Hi,
About ten days ago, my 29 year old daughter, my 16 year old son, and I went on a ride to Skyline Drive from the Chesapeake Bay, returning to Richmond for the night, then rode down Route 5 to Williamsburg and Jamestown, before returning to my house. My daughter rode my 1990 PC800 Pacific Coast, my son rode a 2012 Honda NC700X, and I rode my 1991 ST1100. On a previous ride, he was complaining of monkey butt, so we switched bikes, and this ride, on a fuel stop, he was again complaining of monkey butt, despite buying an Air Hawk Air Cushion. I managed to stay on mostly back roads, so it was a blast. We have Bluetooth intercoms, so we were able to talk while riding, which made it nice. On a subsequent fuel stop, I could see he preferred staying on the ST1100. The Air Hawk cushion helped, but it is not a comfortable seat. On the ST1100, I removed the Gel seat and installed the stock seat for the trip, and I didn't experience much difference in butt fatigue than the gel seat. We covered 360 miles the first day, 125 the second. We did no interstate riding, mostly 45-55 mph back roads.
I am thinking I might need to get another bike for him, but am concerned about moving him to a big bike too quickly. He has been riding minibikes and 50cc motor scooters since he was 5 years old, so he has a good bit of riding experience, but an ST1100 is a lot of bike. He seems to be a careful rider, so I am not scared he will hot dog it much and get in trouble. 4 years ago, I did have another ST1100, but sold it after buying my current ST1100. My SIL, who was a new rider, waited too long to plant his feet at a stop light, and it got so far over, he had to lay it down, so I worry that my son may do likewise, but so far, so good.
Any thoughts?
About ten days ago, my 29 year old daughter, my 16 year old son, and I went on a ride to Skyline Drive from the Chesapeake Bay, returning to Richmond for the night, then rode down Route 5 to Williamsburg and Jamestown, before returning to my house. My daughter rode my 1990 PC800 Pacific Coast, my son rode a 2012 Honda NC700X, and I rode my 1991 ST1100. On a previous ride, he was complaining of monkey butt, so we switched bikes, and this ride, on a fuel stop, he was again complaining of monkey butt, despite buying an Air Hawk Air Cushion. I managed to stay on mostly back roads, so it was a blast. We have Bluetooth intercoms, so we were able to talk while riding, which made it nice. On a subsequent fuel stop, I could see he preferred staying on the ST1100. The Air Hawk cushion helped, but it is not a comfortable seat. On the ST1100, I removed the Gel seat and installed the stock seat for the trip, and I didn't experience much difference in butt fatigue than the gel seat. We covered 360 miles the first day, 125 the second. We did no interstate riding, mostly 45-55 mph back roads.
I am thinking I might need to get another bike for him, but am concerned about moving him to a big bike too quickly. He has been riding minibikes and 50cc motor scooters since he was 5 years old, so he has a good bit of riding experience, but an ST1100 is a lot of bike. He seems to be a careful rider, so I am not scared he will hot dog it much and get in trouble. 4 years ago, I did have another ST1100, but sold it after buying my current ST1100. My SIL, who was a new rider, waited too long to plant his feet at a stop light, and it got so far over, he had to lay it down, so I worry that my son may do likewise, but so far, so good.
Any thoughts?