Aaaargh, damn my little legs!

[yambabe]

Finally put some new, slightly shorter shocks on the Zeph today when we got back from our ride.

Been meaning to do this for a while cos although I am mostly OK riding it I have been having some problems with getting on and off it, if it isn't on dead level ground it overbalances when I try to get my right foot down and I've dropped it a couple of times. This has not helped my confidence, which was not all that high to start with.........

So cool, new shocks are on, seat has dropped at least an inch, maybe more. He tells me I need to go & check that the handling is still OK (actually its slightly better) so I nip out to the petrol station to fill the tank as we did just over 100 miles today and I am down to fumes.

Uh-oh! On the level ground of the petrol station I discover that my sidestand is now too damn long for the bike and it doesn't want to stay upright! Much careful wiggling later and I manage to get off (on the "wrong" side though), fill it up and pay. Come out, think I'm probably best trying to get back on from the side I got off so I give it a go, nope, bike tries to fall on me but is saved by the pump! All well and good but now it won't go back on the stand AT ALL, wants to fall on me again and I cannot adjust the position of the stand cos I am on the opposite side of the bike stopping it from falling over! Try the bars one way then the other, inch it forward, inch it back, nope no joy it still wants to lean on me.

In the end I have to ask the chap at the next pump in his car to come and hang on to the back whilst I clamber back on and get the stand up.

So it appears that I used to have a bike that I could only get on and off on an even surface, and I now have one that I can only get on and off on a slope! Bah! Himself is off to his mates workshop tomorrow to try & bend the stand out a bit further for me............
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Sod falling in love, I wanna fall in chocolate.

[Ariel Badger]

Oxy acetylene and a big hammer will sort that out.
I had the same gig with my MT500, It had a slow rear puncture and fell off the stand as it lowered.
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[Fahd]

Are you really tiny?
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I Ride: Honda CBR 400RR.
I Drive: Audi S3.

[19van71]

Stabilisers?

https://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff222/19van71/adultstabs_std_fitted.jpg
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Living the dream....on my little 'ol CG125

[big2dave]

im six foot six, thats above door hight,
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https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/tiggiefriend/11.jpg
I am tiggie -- hear me roar! bandit 650 with mods

[Ichy]

Er, thanks Dave.


Mrs Yam, if he can't bend it out then you can grind some off the stops to let the side stand move forward a bit more, has a similar result.

[G]

My CCM sidestand is pretty short, with the supermoto wheels on the bike leans over quite a way.
With the larger trail wheels on I generally have to find a slight slope away from the slant of the bike, otherwise the bike just topples over, over the stand.

Maybe we should swap sidestands .

[mattgirv]

Sorry to hear about your petrol station stumble.

So this begs the question.... is there such a thing as a perfect sidestand?
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Bikes: 1998 Honda VFR800Fi, 26,500 miles
1989 Honda CB-1, 38,000 miles

[kawakid]

When you drop the height of a bike.

You often have to cut the sidestand and take a bit off it and reweld it back to gether.

I'm a short arse myself at 5'8.

My biggest problem is my first 2 bikes, I could flat foot with total ease. On the Z , I couldn't (maybe on the flat at a push), but all new bikers are bigger and taller.

I sort of like the ER as its soo manouverable being able to flat foot it as 40degree angles. On the Z i'm screwed.
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I've a twin and a 4.

[st3v3]

[kawakid]

[yambabe]

I am just over 5' tall and my inside leg is around 26", but my legs are also quite chubby which makes it worse!

I can now flat-foot the Zeph with ease in my Zeph-riding boots (I only ride it with these boots on, they have 1" platforms) and should be OK in my normal riding boots too. I just can't get on and off it without it falling over!

Hopefully he will sort it out tomorrow, plan at the moment is to get it glowing hot and then just turn the end of the stand out a bit further so it drops down a coresponding inch or two. If that doesn't work he will look at the cut and weld option, but that is a last resort cos we only have a single-sided paddock stand so he won't be able to hold it up while he takes the stand off to shorten it. He has just bought a bike-lift this weekend but can't use it on my bike without extra blocks etc cos my exhaust is in they way. Sigh.
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Sod falling in love, I wanna fall in chocolate.

[st3v3]

It's odd tbh, I've not met one bike that I haven't fit on. Granted I've only sat on a small percentage of the total range available today, but my optimistic future choices are a CBR6RR or R6, I can fit on both of these easily, also checked an NC29, was smalled overall than the NS.
Actually, New CBR was smalled than NC29.

[G]

[Kickstart]

[Blink]

I'm 5'10 and occasionally I feel short. Small limbs that's the problem. Most of my friends are 5'11 +
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The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.

[MarJay]

[veeeffarr]

[MarJay]

[Cigaro]

I have reasonably long legs but I have trouble getting on and off some bikes. Think it's just because I'm a clumsy git.

Also, I can never seem to put my feet flat on the floor when wearing waterproofs. It doesn't matter how well they fit, it's a mental block of some sort.

[veeeffarr]

[McGee]

[kawakid]

Thing that pees me off.

Is that the wife is 5'6 or 5'7 and she takes a 32" length in jeans

I'm 5'8 and take a 30" length. 2" is nearly 50m. Which would really help me with lots of taller bikes. Its just not fair.

Can anyone remember them boots.

Also remember its not just seat height, The ZX9r is 20mm higher than the Z750s, but I can foot 1 floot flat, 1 half. The seat can't be as wide and there is no sticky out stuff on the way down.
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I've a twin and a 4.

[yambabe]

Well the sidestand has now been successfully turned out a bit (whch has also made it easier to kick down when stopping) and at last I can get on and off the bike without it falling over, even if the ground is not completely level!

Handling is definitely better, it used to "patter" a bit at the back end but I think that was mainly to do with the old shockers being knackered.
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Sod falling in love, I wanna fall in chocolate.

[rossidude46]