The Vstar was too heavy, the Savage was savage.  Is your wife still considering a two-wheeler?  Maybe we can help -- there is a lot of experience on this forum.
How big/small is she, what sort of riding will the bike be used for?  From what little we have I would be taking her to look at a Suzuki Bergman 400.

Being married, I understand.  A part of her wants to join you as a biker and share your passion, but if you set her on the bike she really cannot get into it.  That's why they make cars!  You can never really know if you will like/dislike something until you actually try it.  With a marriage you occasionally run in to the situation where one party loves something and the other can't figure out why.  All you can do is accept that you cannot do everything together and either come along on the pillion or say "be careful and hurry back."

My wife, Wendy, is toying with the idea of getting herself a bike.  She's a bit large for the Savage, which is why I am following nightrain's footpeg saga.  Can a large man be comfortable on a Savage, or will he need to stretch the frame?

We both enjoy dirt camping -- get away from people, pitch a tent and just relax doing nothing more than watching critters come up to explore what you brought them to eat/play with.  We've talked about a pair of larger bikes, one towing a tent trailer and the other a cargo trailer.  But until she actually gets on a bike and takes a few local trips on it to test whether or not she could enjoy riding, the 10,000 mile camping trip will remain a mere possibility rather than a plan.

Paladin. wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:03:


two words..

[glow=red,2,300]SIDE CAR [/glow]

Googled:
Attaching a sidecar to a Suzuki Savage

You ride a bike, you drive a hack.  In California a hack does not require a motorcycle license.

I've been installing satellite dishes since 1994 except for a 2 year hitch splicing cable any similarity with what you do Paladin?

Eric, maybe your wife wants it for "garage art", that's what my husband calls my bike.  If she hasn't taken the MSRC send her to one-with out you. Husbands and wives hould never try to teach the other to ride/drive. I tried to teach my husband to ride in the 70's and almost had to find a new husband.

Why don't you ask your wife if she still wants to ride? I dumped my Savage the second time out and cracked three ribs, got back on it and rode it home. Then I signed up for the MRSC and figured out what I did wrong. Could be the course would make both of you more confident in her riding ability. Glad to hear that she was wearing safety gear and didn't get too hurt. If I hadn't been wearing a helmet when I dumped it I probably would of cracked my skull, landed head first. Luck on you decision.

This is the 3rd person Erik's wife.  I was very happy on my Vstar - granted it was taking longer than my husband was patient for as far as me learning, but i took my time and was happy with my progress.  My Husband decided that since i hadn't put enough miles on the vstar that we needed to buy the savage.  I was detirmined to make that work and over stepped my comfort zone.  I learned how to ride on the vstar and was comfortable on it.  I took a completely different bike and went out in traffic with it before it was comforatable to me.  let me ask you - am i just kidding my self that the bike i learned on was a good fit - is it really not possible that the change in weight, foot positioning and overall performance may have added to my unfortunate event today?  i'm not comfortable driving other people's cars and feel that if i had puttered around on the savage before going "out in public" that things might have been different - i rode 200 miles on the vstar and had no mishaps or incling of mishaps - i take full responsiblilty for what happened today either way - any thoughts?