Perfect Wife's Bike?

Plus I enjoy watching some friends get outpaced by a girl... I'm putting together a long ride to La Paz zig zaging back and forth across the peninsula (to see the epic spots but ignore the punch your ticket places like Mike's and Cocos) and she overheard me and wants to ride it too.

http://servicehonda.com/junior.html

Otherwise, I'm thinking about trying to stuff a XR250R engine into a CR80 Big Wheel frame.

Here's my dilemma.
My wife is short at 5'. She is a great athlete and was once one of the top 5 gymnasts in this country. She loves to ride. Currently she has a 1996 RM80 that has a lot of work done to it. She's had it since 1998. A friend who was a Supercross mechanic did a lot to the suspension for her and he took the engine as far as it can go without either race gas or a big bore kit. She loves this bike.
She also has a 2002 TTR125L with Brown Brothers suspension. Otherwise stock. She hates this bike. It's slow, heavy feeling, and dull to ride she says.
She wants to start going on some longer rides with me and some other friends. But her RM has limited range because of the small gas tank and the fact that the bike is often pinned in the desert-especially in sand washes where she's trying to keep up with larger bikes. I find myself trying to keep her in sight behind me (she is my wife after all) and the larger bikes in sight in front of me. Meanwhile I'm on my XR-the fastest bike in the group!
I rode a stock YZ125 2smoker awhile back and I think that is the perfect balance of power and maintenance for her. But the seat is too tall and the bike weighs too much.
We've tried adding some extra fuel tanks to her bike and also offloading gas from my bike but that is also problematic.
The difference between a RM80 and a YZ125 is about 50lbs and about 6 inches in seat height. The YZ125 can't, to my knowledge, be lowered enough for her to get both boot tips on the ground.
What I'd like to create is a stock YZ125 engine in a Honda CR80 big wheel size bike. Or perhaps there are too many problems cramming radiators, expansion chamber and the rest onto a mini. Perhaps a hopped up last model XR250 engine would fit. They are simple, air cooled, six speed, but heavy...
She likes more power but can't handle the weight and larger bike due to her size. I took her to a dry lake once and put her on a YZ426 and she loved the power but couldn't stop or start without assistance. She's anxious to get on my big XR on a dry lake.
It appears to me my only choices are to buy a CRF150R or get with someone and make a 125 2smoker powered mini or a XR250 powered mini. But I don't see how a CRF150R solves any of her problems regarding fuel consumption and power. And it adds the complexity and maintenance of these modern high-strung 4strokes.

I like the CR80/CR85 conversions.

SoCal XR's and DMC (Dave Miller Concepts) put out some cool little converted bikes.

http://www.socalxrs.com/frames1.htm

XR200/CR85 DMC

Do you have the CRF230 in the states?
I know several shorter riders that now use these.
Not the fastest or the best suspension but they are seldom the last to the end of the trail.
They are easily adapted to be road legal in the UK

I'm checking those out now...

Hey Bump:

I'm looking for something for my short wife, as well, although I'm betting she will go with a qwad.

How's about a Honda NX?

Others:

-As Hew mentioned, the CRF230L.
-Super Sherpa.

The Tdubs are cool, but painfully slow.

All these bikes weigh a ton. I have the same thread going on over at TT: http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=853808

The problem my wife has is two fold. The bikes that are light are small and have to be run hard and don't carry much fuel. So longer rides are problematic. I end up offloading gas... Which means I have to ride my KDX because it carries a lot of fuel, is already premixed, and I've already got a long gas line on it for just that. The bikes that carry enough gas or get great mileage are heavy and slow and generally ill handling. They are all, in my estimation, versions of the TTR125L she has. By that I mean they are essentially scooter shelf parts marketed with MX stickers.

I assume you mean the NX250? Look at the weight. It's 260lbs dry! That means wet, or curb weight, is very close to our BRPs! Your wife will hate it. Problem it she can't push it around when she needs to. And sand and loose stuff and slow riding where she has to put a foot or two down will kill her because the bike will weigh more than double what she does.

There's a guy on TT who recommended a 96 yamaha RT180 but they are really heavy too. Like 220 dry and it's probably closer to 240-250 curb. These guys just don't get the problem with a short person and big weights. It's really difficult to control all the momentum.

If I lived in AZ I'd just get her a mini and be done with it. But she already has a very hot mini and we can't street legal it. So now that I have a plated BRP, and am almost done plating my KDX, she's locked out of a lot of riding. If you are going to get her a mini then the Suzuki RM80 is the one to get. Plus though we have the TTR125L, she's been spoiled with the power and weight of her RM. It has a power valve and that really makes the bike ridable with some low-end torque. The ones without it have to be revved all the time. So when they get into any sort of technical riding the frustration really ramps up.

I have an extra TTR125L frame if you think of trying to stuff a YZ125 2stroke engine into it. I got it off eBay for cheap. Or, if you want to try our TTR I'll bring it out sometime. We're just gonna sell it. It has Brown Brothers suspension and has had perhaps three tanks of gas run through it-maybe only two. Seriously. We have no use for it. I used it about once a month for a few years to run our dogs... We originally bought it for her brother, a Silicon valley geek, who claimed he was going to "totally get into riding". He had one trip.

