fooferdoggie 

my blind wife and I used our stimulus checks to help pay for a tandem. since public transportation is so limited now we can get around again. she has not ridden a bike in 30 years and is wobbly and we put 2.5 miles on it just going around in a empty parking lot practicing starting and stopping and just learning to ride a bike again. this is a German brand with a Bosch performance motor class 1 I have batteries for my speed bike so its great to be able to swap batteries.

Freerojo

That is so cool! We, my wife and I, are just putting our first time tandem together.

Russ Roth

Great use of the check, looks like something that will give lots of smiles and the motor to help on the hills will make it even nicer.

fooferdoggie 

yes I am so used to a e bike I have so much fun on mine I can work as hard as my heath allows. so now she can to. since both bikes share the same battery we will have as much range as we can handle. its s going to take some work just for her to get used to sitting on a saddle. I bought her a recumbent stationary bike when this all started so she can peddle for a hour.

lichtgrau

Great move, guys. I hope, you will have lots of fun together and never regret your buy. The "Bosch Performance Line"-engine is often used here in Germany and it's a very good and reliable drive solution.
Do everything for the stoker to enjoy the experience

Carbonfiberboy 

Getting a first tandem is a huge learning experience. Learning new things is good, especially together! Kudos to you both. Not that easy, is it? It took us many, many miles to perfect our tandem experience. In a way, having your stoker be blind is an advantage, as she can't anticipate what you're going to do. "Stoker steering" is an issue with new sighted teams. All I hear about blind stokers is "we love it!"

I use many verbal cues during rides with my sighted stoker. Every time something's going to change, I have a phrase for it, always the same phrase.

fooferdoggie 

I am not the biggest talker so it Have to blab more than usual. sometimes its hard to get my mouth caught up to my thought and tell her in time but that should work its self out. we had to go up a lip on a driveway and turn and she reacted so much to the lip I had trouble turning and we almost hit the curb. but its getting better got three rides in every day we have had it. had to get the bars moved forward as her tail bone was killing her. sometimes she keeps peddling after I say coasting and her feet fall off the pedals. I am debating on some race face spiked pedals but she may hit her shins.

Carbonfiberboy 

Clipless pedals will make a huge difference, at least for her. Double sided SPD are best. The "proper method" is captain mounts, braces bike, both feet on the ground. Stoker mounts without clipping in. Captain holds both brakes, says "ready". Stoker clips in one foot, then the other. She then rotates the pedals so that one pedal is at 10 o'clock. You clip into that pedal or put your foot on it if platforms. You say, "pedaling". SHE pedals that hard downstroke and keeps pedaling while you get your other foot on the other pedal as off you go. Stopping, you either put one or both feet on the ground. If you put both feet down, you say, "down". "Down" gives her permission to wiggle about if necessary, but she stays clipped in for the whole ride. It'll take her a bit of practice to clip in blind, but sighted riders never look either. We all clip in blind. With this method, starting with a tandem is actually much easier than starting on a single, especially on a hill.

So:
:Bump! (she weights the pedals, maybe rises a bit off the saddle)
Slowing
Accelerating
Easy
Power!
Shifting (right before shifting, signal to ease off for a moment)
Stopping
Going or Pedaling
Etc.

lichtgrau

Can't see in your picture whether your stoker seatpost is spring-suspended or not. Overriding bumps unknowingly is one of the mean things for a stoker. And you'll definitely forget to mention some bump every now and then...
For us, finally, the Thudbuster LT (for example, there are other good solutions too) plus a matching saddle made the difference between "I can't stand it" and "This is fun". Just make sure to stay away from poorly designed and cheap solutions where the seatpost is unintentionally slightly rotating. This only brings another unnecessary unsettling factor, especially to someone who's visually impaired.

Riding together is a wonderful thing to share...

fooferdoggie 

yes I have a kinect seat post on it and her seat has a little bit of spring too. that was the first thing I put on the bike. I thought about lipless but she has so many things to learn right now and that would be too much I think.

merlinextraligh

Congratulations and enjoy

Leisesturm

Does your wife have the identical saddle to yours? My wife's tailbone was not happy until I got her a saddle with a 'notch' in the back like yours has. She doesn't even need padded shorts as long as any saddle I buy for her has some kind of notch at the back. Luckily I have found several models at all price ranges that do. I don't think clipless are really needed for her either. Regular toe clips with the straps loose will keep her feet from slipping off the pedals. Later on you both can get PowerGrips. The only thing better than PowerGrips is clipless.

fooferdoggie 

her seat as the cutout she may not need the shorts I will have her try without today. but she needs to get used it like we all have.

fooferdoggie 

glad I rode all over so I can figure out the best way a tandem can get there. the usual ways i go are not always practical too sharp of turns or too bumpy and such.