Girl needs bike...... suggestions please !!

Teflon-Mike · tl;dr Joined: 01 Jun 2010 Karma :

Late to the party I'm afraid.. I have since I spotted post been trying to track down the bath-room scales.... I think some-one has hid them in disgust... or they have run away!

However, reason was, as this or related notion is a frequent one, go pop them under the prop stands of a few of the bikes outside, from 125 to 1000cc, and around 80Kg to well over 250Kg, and show for ALL that weight they lie about in the specs... how much of it the prop stand takes, or you, when you are holding it up at rest, is MINISCULE.

But scales have run away... so I cant... you'll have to just take my word for it!

Ten years ago my nerves gave up the ghost.. still great at telling me bits 'hurt', NOT so good at telling legs I want them to move! Accompanied by gross weight loss, which saw me drop from around 14 stone to under ten in barely six months, and go up and down like a yo-yo ever since.... I WAS told I would probably never be able to ride a bike again... which sucked.... but as I could barely walk let alone hold the bike up off the prop stand..... I had to sort of accept...... didn't get rid of them though....

Anyhow, seven and a bit years back, now O/H popped up with a problem with a little chinese cruiserette thing, that kept chucking it's drive chain... she asked me to 'have a look at'... the start of a whole heap of trouble.. he says muttering titzortyres they DID warn me! titzortyres WHY didn't I listen!!! lol!!!

ANYWAY, we were trying to get her through her tests ahead of the 3rd directive laws, so she could do her tests for a 33bhp restricted licence on a 125... following her about in the car to try watch what she was up to wasn't exactly ideal.. did put a rolling road-block on her bum, but that probably didn;t help too much.

Riding her 'tiddler' DID however make me grin... and prove to myself I could, on a good day still ride.... weight of the big-bikes still daunted me, though, A-N-D so as a bit of occupational theropy, I got hold of an old 1970's two-stroke dirt bike as a project.. all up weight under 100Kg, but a reletively tall seat height for a fella my 6'+ size, thought it would be ideal and a lot of fun... The KICK-START sort of suggested otherwise! so that was shelved for a while!

Err nibs had been renovating a four-stroke, electric start CB125 twin, for her 'Learner' project and for post test daily commuting... and we'd aquired a few of them.. originally so she could pick the one most suitable for her 'project'.. and I could do another to 'show and tell' to teach her... and we aquired a few more as spares donors along the way...

SO.. Spring 2011...
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We had a pair of 'his and hers' 125's to potter about on; hers to teach her to ride... mine to teach me to ride AGAIN! The e-start was a god-send!

But, mine had to go, to fund 'other projects', particularly the Yamie Enduro, which was the bike I really wanted to 'do' and to ride.... which was promptly nicked, the week it was finished and due its MOT!!!! Which left me a bit bereft... and looking at the 'old' 750.. twice the weight and rather rusty..... but IT does have an e-start......

It wasn't going to go anywhere sat there getting rustier, so autumn.... err..... 2013 I think...with err-nibs finally licenced up and hapily pottering about on the 125, I looked around, and decided I didn't want to throw myself into a full on 'restoration project'.. BUT.. since there was a distinct lack of 'van you help me with this a second... WEEK or so'... I risked having a look at a few odd jobs on the 750.. I could for instance overhaul the back brake master cylinder as a 'mini-project', then maybe look at overhauling the starter motor....

And I was RATHER shocked by around february, no-one had found something 'major' to interupt proceedings AND the old girl was starting to look rather promicing... so I bought her some nice new tyres.. and told every one "THAT IT! I have JUST spent £200 on new rubber, I am NOT going to be inteupted to watch them rot, by ANY ONE elses 'problems'...

So SHE bought a Moto-Guzzi......

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That didn't work!!!!! "Here, mike, can you give me a hand over here a sec......."Lol!

However... I doggedly soldiered on with the 750 and got it through its test before offering too much more help to sort 'the bludy-guzzi'....

NOW, as far as 'sensible' goes for some-one who is half crippled. the 'seven fifty' just ISN'T really. It is heavy, around 250Kg in the specs, and it is not the best balenced of bikes to start with.. before I jacked it up three inches.. and fitted 'solid' footpegs and lower bars and stuff!

Only notionally 'handy' thing about it is that its jacked up so fat at the back that it rolls onto the center stand very easily, only lifting the back wheel about 1/4 inch off the floor as it does it!

Err Bludu-Guzzi on the other hand, is only about 25Kg lighter, still a good 50Kg heavier than the 125's, BUT it carries its weight rather well, and it man handles easier than the tiddlers...

Seven fifty is 'MY' bike though, and after three years fighting back to some sort of fitness... conclusion was what the heck... IF I am going to drop it, cos of wobbly legs....it will 'only' be when I'm stopped... AND experience of the tiddlers has shown me that I am ABSOLUTLEY no more nor less likely to dump big bike than little one.. if I aint got the strength/co-ordination on the day... it will go over, end of.

