I have a friend that showed up right after someone hit my bike.. She was saying she wants a bike, but can't find one that would be easy enough to ride.. her feed didn't even come close to touching the ground on my gs500....
Any ideas?
well a 125 and 250 would be perfect sizing for her but probably not enough displacement. Aprillia make new 125's and 250's, the other big names do have 125 and 250 bikes but not brand new unless your looking at a trials bike which i don't think you are.
If you can get hold of a 400, ZXR400, VFR400, (all the big brands had a 400 import) they have plenty more power, much more than the gs500 and they were prided for having such a low seat height. She could also get a lowering kit for one if it needed to be smaller.
yeah honda rebel 250, sits real low and perfect for women. Now if she wants a sport bike she'll have a hard time finding a low profile bike w/o modifying it.
yeah, she wants a sports bike.. So a lowering kit is her best bet?
Find the smallest bike that she really likes, then ask the dealer about a lowering kit. If not move up onto next favorite - blah blah. But i reckon if you could find a 400 in america she might be alright without a lowering kit. but i dunno how many they imported into america.
Kawis EX250 sits pretty low IMO. I mean im 6ft but i 've been right up to it before and it seems to be a good height for women. Have her try it out, it might not be too bad. If you are lucky enough to find a 400 then try it out first. Try a bunch of bikes out before you settle on any one.
How about form Japan?
SUZUKI
http://www1.suzuki.co.jp/motor/sv400s/index.html
http://www1.suzuki.co.jp/motor/gsr400/index.html
HONDA
http://www.honda.co.jp/motor-lineup/hornet/
http://www.honda.co.jp/motor-lineup/vtr/
YAMAHA
http://www.yamaha-motor.jp/mc/lineup/sportsbike/xjr400r/index.html
Im 5'2 and I was able to sit 90% flat flooted on the Ninja 250.
If she is ready, the Ducatti Monster 600 lowers very well. I saw one at Touring Sport in Greenville, SC that was lowered -- perfect for a vertically challenged individual. :)
But if she is new to riding, a GZ250 or so -- though cruiser/classic -- would be a better choice. The sucker gets 85 mpg! The Honda Nighthawk 250 gets 99 mpg!
Functionality wins over looks when gas prices get way up there.
and of course, to take the MSF course before doing anything!
http://www.msf-usa.org/
Quote from: ASIA 1 on August 01, 2006, 05:31:17 AM
How about form Japan?
SUZUKI
http://www1.suzuki.co.jp/motor/sv400s/index.html
http://www1.suzuki.co.jp/motor/gsr400/index.html
HONDA
http://www.honda.co.jp/motor-lineup/hornet/
http://www.honda.co.jp/motor-lineup/vtr/
YAMAHA
http://www.yamaha-motor.jp/mc/lineup/sportsbike/xjr400r/index.html
America! C'mon! Get with the program! We need more bikes like these...
Why not trim the seat on the GS500? Use thinner but better gel and that should help.
I know somewhere there are lowering links for the GS.
I just lowered my SVS. I'm 5'4", and I can now flat-foot it with room to spare. No more dropping for me? :nono: :icon_lol: :laugh:
I'm definitely not riding flat-footed on my bike but I've gotten use to riding it. It's been 4 months. I didn't lower the bike or trim the seat
hey would lowering it help it aerodamically, like cars?
Somewhat, but lowering is a last resort kind of thing.
Some bike tolerate it well, others it just DESTROYS handling. (Not from personal experience, I'm tall enough for most bikes.)
The only reason to lower it is if you are too short.
people told me that it changes the dynamics of the bike. I do hv the lowering links for it but I hvn't done it
It's my understanding that lowering changes the geometry, that they need to make the front end match the back end. I took my bike to a professional. They set up my suspension again with me there after they lowered him. There are some things that I won't take chances with, and this is one of them. :thumb:
Lowering my SVS was definitely a last resort for me. So far, the only thing I've noticed about the SVS after lowering is that he needs slightly more input for sweepers, but that he attacks corners and twisties like never before. It definitely affects handling, so ya' need to take it easy and get to know your bike again after lowering. I call him my midget bike now. He's probably as low in the back end as my commuter GS was.
