WOMEN Riders less than 5' 3" in here please

[the chi]

Originally Posted by tached1000rr

Off topic but my 16 yr old daughter is named Raven and we call her "Rae"

it's a good name, my given is rachel, but I prefer rae...

I can't stand the thought of lowering a bike, having ridden them it makes me shudder at the loss of performance, small tho it may be! My friend had the 250 and got links to lower it and it met her needs. I'd try that, then when she is comfortable, take it back to stock if she wants.

[MissHell]

I am 5' 7" and my in-seam is 31". I ride an R6s, stock height. Did not shave the seat. I am on the balls of my feet, not flat-footed.

My friend is 5' and also rides an R6s which was lowered 2" for her. She has not shaved the seat.

[tached1000rr]

She really wants to be able to pretty much flat foot any bike she has, it's pretty "hilly" where we ride and she hates the balancing act she has to do while stopped at the top of those hills.

[lauralynne]

I'm 5'-6" BUT I have a very short inseam - 26". I ride my SV at the track on tipie toes - makes starts a little iffy but otherwise I manage ok. My street bike is a Honda SuperHawk, it's lowered without links - Louie did it on one of our trips after I dropped it in a gas station. I can tip toe it but have ridden enough now that it's not an issue. I started riding on a VFR800 that I couldn't even tip toe - I could touch one side with a butt slide. It comes down to what she's comfortable with. Good luck!

[fnfalman]

Originally Posted by tached1000rr

She really wants to be able to pretty much flat foot any bike she has, it's pretty "hilly" where we ride and she hates the balancing act she has to do while stopped at the top of those hills.

Get her a Honda Nighthawk 250, or the Honda Rebel 250, or that Suzuki's equivalence of the Rebel 250. After she gets comfortable with riding and balancing a bike, then get her something taller so that she can balance on one leg. Starting out with a tallish bike is do-able, but not pleasant and the learning curve is definitely a lot shallower than starting out with a bike that gives her confidence.

I'm 5ft6 with stubby inseam (29" pants, 26" actual). I can ride any bike of any weight all the way up to 34" seat inseam. After that I can't because I simply run out of leg room to even teeter on the ball of one foot. BUT I sure as hell didn't start out with an adventure bike and 33" worth of seat inseam.

[MissHell]

Originally Posted by fnfalman

Get her a Honda Nighthawk 250, or the Honda Rebel 250, or that Suzuki's equivalence of the Rebel 250. After she gets comfortable with riding and balancing a bike, then get her something taller so that she can balance on one leg. Starting out with a tallish bike is do-able, but not pleasant and the learning curve is definitely a lot shallower than starting out with a bike that gives her confidence.

Great advice!

I started on an EX250 and glad I did, it helped build my confidence to move up to a bigger bike.

[Cass]

30.5 inseam for me, without shoes. 1st gen SV 650, I had about half the foam shaved from the seat. What I didn't do was have the seat narrowed - that would have helped too.

I wear normal MC boots, so the sole isn't too thick - my foot-to-ground ratio is better when I wear something like Doc Martens, but I sacrifice the ankle protection. I have accepted the fact that I won't flat foot the vast majority of bikes in production today, and I'm OK with that.

If your wife is dead-set that she has to flat foot at all times, then it's not real likely that you'll be able to keep her on a sportbike without doing some modification. Get her into cruisers, or work on the suspension big-time. Like Zoomy said... boots will get you so far, and you shouldn't need to rely on them.

[smileyman]

Originally Posted by The Chi

it's a good name, my given is rachel, but I prefer rae...

I can't stand the thought of lowering a bike, having ridden them it makes me shudder at the loss of performance, small tho it may be! My friend had the 250 and got links to lower it and it met her needs. I'd try that, then when she is comfortable, take it back to stock if she wants.

You probably don't get much teasing at your name, not like I do with my last name. I think Rachel is a great name...Ever rent that movie "One night with the king"? Good Rachel in that one I seem to remember.

My wife is 5'3" and has a pretty short inseam that limited her bike choices. She liked the Ninja 250 (1st gen) cause it has a 29 in seat height but after all is said it goes back to confidence, like Lauralynne. If they can muster enough confidence or master the butt slide the seat height isn't that big an issue. Weight of the bike on the other hand sometimes is with the height impaired as it has to lean a great deal further when one footing it.

[tached1000rr]

Originally Posted by smileyman

You probably don't get much teasing at your name, not like I do with my last name. I think Rachel is a great name...Ever rent that movie "One night with the king"? Good Rachel in that one I seem to remember.

My wife is 5'3" and has a pretty short inseam that limited her bike choices. She liked the Ninja 250 (1st gen) cause it has a 29 in seat height but after all is said it goes back to confidence, like Lauralynne. If they can muster enough confidence or master the butt slide the seat height isn't that big an issue. Weight of the bike on the other hand sometimes is with the height impaired as it has to lean a great deal further when one footing it.

That's her problem or where the lack of confidence comes in, is the leaning on one foot with the weight of the bike, she's struggled on a few occassions to keep it upright at a stop sign. I need to find out what her inseam is. The ninja 500 has a dry weight of 388lbs, the GSXR and CBR 600s are 354 and 345 dry which might be just enough of a difference to give her an added bit of confidence in those type of situations. or she could just wear the KIZZ boots and be done with it LOL....

[smileyman]

I made my wife prove she was serious about having her own bike by learning on my YZF600R. It was 488 lbs although it only had a 32 in seat height. Then I showed her I loved her by riding on the pillion giving her alot more weight to juggle. After that she handles the little 250 just fine!

Originally Posted by MissHell

I am 5' 7" and my in-seam is 31". I ride an R6s, stock height. Did not shave the seat. I am on the balls of my feet, not flat-footed.

My friend is 5' and also rides an R6s which was lowered 2" for her. She has not shaved the seat.

I love them shaved too but i am not sure if I ever saw a woman that had to shave her seat

Originally Posted by lauralynne

I'm 5'-6" BUT I have a very short inseam - 26". I ride my SV at the track on tipie toes - makes starts a little iffy but otherwise I manage ok. My street bike is a Honda SuperHawk, it's lowered without links - Louie did it on one of our trips after I dropped it in a gas station. I can tip toe it but have ridden enough now that it's not an issue. I started riding on a VFR800 that I couldn't even tip toe - I could touch one side with a butt slide. It comes down to what she's comfortable with. Good luck!

26" inseam? wow. You would be the perfect sportbike pillion companion!