my street until they paved it when I was 10.

When my DH wanted to ride, I had to overcome 20 years of "motorcycles are EVIL!!!!" But I got over it...or as I told my DH "I changed my mind."

 

The jokes above are great...!

I had no problem in "asking" my wife if I could get a bike..
Was she worried.. ya.. With good reason..
Like ya say here in Ca people are doing tons of other stuff while driving...

Go get the bike...

Dave

 

Oh.. and if ya ever want to ride on the weekends... PM me a day before...
I always go for cruses on the weekend...
Wife wants to go back up to Pismo.. ! She liked last weekend...

Dave

 

The jokes above are great...!

I had no problem in "asking" my wife if I could get a bike..
Was she worried.. ya.. With good reason..
Like ya say here in Ca people are doing tons of other stuff while driving...

Go get the bike...

Dave

a few years ago when i announced to my wife that i was getting a motorcycle, she said "like hell you are!"

two weeks later robin was in my garage


three weeks ago when I told my wife i was considering buying a V2k, she said...."go ahead, you always get what you want anyway"

then the night of its arrival to my garage, she said "why don't you just keep em both"

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

Classic...

Dave

You need to let her know who the man of the house is.

Let me know how that works out for ya but if it doesn't, I have a spare room.

 

Ohh.. Show her this video and this is what ya want to do...
http://media.putfile.com/Street-bikes-Judgement-Day-2-Trailer-Mot

Dave

 

I stopped riding regularly when I got married, I had a few dirt bikes and ATV's but got bored with them quickly. When I told the wife I wanted a motorcycle she said no. I brought it up a few more times and always got "no". So I found a used bike for $400 and just bought it. She hated it, but could see I enjoyed it so she just let it go and figured I would tire of it. I never tired of riding so she excepted it. When gas prices started going higher and higher, she started telling her co-workers how much we saved by me commuting on the bike instead of in my truck. Now she just watches me bring in a different bike and just shakes her head. She has her things and I have mine, neither of us has to like them but we respect them. If I had waited for her to agree I'd still be waiting.

 

Sign up for & take the MSF To show her you are safety conscious & want to learn correctly. Read all the bike mags you can & leave them all over the house & refuse to let her throw them away. Go to motorcycle rallys just to "look around" even though you don't have a bike. Get her to go with you so she can listen to the band & drink a few if she wants. In the meantime pic out your bike. If she goes to a rally with you, then it's time to take her by the dealer just to show her somethin of course.

It only took me about a year! If all else fails, get her drunk & go buy it real fast before she sobers up!!

 

Thats how I got 3 bikes and a quad now!!!

Got to love women!!!!

Dave

three weeks ago when I told my wife i was considering buying a V2k, she said...."go ahead, you always get what you want anyway"

then the night of its arrival to my garage, she said "why don't you just keep em both"

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

Baaawwww... hehe
Great!!!

Dave

It only took me about a year! If all else fails, get her drunk & go buy it real fast before she sobers up!!

 

If all else fails, get her drunk & go buy it real fast before she sobers up!![/COLOR][/I][/B]

Ah yes... the answer to all of men's dilemma's with the ladies :tongue:

 

stangst: I love your post...you ask us for advice on how to convince your wife to let you ride by writing 3 paragraphs to us on how careful you're gonna be and why you want to ride. Sorry dude...you're preaching to the choir in here!

I turned 39 this last June so I understand your situation completely...in a nutshell, this is what I did (it wasn't planned, but it worked out):

For a month I b!tched about gas prices and how I wanted to get a bike for commuting and my then fiance (now wife since late June) would laugh me off. I started to point out potential bikes on the street and said, "Yup, that's what I want, a 750 GSXR". She asked what that was and that's when I familiarized her with engine sizes and bike types and their relative abilities (you know, 750, really fast--1400 light speed). After a month of pointing out riders and bikes in parking lots she was starting to get fed up. As a side note, during this month I went from complete motorcycle idiot to becoming an informed consumer and realized that anything bigger than a 500 would probably get me killed in a week...hence my desire to get a 750 went down to a 500 as a first bike in two week's time.

Then in the evening on May 10, 2006 my then fiance got a call from me asking her if she could drive my car back from the dealership and she was shocked to say the least. After a few seconds of silence she asked, "What did you get?". I told her a Ninja 500R and she said, "That's the small bike for beginners, right?". I told her that she was right and she said, "Okay, pick me up". She thought the bike looked nice and I asked her to help me pick out gear because I didn't have any. She got into helping me with the gear and this was the first time I ever had her be concerned about something other than looks when it came to clothing of any kind. (Please note that I went to the dealership on a whim to look at bikes only and had no intention of purchasing...but hey, when you see a good deal on a used bike, you take it!)

I followed-up the purchase by getting a learner's permit in a few days and then took the MSF course a month later and got my M1 license a month after that. My wife saw that I was doing everything that I could to protect myself so she's "okay" with the idea of the bike now.

So now she laughs at me telling our friends how she thought that I was going to crash on the way home that night when she followed me home from the dealership. So it worked out, kinda...she won't let me go on a weekend ride to do the twisties with friends and she swears that I'm not getting a 650R in a couple years used or not. But I have to time work on that...

So maybe familiarizing your wife with bikes and then blindsiding her with a purchase is the way to go because you're never going to convince her.