Short legs, bike upgrade

[TheIglu]

Some of you guys who did the weekend BoMo trackday a couple years back may remember my buddy Jordan who tagged along for the weekend. He rides a red '96 GS500E that used to be owned by JennyJugs.

He's looking for an upgrade from the GS to something with a bit more "tour-ability", power, comfort.

He's short with even shorter legs, 5'2" on a good day.

He can manage the GS pretty well, but still encounters a bit of tippy-toe difficulty when backing it up and turning it around.

I'd like to find him a replacement bike. Something that handles fairly well, but could be a good universal bike to head to VT for the weekend, or commute an hour and a half each way to work on the highway.

Nothing brand new, it will hit the ground a few times due to the height issue.

Any recommendations?

We both sat on WeeStroms the last time we took off together for an overnighter on the bikes and he loved the style/functionality. How much can you lower those things without making them useless? Dirt roads are important, trails/rough stuff is not.

[csmutty]

I was going to recommend another GS, a BMW this time. The seat height was pretty friendly on the one I have ridden.

[Degsy]

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The buell blast that is for sale on here. Put the low seat on and bingo. I know it's only a 500 single but it's way more oomph than the 500gs.

[DucDave]

Monster 696? I didnt search for used for sale...and, there are some pretty good soft bags options available...

[ThisBitch]

When shopping for a touring bike, I found a KLR650 that was lowered an inch. It was perfect. I could flat foot it, loved the seating position, etc.

[DucDave]

When shopping for a touring bike, I found a KLR650 that was lowered an inch. It was perfect. I could flat foot it, loved the seating position, etc.

...good choice too...and should be around for short money!

[Degsy]

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Oh damn yeah, klr and monster.

[TheIglu]

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The buell blast that is for sale on here. Put the low seat on and bingo. I know it's only a 500 single but it's way more oomph than the 500gs.

34hp on the Blast vs 36hp on the GS.

Looking for an upgrade Degs!

[TheIglu]

I own a KLR650. Lowering an inch would still be in impossible-height range for him.

I thought about a Monster, but without him doing the maintenance himself (I'm his mechanic for everything), he'd have to haul that thing at least an hour an any direction to get to a Ducati service dept for valve adjustments.

[TheIglu]

I was going to recommend another GS, a BMW this time. The seat height was pretty friendly on the one I have ridden.

GS single?

Good thought....but I thought the GS seat height was higher than normal. Didn't they make a F650 "Low" or "City" or something with a low seat height? That may be an option.

[DucDave]

Not sure what kind of mileage he'd rack up, but I'm guessing that it would take 2-3 years for the average rider to crack 15,000 miles...which is the valve interval (I think) on the new Monsters....so, an hour every 2-3 years for valve adjustment is a small sacrifice for having such a cool bike.

...biased? Not me...!!!

[TheIglu]

Good point Dave.

Anyone know of any Monsters for sale for a reasonable price locally?

[csmutty]

GS single?

Good thought....but I thought the GS seat height was higher than normal. Didn't they make a F650 "Low" or "City" or something with a low seat height? That may be an option.

Now that you say something...the f650 is the one I rode. It was low.

[nhbubba]

I sat on a lowered wee at National Powersports when I was shopping. I don't have a quantitative measure of how far it was lowered, but it was definitely noticeable. It was lowered by backing the triple clamp down in the front and aftermarket lowering links in the back. Pretty affordable to do, I think.

I'm no off road expert, but I do not think it effected its dirt road performance in the least. Especially if ground clearance is not an issue.

I can't comment on handling impact. But if the front and rear are both lowered, I can't imagine the impact is that severe.

[scottfromboston]

Good point Dave.

Anyone know of any Monsters for sale for a reasonable price locally?

I know nothing about Monsters, but Q's bike looked good at first glance.

[01xj]

I stand an intimidating 5"5" with boots on and I'm very comfortable on my FZ-6. Only times I run into issues are when I pull in somewhere that's steep down to one side. But in 30k miles all over New England I've only gotten myself into a real jam once or twice.

[Lucas]

Big thumbs down on the monster if you plan on doing a lot of highway/commuting on it.

[mzdagrl]

I stand an intimidating 5"5" with boots on and I'm very comfortable on my FZ-6. Only times I run into issues are when I pull in somewhere that's steep down to one side. But in 30k miles all over New England I've only gotten myself into a real jam once or twice.

Weird, I am 5'6" and find the FZ to be somewhat tall. I wouldn't even dream of recommending it to someone 5'2"

[TheIglu]

Once again, even at 5'2", he's all torso. He has short legs. FZ6 has been looked at, but is way up there height wise.

[ThisBitch]

Once again, even at 5'2", he's all torso. He has short legs. FZ6 has been looked at, but is way up there height wise.

Big Wheel?

[TheIglu]

He's tippy toe on his GS500.

[Garandman]

I own a KLR650. Lowering an inch would still be in impossible-height range for him. //

Exactly, the closest single that might conceivably work might be the Suzuki DR-Z400 SM - 17" front.

Folks have shaved seats and lowered the SV650 to make it suitable for a 5'2 rider. Just checked SVrider.com and there are literally hundreds of threads. It has the riding position, fuel tank capacity and aftermarket support to make it a good commuter.

The BMW F650GS also has a low seat option and if I'm not mistaken, a lowered suspension option.

[nhbubba]

5'2" "all torso" is some pretty short legs. I can't imagine him being comfortable on a wee, even lowered. It is not a short bike.

Cruisers are the best bet, me thinks. There has to be a metric cruiser out there that is worth a damn. Maybe a 1200 sporty?

[TheIglu]

He's not looking for a cruiser. He's like to eventually get on the track to play once in a while on a trackday, so any adventure bike or standard would work.

We both wanted for him to pick up an SV, but the deals tend to get snagged up quick. In fact, the last deal that would of been somewhat good for him I ended up buying. He wasn't too pleased about that, but wtf are you going to do when you have someone else do all the legwork for you when shopping for a bike.

[Paul_E_D]

vintage CB350/400? Otherwise he's in blast/cruiser territory. Learning to mount the bike like you would a ten speed, and tipping to the higher ground at stops is the solution for a real bike...