View Poll Results: Was buying a '09 honda shadow for my girlfriend a bad idea?
Voters: 83. You may not vote on this poll
What do you think?
Road Master
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 909
Likes: 1
From: Los Angeles, CA
1st off... don't buy expensive things for girlfriends. You should have told her that you bought yourself a second motorcycle for your friends to ride along with you and she is welcome to be one of those people. You can then tell her that you already have a Harley and you never want your friends to upstage you at a destination or wreck one so you decided on a Honda. Then you tell her that if she ends up liking the ride, she can either buy it off of you or go buy her own. If you end up marrying her, then she can talk some chit. But that talk is still very limited if finances aren't shared somewhat.
Cruiser
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 180
Likes: 0
From: VA
Road Master
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 868
Likes: 4
From: Warwick, RI
Honda makes beautiful, low slung, light weight bikes that hold up for many thousands of maintenance free miles. For those of us 5' or less our bike options narrow. She should be grateful to have her own ride and understand that for newbies- anything with 2 wheels that fits the rider properly is great. When/if she learns to ride and decides she loves it and can handle something bigger- then move up to a HD. I have both a sporty and a 1400 Suzuki and love them both. When I ride in agroup I have never had anyone say anything negative about my Zuki as it is just as customized and beautiful as my HD. I would rather ride anything no matter what logo is onthe tank than be riding bitch or not riding at all. There are many folks out there that wish they had a bike so tell her to grow up and appreciate both the bike and especially the giver of the bike.
I would ask her how the Honda is not a "real" bike. You can see it Touch it. Start it. ride it. seems real to me. Travels down the same roads, through the same air.
Most people would think it was a HD. Sorry guys, but it is true. I had a Shadow ACE and I can't count the number of times I heard "Nice Harley" while filling up. The general masses wont know the difference. Those who do will have two camps. Camp 1 - couldn't possibly care less. At least she is out riding. Camp 2 - bitch and moan about it being rice burning POS not allowed to share the same road as them. Which is fine cause they likely spend more time in the dealer parking lot or in the garage as eye candy anyway.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 2,049
Likes: 6
From: Oregon City, OR
Damn bro-sounds like a unappreciative woman with a negative attitude.What's next,car not good enough,too small a ring you buy her.Your business,but she needs to be a little more gracious in my opinion.Good luck with all that.
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 2,523
Likes: 3
From: Illinois
Don't take this wrong, but if you've got the *****, SHOW HER THIS THREAD and all of the responses in it. That should "bring her back to reality" in a hurry. At least hopefully so. My wife started out on a Honda 750 ACE (the older version of the Aero), and it was a great bike for her to learn on. She dropped it five or six times in the process. Had that been on a 20K bike I'd have been real pissed. She now rides a bigger bike, but still not a Harley (she just never cared about the brand of bike she rides), and I've never heard anybody give her **** over it. Personally, I think you did the best you could, and if you could have bought her a Harley you would have. That being said, you had great intentions and a good heart, if she can't appreciate that, I'd dump her in a heartbeat.
Last edited by jeff.georgalas; Jan 14, 2010 at 06:13 PM.
Road Master
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 964
Likes: 243
From: right outside of town
Just bought the girlfriend a '09 honda shadow. shes dissapointed its not a harley, which i can understand. I told her a harley isnt an option right now, maybe later. she said she'll be embarrassed riding it around anyone with a "real" bike. what do you guys think? attachted is a recent pic.
..lol..I think she's drank to much kool aid, she's very shallow, and she'll take you for a big ride and it won't be on a bike..let her go now, or you're gonna regret it later..hey, you asked...