Bike Advice Options

[Rylinkus]

My GF is 5 foot. Actually Im convinced shes slightly smaller then that, but it's not worth the argument. Anyway, she wants to learn to ride a motorcycle and is mad at me for not letting her ride mine. I tried explaining to her that her feet wouldnt touch ground on my YZF. So now she wants her own bike. Thoughts on a bike for someone overly short?

[reZz]

I don't know all that much about bikes since my mom won't let me get one. But, you should see if you can borrow/rent a dirtbike and take her out somewhere so she can get a hang of riding a motorcycle. As for bikes, get her a Vespa!

[lostboyz]

my friend just bought a 250cc ninja older(early 90s is my guess), not sure what year but it seems predominantly lower than my friends kawasaki 600cc (forgot which kind it was)

[Rylinkus]

Someone has offered up a dirtbike for my truck. Im part tempted. It'd be fun for me and a teaching aid for her.

The Ninjas do seem to be pretty low.

[Granulated]

Gonna need to see some pictars of the girlfriend first

[thewickedjester]

Yeah, go with a smaller Ninja, like a 250, or if thats to small (Hell, thats about the size of my dirt bike ) then go with the 500, I think they have a 500. I just wouldnt recomend going into the 600+ on a Ninja, as the body styles change and in all honesty, those bikes are PIGS. Just to damn big for a sport bike.

Oh yeah, you could just lower your bike a few inches...? Its fairly easy, just drop the forks inside the triple trees, and get a set of lowering links for the back (they cost like 30 bucks). I'm fairly certain that theres no real setup aside form just installing it all, so its not like setting it back to normal will be a huge issue.

This post has been edited by thewickedjester: Sep 7 2006, 02:56 PM

[Rylinkus]

Oh yeah, you could just lower your bike a few inches...? Its fairly easy, just drop the forks inside the triple trees, and get a set of lowering links for the back (they cost like 30 bucks). I'm fairly certain that theres no real setup aside form just installing it all, so its not like setting it back to normal will be a huge issue.

It's an option but a 600 may be too big a bike for her in any case.

Gonna need to see some pictars of the girlfriend first

Nice try

[thewickedjester]

Big to learn on? Yeah, it can be, as long as she has a good sense of moderation though she should be fine. Hell, I learned (I mean, really, the first street bike I rode) was a ZX-11 o.O (I am assuming you are refering to engine size as well, if you mean the physical size of the bike, well, not sure of that myself)

[Perplexer]

Have her sign up for an MSF class; they generally have Honda Rebels and Nighthawks, Suzuki Savages, and sometimes a dual-sport even. All 200-250cc, and all good for short folks. She can try out a couple, without fear of dropping "someone's" bike and see what she likes.

I lowered the suspension 3" on my Suzuki Bandit 1200 since I wasn't able to flatfoot it (not even close). It changed the handling to the point where it was almost unrideable (pipes would scrape when I took curves enthusiastically). a 2" drop seemed OK, but my next bike will be designed more for my height...

[Rylinkus]

Big to learn on? Yeah, it can be, as long as she has a good sense of moderation though she should be fine. Hell, I learned (I mean, really, the first street bike I rode) was a ZX-11 o.O (I am assuming you are refering to engine size as well, if you mean the physical size of the bike, well, not sure of that myself)

Even lowered I just think my bike would be too bulky for her. Im thinking I want something really small all around. And certainly not a 600cc. A 250cc probably would be best.

Have her sign up for an MSF class; they generally have Honda Rebels and Nighthawks, Suzuki Savages, and sometimes a dual-sport even. All 200-250cc, and all good for short folks. She can try out a couple, without fear of dropping "someone's" bike and see what she likes.

I lowered the suspension 3" on my Suzuki Bandit 1200 since I wasn't able to flatfoot it (not even close). It changed the handling to the point where it was almost unrideable (pipes would scrape when I took curves enthusiastically). a 2" drop seemed OK, but my next bike will be designed more for my height...

Ive read the same about the handling on the YZF. I read a writeup about one that was dropped 2 1/2". Sounded like it killed the handling. Anyone know how big a Buell Blast is? They look small when I see them go by, but Ive yet to actually see one up close.

[gasclown]

bike advice? dont use em as major transport. all the people ive known whove ridden them as transport end up maming themselves (just lemme know if you want some horrific pics to turn her off).

having said that - i had a lot of fun on bikes as a kid, but im scared of them now. if you think thats wussy, ill be the wuss with both arms, the same wuss who can still walk without limping...

but anyways i know some girls who can throw around dirtbikes better than a lot of the boys. on the road they mostly ride what we call uprights - think susuki 'bandit'.

[Rylinkus]

bike advice? dont use em as major transport. all the people ive known whove ridden them as transport end up maming themselves (just lemme know if you want some horrific pics to turn her off).

having said that - i had a lot of fun on bikes as a kid, but im scared of them now. if you think thats wussy, ill be the wuss with both arms, the same wuss who can still walk without limping...

but anyways i know some girls who can throw around dirtbikes better than a lot of the boys. on the road they mostly ride what we call uprights - think susuki 'bandit'.

I walk with a limp anyway, so it's not gonna be my bikes fault. It is a main source of transport suring summer months. But I do live in Maine where I dont have to worry about gobs of traffic.

[XSOLJA]

I'm from Australia, I dont know if you have them over there but the first bike I owned was a suzuki 92 model RGV 250. It was pretty small for me, i'm 6 foot 2.
If she's only around 5 foot it would be a great size for her. Its a 2 stroke so it has the speed to keep her from getting bored, stock it was good for around 235 km\h but it was getting a bit tired and i weighed around 90 kg at the time. But it was a great handling bike, so light to flick around.
Nothing wrong with using a bike as major transport, you just cant afford to stop concentrating on traffic or road surface.