Motorcycles / Height / Comfort

[Bubbs]

Keep looking at bikes and just don't know whether my height will cause problems. I've sat on a big BMW RS and my feet were dangling off the ground.

Anyhow so I thought id start a thread to see what your height and comfort levels were on the various bikes you've owned/ridden. These could then be put into a table for future reference? (or forgotten about quickly as I probably havent thought this through ).

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Height 5'7"

YBR 125
Fit: Good Fit
Comfort: Very Comfortable long distances

SV650S (99)
Fit: Good fit, Slight stretch to the floor
Comfort: Comfortable to ride long distances, slight sport set up does get uncomfortable after a while.

Kwak ZX6R G1 (98)
Fit: Poor Fit, Tiptoes needed to reach the floor
Comfort: Uncomfortable after an hour especially on lower back but still in full control of the machine.
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Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

[_Iain_]

YBR125 - Average. Found bars too high. Caused major numb arse after a few hours straight.

GS500E- Poor. Constantly slid down the seat crushing my nads on the tank, bouncy, uncomfortable, stock bars too high. Replaced bars with flats which made it better, but the seat & rear shock were fucking terrible!!

Most comfy bike i've had a go on was a varadero 125
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Please be aware that the above post may be full of complete nonsense.
Riding: '07 KTM Duke II, Baotian BT49QT-20 Driving: '88 Volvo 340

[Alpha-9]

YBR 125
Rider height: 6ft 4 inches
Still comfortable despite being small, the scooter i'm on atm is already giving me back problems
Could do with bar risers as my legs get caught with boots on as they add a few inches to my height

Everything else is fine

Kymco Super 8 Rev & Go (the rental death trap)
Horrible, gotta lean down to see the mirrors, and the clocks (or lean right back)
Knees touch the stair well so have to open my legs when I ride
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Fzr-600 1999

[Davenaylor]

You might find this useful https://cycle-ergo.com/

[Bubbs]

[Kradmelder]

I currently have a BMW1200 GS and a KTM 990 dakar. Probabably one the tallest bike around. Im not aware of any bike with a seat height higher than the Katoom, except the 690 Oryx with a seat height of 935 mm, but still a katoom. The standard adv is a bit lower. The dakar is like the R in terms of engine mapping and more off road bias, like comes with crash bars etc.

BMW 1200 GS
Seat height: 870-890 mm. 2 settings.
Fit: I flat foot with bent knees
Comfort: very comfortable bike that you can ride for 10 hours. I have often done 800 km days on it. Including off road. Great wind protection. Not good in sand. And corrugated gravel sends shock waves through your body so is very uncomortable. Excellent ergonomomics for long distance. doesnt fall well and crash bars cant take much more than a topple. very comfortablke for pillions, pillions say.


KTM 990
seat height : 915 mm
Fit: i can flat foot. The seat height tells you that unless you have the leg length, or want to only stop near a curb, the bike is limited to the non vertically challenged
comfort: the dakar has a good pseudo suede seat. I have done 900 km days on it. The standard 990 R is much less comfortable. You get a fair wind blast at high speed and more helmet noise. Like all off roaders you sit on top of the bike not in it. The narrow handlebars are comfortable. It comes into its own off road. eats up corrugation and you dont feel it, the big front wheel tracks well through loose stuff and a bit of throttle and a headshake in the handle bars sorts itself out. KTM is about suspension. falls well It pillions well, but pillions say it vibrates.

Other bikes:

BMW 800 GS
fit: also tall, like the 1200 GS.
Comfort: shit. You get a wind blast, worse than the katoom, you put any front brake on and you nose dive to the ground, uncomortable seat. The front rim is as soft as the front forks. A pothole or rut at any speed and you have a smiley.

BMW 650 GS dakar
Fit also high. like all bmw GS bikes.
comfort: windy, under powered (any 650 bike is like a toy for me). not a good seat. battery leaks in a fall.


I found things like specs here:
https://www.mbike.com/ktm/990-adventure-dakar/2011
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2011 KTM 990 Dakar
2009 BMW 1200 GS

[Kradmelder]

[Davenaylor]

[Clanger]

[P.addy]

[Bubbs]

[iooi]

[Bubbs]

Well that website has answered my question anyhow. Just look at the difference there will be once i get my Z1000... Can't wait!!
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Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

[james1988]

I'm 5'7" and ride a Honda Varadero XL1000V ('07 if that makes any difference). It's the comfiest bike I've ridden, by far. I do have to slide my arse off the seat when I come to a stop and it takes a little bit of technique to get it off the side stand; especially with short legs.

James

[Imonster]

I'm about 5'10" in my boots, and am long bodied so only a 30-31" inside leg.

A selection of the one's I can remember;

YBR's (they were school bikes when I was instructing)

Fit: Not great, too much on the bike rather than in it. Bash knees when doing tight slow turns and I never was comfortable on the bike generally. Leading onto..

Comfort: Too small to cover serious mileage on, uncomfortable, not massively stable.

TDM 850 (my old instructing bike)

Fit: Pretty much perfect - flat footed on the ground in spite of it's bulk, but not cramped on the knees when riding. Aftermarket Renthals fitted by previous owner probably stretched my arms a wee bit wider than I would've liked but no biggie really.

Comfort: Literally ride all day comfortable, no wind blast at enthusiastic speeds, awesome lazy low revving engine with plenty of grunt at low revs. Couldn't fault it.