The only other thing that's different now is that the kickstand is too long now. He sits VERY upright on his sidestand, and even slight tugging to bungie something down could easily cause him to fall over (if it's not one way my bike will fall over, it's another.... :icon_rolleyes: :cookoo: :laugh:), so we're going to work on THAT problem next.
Having my feetz flat on the ground again has given me more confidence, too. It feels VERY good to have my feetz firmly planted on the ground again.
(P.S. I *swear* that lowering him gave my SVS at *least* another 10 HP, nick)...
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j/k :icon_mrgreen: :kiss3:
You can have the seat on the GS500 cut and get a few more inches out of it... We used to have a GS500 rider around here that was really short... She had the seat cut and could get one foot firmly planted or get the balls of both feet down... Which it all you really need once you get used to it.
If it's still not low enough, you can lower the bike and get another couple inches out of it.
Quote from: pandy on August 01, 2006, 10:46:38 AM
I just lowered my SVS. I'm 5'4", and I can now flat-foot it with room to spare. No more dropping for me? :nono: :icon_lol: :laugh:
Give it a month and let us know how the no dropping goes.....just joking ;) :laugh:
But i think everyone is giving good advice. I would see how far off she is from touching the ground and shaving the seat some might do it. There have been quite a few ladies here who have done. If that won't do it then lower the bike. My logic is that i would start with the cheapest remedy and work up to the more expensive ones.
Eat. Yes, that's right, eat and get fat. This will increase rider sag and decrease ride height :icon_twisted:
or...
Buell XB12Scg, 28.6 inch seat height (pretty narrow too), short reach to the bar...
(http://www.rmh-d.com/images/new_mc/2006/XB12Scg.jpg)
The craptacular Blast has really low seat height and comes with even lower 25.5 inch...
You guys are going about this all wrong. Instead of shortening a fine piece of machinery, you need to extend your friend. Check with a couple doctors, there are ways to break her legs and reset them to make her taller, and that way you don't have to damage the bike. Its a fine alternative in my opinion.
Quote from: Unnamed on August 01, 2006, 03:18:12 PM
You guys are going about this all wrong. Instead of shortening a fine piece of machinery, you need to extend your friend. Check with a couple doctors, there are ways to break her legs and reset them to make her taller, and that way you don't have to damage the bike. Its a fine alternative in my opinion.
That's a bit extreme... and expensive. Why not just replace her entirely? Wife can be divorced... GF can certainly be replaced. :flipoff:
Quote from: Dr. Love on August 01, 2006, 03:42:29 PM
Quote from: Unnamed on August 01, 2006, 03:18:12 PM
You guys are going about this all wrong. Instead of shortening a fine piece of machinery, you need to extend your friend. Check with a couple doctors, there are ways to break her legs and reset them to make her taller, and that way you don't have to damage the bike. Its a fine alternative in my opinion.
That's a bit extreme... and expensive. Why not just replace her entirely? Wife can be divorced... GF can certainly be replaced. :flipoff:
Definitely sounds like you're ready to upgrade to a taller friend.
-James
The first thing I would do is have her take the MSF course and experience riding a bike. That will give both of you an idea of what her limits are. She may decide that if she can't sit on it with knees bent she's uncomfortable on it. In which case, a cruiser might be in the future.
If she want's a "sport bike" I think I would encourage her to try the EX250 if she thinks the GS is too tall. The EX will do the highway just fine despite what many say. Don't try to push her into a taller or bigger bike, modded or not. She has to want it to begin with or you're wasting everybody's time.
Well, there's a lot you can do to an existing bike. In the order I would try it:
1) Technique. There's a technique to riding a bike you can't flatfoot. Specifically, you never touch both feet. As you come to a stop you slide off the seat and put your left foot on the ground, leaving your right foot on the rear brake. You take the weight of the bike on the inside of your left thigh. Using this method you can ride a bike that is tall enough you can barely touch both toes down. You have to be capable of smooth stops, smooth starts to prevent a drop.
