Shortarse Question

Well, the time seems to have come; my 18-year-old daughter has been bitten
by the riding bug enough to want a bike for herself.

Being (as the subject would suggest) a "shortarse," at only 5'1" (155cm)
tall, most bikes' seats are far too tall for her.

So what recommendations do you folks here have for a NSW Learner-approved
bike with a relatively low seat height (and preferably low weight)?

A stipulation though; she wants a "sports" frame - won't consider a cruiser
or step-through.

--
Bob Milutinovic
Cognicom - "Australia's Web Presence Specialists"
http://www.cognicom.net.au/
telephone (0417) 45-77-66
facsimile (02) 9824-2240

 

My daughter is 4' 11 1/2" and she opted for a Suzuki GS500. She could reach
the ground on that. Should be on the LAMs list I imagine.
She's too young to appreciate a Guzzi V50 Monza, and you'd have a tough time
getting one anyway.

Theo

 

In aus.motorcycles on Fri, 13 Jul 2007 14:52:37 +1000

She'll have trouble all her life... So has to learn to cope.

I can manage bikes some taller women can't, it's not just height it is
leg length and hip width and flexibility. And practice.

She'll have to learn to balance a bike using her toes, and to cock her
hip so that one foot can be flat. Best to get unfaired to start with
as she's much more in danger of dropping due to uneven ground at
lights than taller bods, and many people do that, tall or no.

She needs to sit on every bike she can find. I doubt she will flat
foot any of the new ones, but she might find ones that suit her hip
and leg better than others.

The Short Bike List looks a little out of date and biased towards
other countries http://www.nebcom.com/noemi/moto/sbl.sbl.html

I suspect a Honda VTR or Hyosung Comet might be a good starting place,
I seem to recall those weren't too bad. IN the end though, it's bum on
seat time. Try every bike, then try them all again as the first 10 or
so bikes she tries will feel weird and she won't be able to
really tell the difference.

Zebee

 

Low seat?

BMW R1200GS Adventure!

Boxer

 

I think you're an Rs short in that model designation.

Theo

 

The Comet may not be that good an option - it's not a tall bike (and
definitely shorter than a KLX300) but my partner's a little under
average height and reckons she can't touch the ground on Fritz who's a
Comet GT250.. tho for all I know he may be set as high as he can go ..

I can vouch for the 'try them all again' advice .. tho I rode a few
while I was initially getting my bike I did not know enough to tell what
was good (or not) about the first few 'til I had something to compare
them to .. tho I did find the 2 CBR250s ('81 and '87 models) quite
short-arsed but nice bikes.

I agree with her, no cruisers for me either!!

 

All good advice to here ! Noting also women tend to have longer leg to
torso than men (memory of sitting in the dirt at superbikes comparing
leg length with Kat - I'm a couple of inches taller than she was but
the legs were the same length)

Nope, neither of those are great shortarse bikes - the VTR is actually
taller (in practise - dunno about "measured seat height" as you can
never trust that number) than the 600Monster it's a clone of (and my
raptor). Hyosung is better but less than ideal.

Sporty(ish) bikes - ZZR250, GPX250, CBR250RR. 600 Monster (LAMS one),
GS500F mentioned elsewhere, Cagiva Mito 125, Bandit 250, CBR125RR
looks the goods but is probably a bit underpowered for anything much
useful, CB250 isn't sporty but is a good shortarse learner bike, the
new CBF250 should be OK also. Was there a LAMs SS600 ?

Maybes - Zeal 250 (haven't ridden it), Balius 250 or 400 (greymarket)

JL

 

Hehe, one up for the short guys. How many of you tall blokes have ever
compared inside leg measurements with a good-looking girl?

Theo

 

If your daughter is 4'11 1/2 Theo and reaches the ground, I highly
recommend the GS500 to your daughter Bob. I used to own one and it
is a bike i dreadfully miss due to a moment of my stupidity that I'd
rather not talk about. It took me to Bundeburg from Dubbo and back
again, Dubbo to Gosford return, and Dubbo to Newcastle and back
without any problems. Very predictably and gernenrally a very nice
bike to ride for learners and its still got enough punch to get along
ok for a new rider. I'm at the other end of the spectrum at 6'4"

Good luck

 

We're all the same height lying down...

 

Really? Must get me one...I'd love to look like a stick insect...

