How uncomfortable are sports bikes?

[JonT]

When people say that sports bikes are uncomfortable how uncomfortable do they mean?

My only real point for comparison is an SV650S which I found to be perfectly comfortable, even for doing lots of motorway miles.

I always thought people doing long commutes on sports bikes were some kind of sadists but is it really that bad? For example how would a 1998-2003 R6 compare to say a Fazer?

[Whosthedaddy]

Best bit of advice:

Grow some.

A sports bike can be hard on the wrists and back but after a little while you get used to the new position and you'll be laughing.
____________________
Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

[Dr. DaveJPS]

[Mr Nice Guy]

Yes, indeed, grow some turnip, a delightful addition to any meal. Wonderful advice there WTD

Sports bikes, are like Irish people, they are all slightly nutty, all different whilst being the same

They are not that uncomfortable (apart from a few extreme cases) once you get used to them, you did say on another thread you were a short ar$e so may struggle to get your feet down... still shouldn't put you off trying one at least
____________________
Suzuki GSX-R750K4 ~ Mivv GP

[Itchy]

Ride faster the wind should hit your chest and lift you up a touch taking the weight off your wrists, which is why I think double bubble screens are not that great.
____________________
Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[tafflade]

from plying rugby I've got a lump on the back of my neck (known as a hookers hump btw) this stops me lifting my head far enough for me to comfortably see where I'm going for any length of time, after a little while I start to get pain in between my shoulder blades where I'm pushing my head back against my hump, and this pain just gets worse untill its unbearable.

weight on your wrists can get a bit painfull if you are riding through town for any length of time but a bit of speed takes that weight away so is fine.

it all comes down to how determined you are to ride the bike of your choice, I had a enough of being uncomfortable so bought a Tuono which is nice and upright, I've now got a Beemer which is in a different league.

[Skudd]

[MaybeGuy]

heres the thing...
they really ARENT as uncomfortable as people say.
____________________
Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[vt6]

I dont know about an out an out sports bike. I'm 6'3 on a cbr 600f and it isn't all that bad, my knee aches here an there from bein cramped but its also carrying an old injury. My back aches on occassion but nothin horrendous. Fairly comfortable i think

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

Different people find different bikes more or less comfortable.

I only found my old GSXR400 uncomfortable for the first 3 weeks or so of riding, but it was my first ever bike, apart from that I've not found any bikes uncomfortable.
____________________
My Flickr

[Flip]

Fazer would be comfort.
R6 would be hell.

But I do get random pains in my back etc.

Everyone is different, but for comfort I wouldn't look at sport bikes.

[binge]

I rode an NC29 for a year, And an NC30 for about 6 months. 2 of the smallest Sports bikes out there.

Not only that, I had rear-set adjusters on both bikes, which moved the pegs up, I also lowered the front by 15mm on the NC29 and 12mm on the NC30. So it was very heavy on the front end on both bikes.


It was uncomfortable at first. Heavy on the wrists. ESPECIALLY on the NC30 as the seat height was more "over" the bars and the NC29.

I found gripping the tank with my knees on long runs, took the weight off my wrists.

Like has been said, You get used to it. You will ache at first. But after a few 1000 miles. You wont even notice.

[MarJay]

[Kickstart]

Hi

Depends on the bike, the rider and also where you are riding it.

A sports bike trying to filter through hot summer city centre traffic jams is a total pain.

All the best

Keith
____________________
Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Im-a-Ridah]

VFR800?

[NiteMare]

i'm a shortarsed skinny bugger (5'2" with 29" inside leg), the only sports bike i've ever ridden is my GSXR750ws (1995 vintage) so i can't compare it to any other ...

when i first got it, it was totally alien to ride, it killed my arse in about 50miles (felt like i was sat on a block of wood) my forearms and wrists were screaming about 50 miles further on, i thought i was very unlikely to enjoy riding it and i'd still gotta finish the run to Barmouth then get home....

