Finally out on the new ES with wife

After picking up the new ES about a month ago it has basically sat in my garage while I transferred/added new farkles and wired it for the electronics. Finally today I was able to get out with my wife for a couple hours for a nice fall ride around eastern PA. I am very pleased with the bike but am still getting used to the controls. Tried the heated grips and cruise control today. Pretty cool except now I'm gonna have to put heated grips on my wife's bike because she's jealous.

Looks great. Whats that black thing on the back of the bike ?

What the brand of cover you have on the back of the gas tank ?

redjay said:

Looks great. Whats that black thing on the back of the bike ?
What the brand of cover you have on the back of the gas tank ?

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The black thing is the mount for my Ventura luggage system and the Ram Ball mounted to it is where I put my GoPro camera sometimes for rear facing shots.

The tank bra is from Second Look and I had bought it for my 2008 FJR but I think they went out of business.

SilverHound said:

The tank bra is from Second Look and I had bought it for my 2008 FJR but I think they went out of business.

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They did go out of business. Too bad, they were just down the road from me. They used my bike as the template for the 1st FJR tank bra they made.

Nice photo

rogdeb said:

SilverHound said:

The tank bra is from Second Look and I had bought it for my 2008 FJR but I think they went out of business.

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They did go out of business. Too bad, they were just down the road from me. They used my bike as the template for the 1st FJR tank bra they made.

Nice photo

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Definitely too bad as it has held up very well and protected my tank nicely on the '08. I expect many more years of service from it on the new bike. Very well made farkle and it fits like a glove.

I take it you were in and around the Pocono's, nice Glad you finally got to rider her, lookin good!

Would you mind sharing which bike your wife rides, and if it's not too personal, what is her height and inseam measure? Any other thoughts regarding how she likes/dislikes the bike.

I have this dream that one day my wife will tell me she wants her own motorcycle.

hppants said:

Would you mind sharing which bike your wife rides, and if it's not too personal, what is her height and inseam measure? Any other thoughts regarding how she likes/dislikes the bike.
I have this dream that one day my wife will tell me she wants her own motorcycle.

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Not at all. She rides a Honda NC700X DCT (automatic transmission). She got her license through the MSF program and she can ride a motorcycle with a clutch, she just wasn't really good at it. So the DCT has been a dream for both of us in that I don't have to worry about her not being able to start off on a hill or other such elements that come into play with a manual transmission.

That said, the NCX is not a bike for shorter people. She is 6' tall and has a 34" inseam. If the DCT aspect is appealing in encouraging your wife to ride and she is not tall, Honda has a couple cruiser type models that also have the 700cc DCT option, the CTX700 and the CTX 700N

The DCT is a true 6 speed transmission and there are both sport and drive modes in full auto as well as a manual mode where you can paddle shift through the gears. I have to honest that I was reluctant at first and felt that if you wanted to ride a motorcycle you should be proficient at shifting but after witnessing how happy she is with it, the fact that she can accompany me on rides now as a rider instead of a passenger (I never really liked riding 2-up) and as mentioned above, it taking away a lot of my apprehension and concern about her riding, it was well worth it. Having ridden the bike myself it is a little weird not having to shift but actually it's a bit of a hoot and a very fun bike.

Overall she loves the bike. Her first bike was Suzuki Bandit 600 which frankly she hated. The DCT transmission has made all the difference.

I can't take a picture of her without a big smile when she's on the bike.