May be some difference in how easy it is to pick back up... b-u-t.... competition trials riding bikes that weigh about as much as a packet of crisps, has taught me IF they gonna go... LET EM! Trying to 'save' a bike going over, you will so often do more harm than good, and most likely only hurt yourself more in the trying... so, if it gonna go, let it go... take a deep breath, worry about picking it up after.... where again, flyweight trials bikes have aught me... don't matter how feather weight they are... when they gone down... theyz HEAVY! But darn site easier having stepped off as it goes down, than being half under the thing. AND there's usually some-one to hail for help... if not, easier to get mobike out your pocket when stood up!

Hence, the conclusion, IS that the weight REALLY doesn't make all that much odds, very often.

Propping bike up at rest, you should only use one foot and that only take tip-toe pressure; how heavy bike is, shouldn't matter, most of its taken by the wheels, you are only managing that bit in the balence, which shouldnt be much and is more down to the balence of the biek than its weight.

Man handling one? Again, weights on the wheels, you are only taking that bit of weight thats in the balance, AND CBT lesson no 1, GET OFF AND PUSH! don't bludy 'paddle'.. paddlings something you do at the beach! NOT on a motorbike!

Out the saddle pushing from the side, you have two feet on the floor, one to prop weight one to push; where in teh saddle you can only have one on the floor doing anything, and it has to prop AND push... ANd if the bike goes over... you are going to go with it.. from the side.. YOU have advantage over the bike, and largest most stable base to prop and handle.... and only one of you need fall over, if either! Its ALL in the technique and starts with NOT paddling.

Too much is made of low seat heights for lady rider's shorter riders and jockish hobbits like 'Borg.. only matters when you stop.. how far footrests are from bum when sat as if riding is far more important, and bikes with low saddles often don't have the comfiest or easiest footrest possitions.. likerwise handlebars... cruisers and dirt bikes; cruisers with low seats for the little legged, dirt bikes with tall ones for them of lankier stature, are utterly perverse here, with footpegs on 'tall' dirt bikes often scrunched up under the bum for ground clearance or on cruisers with low seats, pegs placed miles away in front of the engine for... well? i might find a sensible reason one day! while BOTH tend to have high wide bars that stretch the rider out over the front, often not to helpfully.

More conventional sit up sand beg street-bikes, commuters, and tourers, usually have far more natural and neutral;l erganomics, and from the saddle, that is what counts more, and offers far more control and far more comfort whilst getting it, than more compromised sports bikes or dirt bikes or cruisers and 'stuff....

Weight is still incidental, so is seat height.

Moral is try before you buy....

Suggested start would be the usual suspects of commuter twins, things like the CB500 or the ER6, which with slimmer engines, tend to have them mounted a little lower for better balence, and for all round and commuting use, generally have the more neutral riding erganomics.

As googlie.... I would suggest you have a look at the small block 750 Guzzis... err yeah.. bludi things! Wink

They are an aquired taste, but the small block Guzzis were always a favourite with the ladies from whey back when. in thier day, which was probably around the 5th March 1977... they were a bit of 'sleeper'. the motor packed quite a punch for anything with pushrods back then, let alone one as small as 500cc... about 50bhp, but layout of the engine let them get the weight low, and not compromise the balence for ground clearnace, and a stiff chassis helped make for a very nimble motorcycle that IS as much of a delight to wheel about the yard as it is chuck about on the lanes.... and my first impression of 'err bludi guzzi was that it was like riding a lightweigt on steroids! Modern ones the V7 stone or Breva etc, benefit from having modern 17" wheels that lower the bike a bit, as well as offering the pradictability and grip of modfern sticky radial tyres, which is a HUGE boon to what was already rather sweet handling. and they seem to have regained their cognoscenti 'Lady Favoirte' status in many circles... boys seem to like them fairly well too!

Other, in similar manner is the Ducatti Monster, in its variouse guises and displacements over the years. Another Italian v-twin.. a rather overcomplicated one, IMO, but, layout of the motor keeps the wight low, and the balence good, stiff chassis makes for nimble handling, and 'reasonably' neutral riding position makes them pretty easy to manage, feet up on the move or man handling round the yard.

IF, for either, you fancy something with a little more 'soul' and a little less washing machine like consumer product-ness.

Only thing about the guzzi is it does have a rather heavy car type clutch, that may be wearing after a while.. correct adjustment can help an awful lot though, and you can get lightening levers to make them a bit softer.

Other wise, basic advice is dont let the numbers in the books sway you too much.. they really are pretty meaningless in the real world... technique and common sense will get you an awful lot further... preconceptions over seat heights are a red herring, so is need to 'flat foot'. Its all in the overall balence and erganomics and what matters most is control you have when the thing is shoving itself along, not when you are shoving it.

SILLY simple things like not riding forwards into down sloping parking spaces! Of looking before you stop where you will be dropping the prop stand. THIS is what will make the difference. Noty how heavy the book says the bike is, or how far it says seat is from floor before you sit on it!

But ultimately, if you are up to riding, bike wont matter much, if you aint? wont anyway! Pick and choose your time and place, more than you do the bike. Hey.. works for me!!!!
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Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'