Wow.  I had a great day today!  

Took the Savage and the Intruder out together.  Hubby rode the Savage and I rode the Intruder with my 14 year old son on pillion.

It was my husbands first long ride (100 miles)
It was my first 100 mile ride with a passenger
It was my son's first 100 mile ride
It was our first ride together
It was our first group ride (another rider joined us)
It was our first ride in the rain... we got caught about 20 miles from home.

It was so awesome!  Up until now, I have pretty much always ridden by myself since hubby didn't ride.  He got out this past week and put in some parking lot time on the Savage and this was his first "big" ride.  He did great and we all loved it!

It was a perfect day.  Even the rain was nice.  It was a little scary at first, since neither of us had ever been riding in the rain before, but it was fine and it didn't last too long.

The AirHawk performed nicely for my hubby and my son and I were both very comfy on the nice leather seat on my Intruder.

I'm sure he was, but he rode well.  He spent several hours over the past few days in the parking lot of the local town hall, turning circles, starts and stops, etc...

The ride today didn't start out to be a 100 mile ride, it just happened that way...  I stopped several times and made sure he was okay and he seemed to be.  He said he had a great time today.

I think one of the most important things when riding in groups is that the group be willing to ride at the level of the least skilled rider.  Since it was me, my hubby, and his close friend, there were no egos involved and the friend and I were both interested in seeing that my husband had a positive experience and enjoyed the ride.

I won't say he did everything perfect because he certainly didn't.  But nobody was there making fun of him or pushing him beyond his comfort zone.  He got noticably nervous when it started raining, but we were willing to wait until he was ready to get out there again, and it all turned out great.

Be sure and check back in as soon as you get yours.  Have you ridden before or is this your first bike?

How very exciting for you! Did you practice in the parking lot with a passenger before heading out? Or were you just ready to go?  My first long trip was 70miles a few weeks back with my husband, who has the C50T(volusia).  It was a comfortable ride and no rain to worry me.  But I am a little worried, we are starting to have those pop up Thunderstorms now and I just know I will get caught in one before to long.  Congrats on all your firsts!

On my first bike, a '64 Honda 50, I went out on the hard packed ice/snow covered streets wearing tennis shoes and my dad's puttees.  Sat with my legs out as outriggers and spun the rear tire and slithered and slid all over the road.  Had a blast.

Which brings up the matter of puttees.....

WD wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:06:


 Acutally, it's not the stock seat and is really quite comfortable.  He didn't complain at all and actually said it was a good ride.  He's gone about 30 miles on the STOCK Savage pillion and had a LOT of bad things to say about that ride.

I rode around the neighborhood a little bit with my son on the back of the Intruder before taking off on a long day like yesterday, but I'd ridden him around so much on the Savage that it really wasnt' a huge adjustment.  He's a very good passenger.

And you're right, WD, with good tires, the rain really isn't that bad.  After the hot day we had yesterday, it was pretty refreshing actually.    We got pretty wet, but after the initial 30 minutes, we got back on the road and finished the ride.  We went a little slower, but otherwise, it wasn't much different.

And Mike, my son LOVED the ride.  He was so psyched by the whole experience.  He was elated when we got home and saw that the trip meter showed EXACTLY  100 miles.

Hey girl! You've come a long way since last year! I'm so excited for you that hubby is riding. It makes all the difference in the world -- I love riding by myself but it is fun to ride with someone too. Congrats on all the firsts!  

Congrats, riding in the rain is not to bad, if you have the right protection got stuck on the Highway last summer with just a skull cap, found out rain hurts at 65mph, jealous about your spouse riding with you I have had my Savage for about 6 or 7 years and my wife has only ridding once with me and that was last summer.
she liked it but has a huge fear of all the cages on the road.