Total Motorcycle Community Forums

This is so amazing!!! A whole website (plus mailing list) for folks of shorter stature.

LOVE THIS: No one is too short to ride a motorcycle. Short beginners are merely too inexperienced to manage a motorcycle.

Truly short riders are generally under 5'2". People who are 5'4" have many more options than they think and can eventually ride all but the tallest motorcycles.

http://www.nebcom.com/noemi/moto/sbl.faq.html

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Hey There...

I am 5'1" and 50 and not great posture posture but not horible either.

At the moment I am trying to get comfortable on my 1200L Sportster.

I have had it now for 9 months and 5500 miles...put a harley reach seat on it (not certain that did much) Bought and wear the Icon Bombshell riding boot (3 inch heel helps to 'feel' flat footed) and because my reach is short i needed to modify the bars and so put the sportser Mini Apes on her. I still do not stit up straight...i need about 2 and a half to three inches closer to me. Rotating the existing bars does nothing. I would also love to have a more comfortable seat that was about one inch lower!!!!! I NEED A MIRACLE!!!!
My husband started out saying "you'll get used to it" I am not certain I can get used to the constant back ache after only 100 miles.
Any one out there have any input??

tink

No input from me, but a question. What do you think of those boots? I have heard mixed reviews.

well, i wouldn't be able to have my feet on the ground with them!.....I love wearing my gear.....i'm a gear kinda girl.....so i love the padding all up the leg and the extra little pad they put in over the ankle bone.

I love the heel and the little arch for the peg. They might be a bit of a nuisance with boards instead of pegs...????

They only complaint I have is that the shaft is VERY narrow. I contemplated taking them to a shoe shop and have them put an extra bit of leather in the already darted back. But I squished the top of the boot down ever so slightly the first 30 or 40 times to JUST get them zipped, and now they have stretched to accept my ample calf.
I am just 5'1" so I think they are GREAT!

I have a custom seat on my bike that dropped a good two inches from the stock seat. It is also incredibly comfortable. I'm 5'2" and ride a fairly tall bike. I have to slide a little to one side, but not enough that it is an issue for me. When I first started riding I bought a pair of boots that fit well, then had 1/2" added to the soles. It didn't change my ability to get my foot under the shifter, you couldn't tell looking at me that I was wearing "high heels," but the extra height gave me enough extra stability to get me past the noob stage without too much trouble.

hello i'm new here but here goes. my husband bought me a gl 1000 77, which he is restoring but i need a different seat. the bike feels to tall for me since i'm a new rider. just beginning. i make his bike look better. anyway i'm only 5'3" and i stand on tip toes. does anyone have any answers for better lower seat i've looked all over on this computer. are there any seats that will fit my bike. it does not have to be for honda as long as it fits and is smaller. thanks ladies and nice talking to ya

oldcrow wrote:hello i'm new here but here goes. my husband bought me a gl 1000 77, which he is restoring but i need a different seat. the bike feels to tall for me since i'm a new rider. just beginning. i make his bike look better. anyway i'm only 5'3" and i stand on tip toes. does anyone have any answers for better lower seat i've looked all over on this computer. are there any seats that will fit my bike. it does not have to be for honda as long as it fits and is smaller. thanks ladies and nice talking to ya

i know this is the ladies lounge, so forgive me... but that's a lot of bike for someone who is 5'3" and just starting out. it's a great bike, but there's a lot of it. any chance he could get you something a bit smaller?

Hello oldcrow...

My husband has an 1800 Goldwing and there are ladies that ride them all over the place, so don't worry about your abilities.

Try this site: http://www.hartcoseats.com/hondapresidentgl1000.html

They will custom fit the seat to your measurements so that it will fit YOU. Goldwing lady riders do it all the time. There is one little lady, 5' that is on an 1800 Goldwing Drill Team and she does just fine. Also has special made boots. Since hubby is saving money and fixing it up for you, the least you should do is get the seat to fit for you to guarantee that you can ride it. It won't be cheap, but tell him he will have the piece of mind that you are confident on the bike when you can at least be flat footed, very important in my book.

I am 5' 3" now and have a 900 Vulcan. I did start out on a smaller bike, but would have done fine on the one I have now, too.

Take the MSF class, and take your bike. Trailor it there if you have to or see if they can pick it up for you. Let them know you would like to try some of the course with your own bike. They will probably have you do most of the class on a smaller bike and then usually when you are comfortable enough, they may switch you out and have you do the course on your own bike. That's what they do up here, anyway.

I have a lot of lady friends that started out on larger bikes, no big deal.

Either way, that is pretty cool. Don't worry about the size, you will be fine. Just work up to what the bike has to offer and respect it and you will be fine....

You probably have solved your problem by now but I too am of a short stature 5'3" and I do not wear heals taller that 2" for safety reasons (me).
I use to have a hugger (same as a sportser Low) which had forward controls, talk about reach. So the seat had to be shaved down 2" and built in the back to push me forward to start and then my husband found me short shocks for the back which meant I had to watch out for holes and dips because i only had 2" of shock not 4" but I had my feet flat on the ground. As far as the bars go, mini apes kicked backed to me. Ended up with the perfect ride, took alot of tropies home on that baby. I did eventually trade it in only because she had alot of miles on it. Traded her in for a bagger and had to do the same thing to the street glide, seat, bars, but not the shocks-just let all the air out.

My wife tried the sportster L and found it too top heavy and uncomfortable for her tastes, shes 5'3". She really liked both the Suzuki C50 and S40, the seat on both of them is nice and low and they aren't top heavy at all.

A GL1000 is a lot of bike for a first time rider, 30 year old bike that has more power than most modern cruisers. The original GL1000 before all the touring stuff was put on it was pretty much the first power cruiser