Next bike?

Seat width matters too - I could flatfoot my VT500 but not
my mate's CX500 despite the VT being a couple of inches taller.
It was thin where the CX was podgy.

 

It's time to revert to me.

Insurance should be paying out for the ZXR soon. In the short term I'm
going to MOT the NC24 but I'm pondering what to do next.

There are still a lot of ZXR400s out there for me to buy and abuse.
It's a bike I love and feel comfortable riding. In the two
incarnations I've owned I've used it for commuting, doing the 150 mile
trip down to Bath & back, for short TOG tours, a couple of Chimay
trips and longer touring Europe runs over the last three summers as
well as the elefant trip in January 2008.

It's a known quantity, cheap, cheerful. I'd happily never ride
anything else.

It's been suggested I widen my horizons. There are 0% deals on the new
ZX6R. It's 5 cm higher in the seat, I think the clincher is that it is
30kg heavier.

What is out there, up to 600cc, faired, similar to ZXR that can match
the 76cm seat height and 159kg dry weight?

Should I go hunting and test ride a load of old and new bikes? Or just
bow to the inevitable and buy the first decent black ZXR I see?

 

You could pop down to next month's Bike Show and sit on as many as you
can.

 

Wild suggestion but forget similar, and forget the super low seat
height, instead think about posture and being in a seating position
that keeps you in control.

And with that in mind go over to Pidcock in Long Eaton and try a
Triumph Street Triple - the 675cc one.

The higher wider bars will give you better leverage [1] to actually
hold the thing up rather than being underneath you and far away, where
you stand no chance winning in a topple...

Plus it's faster than a ZXR, and available in black.

Let me know what you think when you've sat on one.

[1] Leverage beats strength any day.

 

He's dead right, sports bikes are a fucking pain in the arse for short
people because you don't get the same degree of control with the narrow
bars and the stretch to them in the first place. The riding position
and stretch to the bars always compromises the way you have your feet
on the floor. Something more upright may well be the way to go, as many
shorter people I know have found out when trying out different choices
of bikes.

--
Lozzo
Versys 650 Inter-Continental Hyperbolistic Missile , CBR600F-W racebike
in the making, TS250C, RD400F (somewhere)
BMW E46 318iSE (it's a car, not one of those 2-wheeled pieces of shite
they churn out)

 

Hornet & VTR250 are the bikes of choice for the 2 short-arse females I
know - both have upright riding position

 

Most of the Kawasaki range is out unless it's lowered. The ER6 is tall,
too tall for me tbh - my Versys had to be lowered by quite a bit for me
to ride it confidently. I haven't really kept up with what the most
suitable short person's bikes are available since buying mine, but I'd
recommend just visiting dealers and sitting on them all. LN might be
surprised at what is suitable, as I found with the three ZZR1100s I
bought.

--
Lozzo
Versys 650 Inter-Continental Hyperbolistic Missile , CBR600F-W racebike
in the making, TS250C, RD400F (somewhere)
BMW E46 318iSE (it's a car, not one of those 2-wheeled pieces of shite
they churn out)

 

A nice low, not too heavy Voxan Roadster - oh hold on...

For me, it is the combination of height + weight that is the problem.
However confident you feel on the move sooner or later you have to
stop - possibly unplanned on adverse camber etc.

Hence I am going to try a Shiver. The 2010 model has been lowered and
narrowed in the seat specifically for the vertically challenged
apparently.

 

You could probably have a look at an XJ6 Diversion, half or full fairing
version, seat height of 78.5cm and wet weight of 211Kg's (I guess loose
about 20kg's for all fluids?). It's what I'm upgrading to from my CB500s
next weekend. Yamaha are still doing their 0% apr for 5 years deal with a
minimum of £99 deposit and I got a damn good trade-in price for my bike
from the dealer.

Like you I was toying with the XJ6 along with an ER-6F or Versys (Yes
I've got, just about, long enough legs but the Versys at (I think)
85cm is just a bit too tall for me to feel comfortable on. Another bike I
was looking at was a GSF650SA but having used one on my DAS course last
year pretty much discounted it as I didn't like the feel or the weight of
it.

 

In message <ia2ebb$mpe$-september.org>, Chris Dugan

I'm very pleased with my faired XJ6. I did have a unfaired one as a
loan bike but wasn't keen at all; just seemed too short at the front.

 

I had that problem on tight Alpine hairpins - with the road sloping
steeply away, there's no chance of putting a foot down if it all starts
to go wrong. So only one thing for it really - gas it!

Just been looking at a map trying to work out which pass it was in
particular that gave me that problem. I would *love* to do a trip like
that again, albeit outside Switzerland.

 

they're shit, old shitters, though.

Without wanting to be patronising, have you tried an SV650 - that's a
proper girl's bike.

 

it's a pity I just helped a couple of blokes from Manchester get my
LC4 into the back of a van at 5:45 this morning[1], in return for a
wodge of cash. That'd have done her - it's only a 910mm seat height,
she'd have been fine!

[1] I was expecting them around 07:00, so this was quite a rude
awakening.

 

And all of them are at least ten years old and will be absolutely fucked
by now.

 

Surprisingly high seat though.

How about a Virago?

 

I've never actually ridden, or indeed even sat on one. They /look/
small though.

Hah - that'd suit her for sure, in name anyway.

Anyway though, for that sort of thing, the more recent Dragstar looks
a far better bet.

Talking of silly Japanese "factory customs", I rode a Honda Rebel 125
once - that was hilarious - it was completely shit in all regards[1],
but there was just something about it that made you laugh as you rode
along on the stupid thing.

[1] even the metal-flake purple paint job was a joke.

 

It depends on how short is short.
The GS500 is OK to get both feet (but not heels) down for me with a
29 inch inside leg. A custom seat would buy you about another inch.
My 5'4" daughter had a custom seat made for her CBR600F but IMHO
that was not a sensible bike for a small gurl.

 

The trouble with a Street Trip - and I speak as an owner - is that
it's actually a tad on the tall side. The Doctor certainly can't
manage it.

 

Don't laugh, but the ZZR600 is surprisingly low, comfy, economical,
goes like utter split shit in a straight line and has a bloody good
tank range.

Minus points are scored for the rather perfunctory build and finish
and the basic suspension. But there are plenty of well cared-for ones
out there, including a surprising number with luggage sets as it's
more touring-oriented than most 600s. And the forks and the rear shock
are easy and cheap to upgrade.

They had a production run of well over a decade, so there's a lot to
choose from. Best of all, they're available for stupidly low money.

 

Wear higher heels.

HTH