Bike for a very short rider

[DuckRyder]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
The Softail is WAY too heavy at ~700lbs. Even a ~550lb Sportster was too heavy for her.

...


It isn't. (it is all mental)

She has got to do what she is comfortable with but if you're helping her with this and don't at least get her to sit on a Slim or Deluxe you're doing her a disservice.

The weight is lower in a Softail and it is easier to stand up than a Sportster.

Anyway, I'm out ... best of luck to her, I hope she finds something she can enjoy, be it a Blast, Softail, Rebel or something completely different ...

OH Edit: You might try a new Scout if you can find one...

 

[BigCahuna]

Where there's a will. Lots of good suggestions here. If your friend finds a bike she likes, she can make it fit her. Lowered shocks, have the seat foam redone so it's height's lower, and possibly find a smaller rear rim for the rear tire. Thicker shoe soles can get another inch in height. When you look at riding, how much time is spent actually straddling your bike where you need to put both feet down? If your stopped for any period of time, put it on the kickstand. Any time the bike needs to be moved forward, use the motor. Backwards, get off and move it by pulling on the bars. A persons height doesn't make a difference for riding, you just need a good sense of balance. After a few weeks of gaining confidence She will be riding with the best of them. There are people that have arms and legs missing that figured out how to get back on the road, so being verticly challenged shouldn't stop her.,,

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
The Softail is WAY too heavy at ~700lbs. Even a ~550lb Sportster was too heavy for her.

...


It isn't. (it is all mental)

She has got to do what she is comfortable with but if you're helping her with this and don't at least get her to sit on a Slim or Deluxe you're doing her a disservice.

The weight is lower in a Softail and it is easier to stand up than a Sportster.

Anyway, I'm out ... best of luck to her, I hope she finds something she can enjoy, be it a Blast, Softail, Rebel or something completely different ...

OH Edit: You might try a new Scout if you can find one...


By the gods...it is NOT "all mental". It's very simple: being very short and barely 90lbs, she simply does not have the size or leverage to handle a 700lb motorcycle! She had trouble simply straddling the Sportster without dropping it. If she ever dropped it, she would not be able to pick it up unaided. Again: she is about the size of a 12-year-old!

No new bikes. At this point, as I posted earlier, I'd be stunned if she DIDN'T end up with a Buell Blast.

 

[DuckRyder]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
...

By the gods...it is NOT "all mental". It's very simple: being very short and barely 90lbs, she simply does not have the size or leverage to handle a 700lb motorcycle! She had trouble simply straddling the Sportster without dropping it. If she ever dropped it, she would not be able to pick it up unaided. Again: she is about the size of a 12-year-old!



Oh you're right of course, there is no way a girl under five feet and under 100lbs could ever ride a softail, I have no idea what I was thinking.

Good day and best of luck to her.

 

[Jarlaxle]

OK, now you're just trolling.

 

[DuckRyder]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
OK, now you're just trolling.


Well at this point perhaps just a little, but only because you seem unwilling to listen to advice you asked for from people who actually have some experience with it.

 

[gman2304]

A Buell is too close to a Harley....I'll be amazed if you don't manage to steer her away from anything that even resembles those vibrating, low tech, oil leaking v twin [single cylinder] air cooled dinosaurs! LOL

 

[Jarlaxle]

I didn't steer her much...suggested the Hyosung (she'd never heard of it) and the Savage, that's about it. I did tell her to ask which seat the Blast had. Also told her that a Burgman probably wouldn't work. (Too wide.)

I think everything she looked at is air-cooled.

 

[whip]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
OK, now you're just trolling.

At least you're not accusing people of being drunk or on drugs.

Duckryder is correct about the Softtail. While it is a heavier bike, it feels much lighter due to the lower center of gravity. Sportsters are terrible bikes for beginners because they feel top heavy.

 

[Spazdog]

I wanted to like the Buell Blast. I've long said that if Yamaha brings back the SRX-6, they can just take my money. I thought the OHV single was an added oddity bonus.

But then I rode one and I hated the Blast's seating position...but then again I am nearly two feet taller.

Dated a girl that had one. Hated it too. I like small bikes. Hated this one.

With rearsets and a flatter bar it becomes more liveable. In stock form for me, it was a weird unnatural seating position. It might actually work for a small rider.

16" tires should be availiable for a long time. Same size as the EX250F Ninja that they made virtually unchanged for 20 years.

My only other suggestion would be a Sym Symba. Seemed a lot too small for me. Might still be too tall for her. No questioning it's toughness. Riders have taken them from California to Alaska and all the way across Africa and Asia with no support/chase vehicles.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: whip
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
OK, now you're just trolling.

At least you're not accusing people of being drunk or on drugs.

Duckryder is correct about the Softtail. While it is a heavier bike, it feels much lighter due to the lower center of gravity. Sportsters are terrible bikes for beginners because they feel top heavy.


Yeah, the Softail Slim might be great...if she were planning to drop $10,000+ on a motorcycle! I am honestly stunned that ANYONE would actually suggest a 700+lb Softail as a first motorcycle for a 90lb woman!

 

[Robenstein]

V Star 250 would be a good one I think.

 

[whip]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: whip
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
OK, now you're just trolling.

At least you're not accusing people of being drunk or on drugs.

Duckryder is correct about the Softtail. While it is a heavier bike, it feels much lighter due to the lower center of gravity. Sportsters are terrible bikes for beginners because they feel top heavy.


Yeah, the Softail Slim might be great...if she were planning to drop $10,000+ on a motorcycle!

You must be drunk. You never mentioned her budget, and now you're chastising others for exceeding her budget. How would we know?

 

[Jarlaxle]

Yeah, because LOTS of people buy a 700lb, $10,000 bike as a first motorcycle! Come on, use your brain.

 

[whip]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Yeah, because LOTS of people buy a 700lb, $10,000 bike as a first motorcycle!

It happens. I know a guy that bought an $18,000 Road King as his first bike.

Had you provided the details of a budget, a lot of this could have been avoided.

 

[02SE]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Yeah, because LOTS of people buy a 700lb, $10,000 bike as a first motorcycle! Come on, use your brain.


I know someone that just bought a BMW K1600GT as their first bike.

700+ lbs, 23k+ price.

It was against my solicited advice. But, it's still a somewhat free Country.

 

[Jarlaxle]

I figure he's a good bit taller than 4'5" and a good bit more than 90lbs, then?

 

[Robenstein]

I have seen what happens when someone gets way too much bike for their size. It is not pretty. A short gal had a softtail bagger at a charity ride. She could not even back it up to park it. She tipped it over trying to handle it. I would say she was about 4'9 and maybe 100 lbs. The bikes may have a good center of gravity but physics are still physics and if you cannot push the bike, you should not have the bike.

 

[whip]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
I figure he's a good bit taller than 4'5" and a good bit more than 90lbs, then?

6'3" and about 230. He could it afford thou, so don't worry about him.

 

[rrounds]

How about a MP3 250 or 400? It has a very low seat stock and you can cut the seat down to make it even lower. Also when you come to a stop you can lock the front end so you don't even have to put your feet down. We have one and love it.

ROD