I think your instincts were right in that a smaller bike to start out on, to get used to the whole affair of riding one, especially if she has not. So many of us grew up with a dirt bike or similar, friends had them and somewhere along the way you got some seat time whatever the situation was. Going straight to a heavy road bike, like a nice cruiser such as the one you bought, well maybe some more thought and instruction, adjusting for correct fit if could be done with this one etc. At first it may not be easy to get used to, as you are on something like a good sized tractor tire, fully loaded with ballast, when they free stand you can brace it easily but when it tips to a certain point, there's no stopping it. Feet flat on the ground, being safely balanced when slowing to a stop and starting off from a stop, that and the feel for the clutch, feathering to let it out and get it moving without stalling, is likely the hardest part. Every bike is different in that regard. I still have the pair of old Yamaha Maxims, an '80 and '81, and though those are mild in weight, darned kick stand sunk in on this slightly sloped parking lot at work one morning, I'm an experienced rider and it went over and pinned me, leaking gas, here I am kind of yelling for help, trying to squirm out of it, heck of a way to start the day, someone came over and helped me out. Caught me off guard,went past the tipping point and over it went. I had both of these as cheap modes of transportation, good back up and at one time it was that or walk. One of these was the first road bike I had, but the dirtbike experience was huge in that I got the feel for it easily. Good friend had the 750 Maxim and I rode that every so often, one morning he called the house for a ride and me to pick him up on it, 4 of us were roomates in college. I had never even driven one on the road, took to it like a duck to water, as I did know how to ride off road, feet were flat on the ground, no problem.
He's got a harley for cheap transportation as he's 30 miles west the rest of us and family, so his wife will drive the car or truck and he does not worry about fuel expense if he just needs to come out this way, not cutting wood or what have you, they are great for that and if you have a truck, trailer, you can take them along if you like, back up and additional transportation etc. I used to pack mine in the back of my old chevy K10 for weekend get aways.
Mental awareness was mentioned below, I 2nd that highly, one must be extremely cautious at ALL times, won't go into as to why, or lets say results of not doing so etc. Defensively driving is a must. Its not all isolated back roads, recently paved and smooth. Other traffic, loose gravel, other motorists, potholes, animals darting out, all of it happens real fast, so excess speed is a bad thing. Brakes on these work well and you can deal with any situation for the most part, but excess speed and a cavalier attitude when riding is a real bad combination. Safety and training courses, getting with experienced riders is a must.
I'm not so keen on riding given a lot of different things and reasons, but my friends late model harley, he found a clean one owner, '09 or so, boy is that a nice ride, I took it out a few times, hard to deny the fun in it, maybe I'd go for one, too much of a luxury now, but there are times it would be nice to go for a cruise out his way or similar, so the bug does get in and stay with you LOL !
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Today's Featured Article - Listening to Your Tractor - by Curtis Von Fange. Years ago there was a TV show about a talking car. Unless you are from another planet, physically or otherwise, I don’t think our internal combustion buddies will talk and tell us their problems. But, on the other hand, there is a secret language that our mechanical companions readily do speak. It is an interesting form of communication that involves all the senses of the listener. In this series we are going to investigate and learn the basic rudimentary skills of understanding this lingo.
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