ER5 (old despatch hack when I was a courier)

Fit: Knees too bent for comfort after a couple of hours, and used to pitch me forward so I'd end up sitting on my nuts. Bad times.

Comfort: My memory of it's comfort isn't great, but I was able to do 1000 miles per week on it without too many issues so I guess it can't have been too bad.

Bandit K2 (courier and fun tool)

Fit: pretty much bang on, but wide seat meant I sometimes got a bit tippy toes at lights where the camber dropped away.

Comfort: Didn't have a screen, so while the ergonomics made it ride all day comfortable, the wind blast would get tedious on long motorway trips. Very comfortable seat.

TTR 250 (my current dirt toy)

Fit: Very good, one of the shorter dirt bikes so it's easy to get to the ground when required and when you're riding it knees aren't too bent and the bars are pretty much perfectly laid out in front of you causing no stretching anywhere.

Comfort: Excellent, despite being a dirt bike it has a comparatively wide seat which is well padded making road sections nice and easy. Six relatively tall gears make it easy to ride both on and off road.

Beta 450 (similar to KTM 450 ergonomics and while never owned I've covered 4 full days riding in Spain on them over a couple of trips)

Fit: A bit of a stretch to the ground for me in all fairness - can cause some silly tumble sometimes off road when I run out of ground, and I have to slide my arse fully off the seat to get a foot down when I stop on the road. Fit's fine when on the move though, and very comfortable when standing on the pegs.

Comfort: Evil, evil seat. Doesn't matter off road as you're on the pegs most of the time, but pretty grim on the longer road sections. Engine's pretty punchy, and can make you shit a brick if you're not 100% concentrated.

Tiger 1050 (borrowed for a couple of days covering about 600 miles in that time)

Fit: Great when riding, but a little bit of a stretch to the ground when stopped.

Comfort: Seat becomes uncomfortable after a couple of hundred miles, but the screen is great and the ergonomics generally good. Develops an interesting "death wobble" even on mild corners at 120-130mph, I think caused by the screen, which doesn't do too much for your confidence.
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Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

[Walloper]

[esullivan]

I'm about 5'10" in my boots. I take a 30" length in jeans, but the bit by the heel always wears off quickly, so I'm probably a 29".

Honda CBF 125 -- Nice fit. I can reach the ground with my knees slightly bent. Comfortable for about 1-1.5 hours and then the seat/knee angle starts getting old. Not much protection from the wind, but never bothered me much because I rarely got above 50 or so on my commute.

BMW G650, lowered seat -- Feet easily reach the ground, knees bent. This was a confidence-building first big bike (rode it for a week on a DAS course), because I didn't worry about the weight when I could easily reach the ground on most any camber. The seat was all-day comfortable, but the knee bend would start to bother me after only about an hour. It was a bit too small for me. Probably regular seat height would have been fine. Lots of wind around the helmet at 70+ (feels like the lid is lifting off).

Suzuki Gladius -- Feet reach the ground, but with knees mostly straight. Felt slightly top-heavy to me and the steering geometry is such that it feels like you are pushing against the gyroscopic forces around curves, but got comfortable with that in less than a day. No screen, not even decoration, so wind blast against the chest and head was an issue at motorway speeds.

Honda NC700S -- Feet reach the ground with knees slightly bent, so feel comfortable even at the set of lights near Kings's Cross with the steep camber. Wider seat and feels slightly higher than the CBF. The seat is a bit hard, but can go two hours until the right leg (for some reason) starts feeling a bit achy. It has the same small screen as the CBF, so wind blast around the head (lifting lid), but not too bad at chest.
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Current: '14 VFR800X Test passed 31/10/12.
Previous: '12 NC700S, '11 CBF 125, '04 SH 125.

[DannyBhoy]

Im 5'7 with a 29" inside leg and in my short biking life I have experienced the following:

Honda CBF125 - Both feet down with legs straight, Never comfortable on it though.

Suzuki Gladius - Got both feet down (tiptoes), Was manageable if never really comfortable. (only on it for one days training)

Honda CBF600 - Got both feet down again (balls of my feet) A lot more comfortable than the previous two and the 1st bike I felt completely comfortable/confident on.

Honda CBR600RR-9 - Went to a few showrooms and sat on bikes, could get my feet comfortably down (on the balls of my feet again) on a GSXR and this only. Plumped for the CBR as its gorgeous and the 3 weeks I have been riding it I had no problems at all with the height.

In my opinion, You will get used to whatever you choose after a few days of riding whether you can get one or both feet down, Its more about planning ahead of time where you plan to stop etc.
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CBT - 02/10/12, Theory - 03/10/12, Mod 1 - 09/10/12, Mod 2 - 16/10/12.
Car - Audi A3 V6 Quattro. Bike - CBR600RR-9.

[Kradmelder]

[Kradmelder]

[DannyBhoy]

[map]

FWIW I was told a rule of thumb for bike size by a good friend that seems to work.

If you stand bike upright and stand next to it. If your hip is level or higher than the seat you'll be ok on the seat and can put feet on ground. Any higher then there will be problems.

As said seems to work as a ballpark rule (there's always exceptions) and useful when wandering around dealers and bike shows like that at the NEC.
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...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?

[Bubbs]

Krad / Iain, how tall are you both and what is your inside leg?

Alpha, whats your inside leg?
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Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

[Pol Anorl]

zxr 750 with my specs
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[Kradmelder]