The quad thing is unworkable from our experience. We have some friends who ride quads and I've found the mixing of quads and bikes to be a real downer for the riders on bikes. I'd really suggest getting her on a bike at all costs-even if you have to start her off on a postie! If you get her on a quad I think she'll just never improve her skills because quads just don't require much unless you're at a race pace, IMHO and experience. It's really like the difference between standup jet skis and sit downs.

I looked seriously into getting a bike made for her. I could do a lot of the work but much of the fabricating I'd need to farm out. The money really added up. At this point in time we are probably 80% looking at getting her the Service Honda JR. The X model of the two available. It's way expensive but it meets all out wants. It is relatively light at 170 pounds or so. It hauls arse! It is a bone stock CRF250X so it should be pretty maintenance free-perhaps on par with the big XR. It has great suspension. One just won the expert class at the Glen Helen 24hours. My position on it to her is we can't really justify the cost of the bike until both our daughters are riding something. I can't see her spending that much on a bike that she rides a couple of times a year. That said, she makes a good six figure income so what can buy what she damn well pleases and she knows it... I think I figured out a way to legitimately get it plated here in California.

When I was getting her into this I took her to all the bike shops and made her pick up the bikes. I took a blanket and asked first and then laid the bike in the blanket and told her to lean it back up. It was a great learning experience for her.

For some reason I just think quads are more dangerous. When people crash them they seem to be to stay with the quad, or visa versa. So it rolls on top of them or runs them over. That's just my perception but I just know a lot of people who've been severely injured on quads and ATCs.

Have you ever taken her riding? If not, then let me know and I'll tell you how I "created" my wife's first riding experience.

Dave P wrote:Hey Bump:

I'm looking for something for my short wife, as well, although I'm betting she will go with a qwad.

How's about a Honda NX?

Others:

-As Hew mentioned, the CRF230L.
-Super Sherpa.

The Tdubs are cool, but painfully slow.

Bump:

Yeah, that Service Honda JR is sweet! I noticed they have a couple of used ones on their site, but they are still $$$$$$$$$. What the heck... you only live once!

I hear ya re the qu*ds. A side by side is another thought. I don't think she would hurt herself, though. I doubt she would ride it past 25mph.

She's short, but she's not small, so I'm thinking most of the small, super light bikes would be out of the question. She would probably be ok on something like a KLR 250 or NX 250. Get-offs and picking the pigs up are not a major concern, as she ain't doing anything gnarly, whatsoever.

Of course, I'm getting way ahead of myself. The only bike experience she has is on the back of my various bikes. She's deathly afraid of my 650R (rightfully so), so I'm going to try to borrow something for her to ride for a first experience. I'm all ears regarding any tips on that.

If nothing else, I've got to get my 8yr old daughter hooked up with a bike. I KNOW she will have a blast.

Dave

Go with the 250F... have the suspension lowered. For the amount of money you'll sink into making a small bike run longer distances and perform better, you'll be better off getting a 250, dropping down the suspension and going from there...as she gets better, you can then up size and power up a lot easier too.

As a rule of thumb, it's easier to take a bike and detune, slow it down and adjust the suspension then it is to take a smaller bike and then modify it up to perform...

The problem isn't her ability or potential. The problem is weight. And a full size bike is a no-va for a person is is 107lbs and 5' tall. My wife was about the number three gymnast in the US a one time./ So she's a great athlete. But as I wrote extensively about in the post above, the problem is getting her a bike that has great power, has a low seat height, and weighs less than 180lbs curb.

KTM265 wrote:Go with the 250F... have the suspension lowered. For the amount of money you'll sink into making a small bike run longer distances and perform better, you'll be better off getting a 250, dropping down the suspension and going from there...as she gets better, you can then up size and power up a lot easier too.

As a rule of thumb, it's easier to take a bike and detune, slow it down and adjust the suspension then it is to take a smaller bike and then modify it up to perform...

Forget the bike, I just want to know how to get the perfect wife.

Er....

I was reading KDX threads, and noted somebody talking about a place that will put a big motor in an 80cc bike frame.

Here's the text of it, there's no further mention of it. Just copied the thread to feed into Textaloud for some listening on the highway, so I don't have the source, but imagine google would find it.


>> the perfect bike here would have a 250CC four stroke crammed into a CR/YX/KX/RM 80 frame, bars cut down, with a steering stabilizer and, some really good bark busters.

>> service Honda makes one of those...they use the crf250x engine and the 85 frame i believe. i couldn't find it on their website, but DirtRider did an article on it. Just find about $8000 and the bike could be yours!

Probably as common as perfect husbands.

A girl I dated in college once said, "Men marry women hoping they'll never change. Women marry men hoping they will."

Bump wrote:Probably as common as perfect husbands.

A girl I dated in college once said, "Men marry women hoping they'll never change. Women marry men hoping they will."

Yeah, probably why I'm still single...not very changeable....

Marriage is fraught with weakness. For one thing, at 50 now, I see that most of my friends who married young didn't see their priorities they thought they shared with the wife evolve the same.

It seems to me everyone marries for love. The real question is where it is on each person's list of priorities. From my experience, I can remember clearly the women I dated who could make a man feel like a man. But I don't think the few like that could work their magic would also make good wives when young.

It's like Linda Rondstadt says, "You need one live to learn it all and a second life to apply it all."

river wrote:

Bump wrote:Probably as common as perfect husbands.

A girl I dated in college once said, "Men marry women hoping they'll never change. Women marry men hoping they will."

Yeah, probably why I'm still single...not very changeable....