Ride Like A Girl? April 2009

Ok, am I the only one who caught that the article kept stating about height and this woman riding yet in the picture she looked at least 5 foot 5 inches tall? That isn't short. Most of the women I know who ride are around 5 foot 1 inch tall and we are the ones who have the most trouble with finding bikes that fit us.  

I'm at the opposite side of the spectrum, being male and 6'4" - still hard to find a bike that really fits.

What is short, well, I guess by some standards, 5'5" could qualify, honestly, I never base much on anyones height.

When it comes to motorcycles, there is a lot more to consider that seat height, IMO.

And while some may disagree with me on this, it is hard for me to imagine anyone weighing under a hundred pounds manuvering a 800 pound motorcycle - if you can not pick it up yourself, you probably should not be riding it.

Until you are ready, that is.

My sister, who is not tall, really likes her VStar 650.

She is insane, does not use her brain sometimes. In one such instance, she bought a new Victory and almost immediately crashed it at least twice, albeit minor accidents.

She blamed the bike, not the bikes fault, her fault, every case IMO.

First time, she missed a corner because of several reasons. One, she was not ready for the power. Two, she locked the back brake. Three, she was way over her head and too stubborn to admit it.

She ended up in a huge mud hole and had to wait for someone to drive by and pull her out.

Next, she tried to turn around on a wide road, and the bike fell over, she could not get it up.

First, she should of practiced more on the bike to know what it could and could not do. Ah -

Bottom line, she ended up selling it with only a few hundred miles on it, too much for her, and while I wish it humbled  her, I doubt it......

Smaller people do not have to have smaller bikes, but to learn on, you bet - nothing to prove to anyone, get the right bike and smile.

I like happy riders, no matter what they are riding.

Short, tall, fat, skinny, whatever - as long as they are happy, smiling and having fun.  
Steve

Ride for one - Ride for all

orangeprincess21:
Ok, am I the only one who caught that the article kept stating about height and this woman riding yet in the picture she looked at least 5 foot 5 inches tall? That isn't short. Most of the women I know who ride are around 5 foot 1 inch tall and we are the ones who have the most trouble with finding bikes that fit us.

I am not sure how tall the woman in the article is, I am 5'2 and I agree with you on the bike issue. I have to rule out certain bikes that I like because they are simply too much for me. However, i'm not very experienced, so it would be wise for me to begin on a smaller bike and possibly work my way up from there once I have gained the confidence through more seat time.  

The bottom line is this: the size and weight of the rider/bike have nothing to do with whether or not the rider can manueaver the bike. As long as the rider can reach the controls, it comes down to learning the proper techniques.

stayshinysideup.com