18 months on and i have no trouble, i've learnt how to sit myself comfortable on it, as said get the speed up a bit (close to licence killing speeds) and the wind takes some of the weight off your arms/wrists, but the speed isn't essential for me as being short i can rest the bottom of my ribs on the tank, thus taking some more of the weight off my arms ....

the only time it hurts now is if i'm stupid enough to go for a rideout on it whilst in the company of a mate who has a combo, he has a tendency to go no faster than 55-60mph which then means i'm leaning on the bars way too much for comfort, i do have an iffy back (trapped a nerve years ago) but so far it hasn't aggravated it at all ....

i don't use any of my bikes for serious transport so i've never commuted daily on them so can't comment on that side of things, filtering i find a little trickier as my view is slightly restricted compared to my slabby or any other bike i've ridden
____________________
it ain't broke...

i ain't fixed it enough

[MattEMulsion]

[Villers]

The seating positon that could be comfortable to one person is not neccessarily going to be the same for another individual. We are all different after all.

Im not very tall but the C6f 636 I had used to kill me. The seating position was a little cramped so my wrists, back and neck couldnt really put up with it for long. One of the worst parts was the seat, it would dig into my legas and give me numb bum like nothing else. As a secondary to that the constantly screaming engine (whilst fun on the thrash) would grate after a while when all you were trying to do was go to work. I had a limit of about 50 miles on the ZX6R and I needed a break.

My CBR6 on the other hand wasnt too bad, it had its distance limits too but was more in the 100's than the track focused ninja. Its probably worth noting that before the CBR I had an RS125 that I managed a trip to scotland on that only really tortured me towards the end.

Current bike (not sure if its classed as sportsbike though, probably more sports tourer) is nice and comfortable for me and although I havent done 100's of miles in one go yet Ive definately done over 90 in one go without a stop and I was fine.

Horses for courses, were all different I suppose!
____________________
RS125 > CBR6 > SV650S > ZX636R > GSX1300RZ Hayabusa > 06 RSVR Mille > SV1000S > Street Triple 765 RS

[T0MMY]

I used to ride my tiny little CBR400RR from Edinburgh to Bristol and back and never found it all that bad. I find anything but clip ons feels unnatural to me though, don't like upright riding positions at all. My CBR600 is of course very comfy but then it magically morphed into a sports tourer in about 1999 apparently I imagine if you're tall sportsbikes can be a bit cramped but I'm average height.
____________________
ZX6R + CBR600RR

[G]

[Oliver_FF]

[Chinaboy]

I would say that the sort of people that bitch on about sportsbikes being uncomfortable are the 50+ type that have never ridden one or only get their dry Sunday afternoon 'Pan' out with the missus on the back with matching helmets and reflective strips.
FFS !! These people really pi$$ me off. Over the last 15 years I have had a Blade, R1, GSXR1000, Hayabusa and now back on a new Blade. I had a pho-paa on my R1 and broke my wrist, and still ride a sports bike.
Like any bike, you get used to it. I don't like upright bikes, they are uncomfortable for me, have I ridden them ? yes. Do I bitch about it? no.



Steve

[Flip]

[Ben.]

when people say uncomfortable, all they mean is you might ache a bit after a hard days ride. going out for an hour blat, you dont get off and ache, your thankful to stand up but you dont ache really.

i have the most uncomfortable bike ever invented and i dont find it an issue at all.


just to compare i had an sv650s and went to an r6, the r6 is actually more comfortable because the tanks not as huge, bars are a tad lower and feet futher back but if you find the sv comfy a sprotsbike wont bother you at all.
____________________
follow my racing season
Race bike - R6
Road bike - sv650

[Yarri]

riding a Honda CG 125 and Yamaha YBR 125 i can say that they are really unconfortable for anything more then 30 minutes. Riding my NSR for 3 hours is not unconfortable at all. People say about pain in the wrists and that but for some reason i have not experienced any pain there
____________________
Theory Passed: 23/10/2008 49/74 Bike Test Passed: 05/01/2009 1 minor
Theory Car Passed: 22/07/2009 48/74 Car Test Passed: 22/10/2009 2 minor
Few minutes of life of the biker could be more interesting then the whole lifes of many people