2) Shave the seat. You can probably take 1.5" out of the GS seat and replace it with a thin gel pad. I know of one 5' 1" woman who took 3" out of her SV650 seat and replaced it with a gel pad. She said the seat is more comfortable now than it was, and she was able to nearly flatfoot the bike.
3) Add sole to your riding boots. Within limits this is possible. I have heard of really short people adding .5" to the bottom of their boots. Small people have small feet, so you can still use all the controls.
4) Lower the bike. You can lower most bikes about 1" without changing the steering geometry. After that, you can lower the rear of a sport bike about another 1.5". Realize, lowering the back alone will slow the steering response. How much will depend bike-to-bike.
Good luck, let us know how she progresses. :)
she could always were highheals :icon_mrgreen:
If there were tough moto boots that were platform, I'd be ALL over them!!! :icon_twisted:
j8
A reasonable amount of lowering will not affect the handling of the GS enough to make a significant difference to a new rider. I've run 130/90 tires for many thousands of miles in the past and they raised the rear about 1" and quicken the steering a noticeable amount. My 97 ended up with a 140/80 sport touring radial rear raising it about 3/4" and a 110/70 supersport front and it felt like it had some loss in sense of direction a slow speeds due to it's greater responsiveness. Hardly noticeable after riding it awhile. I think a big change in tire responsiveness will make a more significant change in the GS than a reasonably amount of lowering will.
I really didn't notice any change in the handling with my recent addition of lowering links to the rear of my 02 GS, but it did stiffen the rear a noticeable amount. I had a well used set of Progressive front springs already and had left the rear preload at mid setting. The links felt like I'd cranked up the rear preload a couple notches to be more like the front in stiffness and while a bit bumpy in rough corners, I like the results overall.
The ZX6R links will fit the GS500. The shortest of the three holes on the Muzzys links is about the same as the GS500 links, approx 7 1/16 long. Next hole is 1/2" longer which would lower the bike about 2 1/2 inches in the rear, it's about a 5:1 ratio.
I was looking for about 1-2" lower so I went with the Pingel #62018 links which have the first hole at about 7 5/16" long. They lowered the bike about 1 1/4" in the rear. Other 2 holes are 9/16" apart each so 2nd hole would lower it another 2 3/4 inches approx. I dropped the front about 1/2" by sliding the fork tubes up in the tripple clamps. I have the GenMar bar risers which allow sliding the tubes up further than they will go with the bars in the standard position.
I'm running 110/80 and 150/70 Lasertec tires which are about 1/2" taller than OE tires so my net lowering is only about 3/4" rear, but it's still 1 1/4" lower than before I added the links. Bike sits OK on sidestand, but further lowering would probably require altering the sidestand.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=7304.msg61113#msg61113
http://www.muzzys.com/catalog/
http://www.pingelonline.com/index.htm
Bought the Pingel links from Dennis Kirk, their #588358.
http://www.denniskirk.com/
(partly copied and pasted from previous post I made on subject)
Quote from: CirclesCenter on August 01, 2006, 10:56:40 AM
Somewhat, but lowering is a last resort kind of thing.
Some bike tolerate it well, others it just DESTROYS handling. (Not from personal experience, I'm tall enough for most bikes.)
The only reason to lower it is if you are too short.
I've always been tall enough for a GS and have always had my feet planted solidly on the ground with my knees bent once on it, but still felt the need to lower it. Since I bought the first GS in early 1999, I've become over 2" shorter in height than I was then. Ever increasing arthritis in the hips has made it harder and harder to get on it even though I'm tall enough once there. :laugh: But I'll still be riding it as long as I can walk to it and climb on. :thumb:
Ever thought of getting a heist?
Quote from: MarkusN on August 02, 2006, 06:47:14 AM
Ever thought of getting a heist?
Might work in the garage but would be difficult to take along. :flipoff: