My heels do not touch ground.

Message

anthonyjwhite · Sun May 28, 2006 2:07 am

I am totally new to motorcycling and purchased a Honda Sabre on e-bay. The bike is in great condition and I have ridden around the neighborhood and have not had any major difficulty. The problem is that my heals do not touch the ground when I am stopped. I have not dropped it on the street, but have dropped it at home in the driveway. I dropped it mostly out of being a newbee, trying to get off the bike without putting down the sidestand.

I can walk the motorcycle around and hold it up all day long with the balls of my feet. I would like to know how anyone else has handled this problem and if anyone knows of a way to lower the bike an inch? I cannot put up the centher stand because of this problem. Thank you in advance for any information.

sharpmagna · Sun May 28, 2006 2:41 am

I've seen lots of people who can't flat foot their motorcycle ride it just fine. I think the more experienced you get the easier it is to maneuver it. I'm personally inseam challenged myself, but luckily my bike has a seat height of 27.6 so even I can flat foot it. An effective way to lower your bike is to get your seat shaved effectively lowering the seat. You could also do some research on a manufacturer specific forum to see if people have lowered their bikes by swapping out springs (for example, for my bike VTX shocks will fit and lower the bike also)

Here is a technique for getting it on a center stand: http://www.nebcom.com/noemi/moto/sbl.fa ... enterstand

ejshotgun · #3 Unread post by **ejshotgun** » Sun May 28, 2006 6:34 am

Mine don't touch either. You just have to be careful in slick conditions, this is where it matters the most.
Do you have any adjustment on your rear shocks or maybe you could get shorter shocks or maybe lowering blocks.
I'm going to either go w/shorter shocks or lowering blocks because I do some dirt road riding and if it gets wet it's very "hairy".

#4 Unread post by **sv-wolf** » Sun May 28, 2006 6:46 am

It's OK. You have to be a bit more careful, though. I can just get my feet down flat, but it's a bit of a stretch so I rarely bother. Having said that, I have dropped my bike a couple of times because I was on my toes and the road surface was dodgy. I'm sure that I wouldn't have dropped it if I had been flat footed.

Just make sure you remain aware of the potential hazards of loose or slippery road surfaces. You also need to be more careful if you are walking your bike backwards.

TorontoBoy · Sun May 28, 2006 7:32 am

It's bad in the city where heavy trucks/buses have made depressions into the road where their wheels run. You stop your bike just to the right of the left wheel track, then put your left foot down, and then find there's more space there than you expected.

Gas stations are also slippery. You stop, put your foot down, slip, and then curse.

Kal · #6 Unread post by **Kal** » Sun May 28, 2006 10:45 am

Sabre looks kind of tough for height mods but two options I have seen are a lower custom seat and smaller rear suspension.

#7 Unread post by **9000white** » Sun May 28, 2006 1:10 pm

slide the front forks up 1 inch.

Sev · #8 Unread post by **Sev** » Sun May 28, 2006 2:13 pm

Shave down the sides of the seat a bit. This brings your legs closer together, and will effectively make you taller.

Dichotomous · Tue May 30, 2006 8:57 am

get boots with a taller heel. added bonus, you'll look taller, some people find this adveantagous, some dont.

anthonyjwhite · Thu Jun 01, 2006 4:59 pm

Thank you all for the advice. I think it should be fine. I now know to be extra careful when the street is wet. I will also try to get a pair of boots with a heel. I am not very far from being flat-footed. I can even put one foot flat on the ground and the other foot on the toes if I lose balance to one side. If all else fails, I know first hand that I can pick the bike up in just seconds. I hope I never have to do it on the street, but I can do it.