Bikes for women.

Jonno · Post by **Jonno** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 6:58 pm

Interesting, I would like to see more manufactures take note.

http://www.motorcycledaily.com/26july05_women.htm

ttc · Post by **ttc** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 7:22 pm

i thought you were going to say that zx12's are girl's bikes

Plaz · Post by **Plaz** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 7:23 pm

I saw the topic thread and thought where do I go to trade???

Jonno · Post by **Jonno** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 7:24 pm

I cannot answer that without offending the smaller capacity machines

ttc · Post by **ttc** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 8:51 pm

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Kawasaki ... 4297QQrdZ1

that's a girl's bike..

bonester · Post by **bonester** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 8:24 am

I was faced with the same problem when looking for a big bike to teach ladies and shorter blokes on. Two main choices if you want to teach someone who is 5ft tall- XV535 Virago, or Suzuki Savage 400 or 650.....Both bikes are difficult to find- found one rough as Savage- dear as and with gearbox problems (!) and the Yamaha is in demand, so you pay top dollar for one- a dealer up the coast has a 1991 model with electrical problems that they want $5200 on the road for......was only $6500 new, 14 years ago.....whew! I ended up buying (and paying too much for IMHO) a 1996 model which had just gone around the clock, but in really tidy condition for $4500.
I would give up motorcycling if that was my only choices in riding- rode the Yamaha on a 100km round trip the day I bought it, and it nearly killed me- what an awful motorcycle. 5ft 2 seems to be the magic number for being able to ride many bikes- a person of that height or taller can sit on all of my bikes flat footed.(except ZZR12 I would guess) A few years ago I had a friend (female) who bought a new ZZR250 and had to have even that one lowered so she could ride it!

Here is an article on seat height:
(for beginners)
http://www.nebcom.com/noemi/moto/sbl.sbl.html

cowasaki · Post by **cowasaki** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 8:52 am

I can vouch for the total and absolute frustration with the LACK of bikes for short people.

Being a whole 5ft 1, bike shopping for my first big bike was one of the most frustrating experiences I have ever had.

If you can manage to sit on them, even with tippy toes... roll forward to take control of the bars.. bang.. there goes any foot hold you thought you had. With short legs, comes short arms

.

Older models are not too bad, Naked bikes I could manage, but I wanted brand spanking new with faring. Fortunately the ONLY bike I could reach the floor on ... ZZR600 soon to arrive

Came across a lass in a bike shop on the weekend (Honda shop), sitting on every bike.. throwing her hands up in the air in total frustration..with a grumble to her hubby...why dont they bloody well make decent bikes for short people it pisses me off. I had a chuckle and went to show her the light... said.. ZZR600 you will be fine. She was off to the Kwaka shop.

Every salesman would come up..see me trying to get my feet on the ground and say.. .well there is always a Cruiser. PFFTTTTTTTT apologies to those cruiser people..but I wanted a "Real Bike" so to speak.

The council builds the foot paths to closer to our arses and the bike manufactures ....well...

"rant over"

Morden · Post by **Morden** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 9:10 am

Tell me about it!

at 5'7 I only just fit on the Trumpy! ZX6 I fit ok onto, but I feel like i'm holding the front axle rather than the bars, CBR6 is on the limit too (at least the old ones).

I fit well on a Ducatti 999, but I din't have $40G to spend, and for $40G I would also expect a seat that doesn't feel like a plank of wood.

My GF is in the market for a Bike soon, its looking to be a CBR250, and I don't know when she'll be able to upgrade it after getting off restrictions simply for height and weight factors.

jewjew · Post by **jewjew** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 10:01 am

I wouldn't go past the GPX250 for a first bike for the vertically challenged.

It was my first, and i had to sell it caus it was too small for me, but fast enough....and light enough and $1000 cheaper than the ZZR

Bluefly · Post by **Bluefly** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 10:02 am

I don't really think they need to 'design' a bike for women, they just need to make the bikes they already manufacture fully height adjustable. The article talked about the need to have bikes ergonomically suited to 5ft nothing riders, but as long as your feet can comfortably touch the ground it's just a matter of getting used to the feel of the bike. Once it's in motion, you're in exactly the same boat as any other rider trying to handle the bike - irrespective of height.

If we wanted a bike designed for women we'd ride bl##dy scooters!!!

MickLC · Post by **MickLC** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 10:05 am

Bluefly wrote:I don't really think they need to 'design' a bike for women, they just need to make the bikes they already manufacture fully height adjustable...

Exactly right, and that would mean that us tall guys could ride them too

Jonno · Post by **Jonno** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 10:23 am

Mick C wrote:
Bluefly wrote:I don't really think they need to 'design' a bike for women, they just need to make the bikes they already manufacture fully height adjustable...
Exactly right, and that would mean that us tall guys could ride them too

and a lower center of gravity as well.

HemiDuty · Post by **HemiDuty** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 9:06 pm

So why the fuck do they not make say 3 different subframes that can be fitted or something?

Morden · Post by **Morden** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 12:12 pm

Because not all of us can afford $30,000 for a bike, nor do we want to wait 3 months for them.

(the RandD costs have to go somewhere, and I don't think bike shops would keep spare frames around "just incase")

HemiDuty · Post by **HemiDuty** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 1:12 pm

I do not think it needs to be a case of bike shops carrying spare frames. Just a modified run of subframes from the manufacturers for 1 or 2 popular sports models should do it. That is of course, if they can fit the things. They do not really seem to waste a lot of space on the new bikes. But it seems crazy for them to miss out on quite a lot of potential sales just because shortarses cannot ride the things....