 

I'm a novice rider, Bob - AND a shortarse - used to be 5'3", but have
apparently lost a centimetre (sorry to mix my metrics and imperials!)
through bloody ageing.... holy crap, by the time I'm 60 I'll have
disappeared! .... and I think that I must have shortish legs as
well...

But for me, Stay Upright's CB250 was do-able, and I loved my
GPX250.... even though it seemed big and tall after the CB250. And
then I got the GS500, and it seemed humungously tall and HEAVY....
(yeah, everything's relative) I know it's learner legal and all, but
I was shocked, after riding the GPX for a bit over a year, to be on a
bike that seemed so BIG. It's taken me a while to get used to it, and
I still have uncomfortable moments because of my lack of leg-length
and flat-footability...

People keep telling me I need a cruiser. I don't. I need longer legs
<grin> I guess I'm getting used to the need to be extra-careful where/
how I stop, and particularly with parking etc, coz I can't flat-foot
it.

Yesterday a bloke pulled up in the lane next to me, kicked his bike
into neutral and just sat there with his feet flat. I was sooooo
bloody envious - I know just how much flat-footing increases your
confidence, and it just doesn't happen to me.... ever....

Unless your shortarse daughter has long legs, I seriously wouldn't
recommend anything taller than a GPX250 as a learner bike. The GPX is
a lovely sporty little package - looks good, goes well, is relatively
light, and is a damned comfortable ride for shortarses! I reckon a
Cagiva Mito 125 would also be brilliant, though I've never tried one,
so can't vouch for the comfort-level of the ride. It's light as a
feather, though - very tiny, and very very sporty!

Last weekend I got my first look (in the flesh) at one of those weeny
CBR125s - looks like a tiny tiny Fireblade with bicycle wheels (not
quite, but close). Learner legal, and very light, but no idea of the
seat-height. It looked pretty sweet though...

I had a Yamaha Zeal as a loaner when my bike was in for a service
once. It was typically "loaner-neglected" by the dealership, but
omigod it was fun to ride, despite its problems, and that's when I
realised how nice it would be to have a bike I could flat-foot.... It
was light, manoeuvrable, very very easy to ride...

You didn't say how strong/confident your daughter is (despite her
shortarsedness) - so YMMV regarding anything I've said. (actually,
HMMV <grin>)

betty

 

I second the Zeal.
Bren has had a couple of them & at 735mm seat height, they are one of the
shortest around.

Bren is 147cm & by dropping the forks through 8mm & having the rear
suspension on the lower settings, it was a good fit.

Good simple 4cyl motor which needs camchain tightening regularly.

Ground clearance can be a bit on an issue if pushing hard.

Daron

 

Either of the Kwaka 250's (ZZR or GPX) will fit the bill. My wife is only
5'4 and rode a ZZR as a learner and didn't have a problem.

 

In aus.motorcycles on Fri, 13 Jul 2007 12:21:58 -0000

I definitely miss being able to flat foot. The 850T's frame means I
can sit with feet flat and knees bent.

Ah Lino Tonti, what a genius you were. And how sad it is that the
only Tonti framed bikes you have been able to get for years have been
cruisers.

Zebee

 

That's what my wife says!!!

Normally after people note that she is so tall (6'2") and I am a little
short at 5'7". Used to get quite a few looks and giggles when she was on the
back of the bike. Mind you, it had a real advantage with shopping at one
point when we had no car, we could carry home two Jack the slasher's paper
bags full of shopping and a carton of stubbies.

 

Used to be a bloke who rode with Satans Cavalry named "Shorty"
when he sat on his Harley and kicked it over, it looked like a PeeWee 80
his knees were almost touching the ground
probably better than some who have their knuckles dragging on the ground

 

Bren seemed to have a good time on the Z50, too.

regards,
CrazyCam

 

OK, you are in NSW, so send her to do the pre-learners course.

This will give her some kind of starting point to compare other bikes.
(She'll probably start with a CB250 at the course.)

Then she can sit on and feel lots of bikes.

Depending on how confident she is about riding, she may want to go for
even smaller bikes/weights than the CB250.

Try to avoid letting her fall in lust with the wee 250 imitation race
replicas... babyblade and similar.

For the first while, most folk learning need to keep their head, and
thus eyes, well up, which makes riding "nose down, bum up" bikes less
than ideal.

regards,
CrazyCam

 

Did you take the time to point this out to the group ?