Total Motorcycle Community Forums

I'm looking to get a 600 cc sport bike and the ones I'm looking at all are about 32.3 in seat height. I'm about 5"7 and on my buddys gsxr-600 I can balance on my tipy toes and if I lean one side I can place my foot completly down. I dont want to lower the bike either. Do you think I'll be ok? Is it really essential to be able to flat foot it?

If this is your first bike, please read the stickies and dont get a 600ss.

As for flat footing, if it is your first bike, yes, flatfooting should be one of the requirements.

There was a story on the site just a little while ago about a 20+ year veteran rider who was on a bike too tall for him, and fell over at a stop, and was killed by a truck.

Lots of different opinions on the subject, but for me it's absolutely a must. It's not a good idea to roll up to an intersection on a bike and essentially perform a balancing act to keep it upright. Granted, most people stop on only one foot (keeping their right foot on the rear brake), but that's not always possible.

I rode a sportsbike for awhile, which I was unable to flatfoot. Not a fun experience on uneven roads at a stop. And you cannot predict when or where those things will come up. I cannot flatfoot my husband's bike, and have only rode it a couple of times. When I do ride it, I stay on familiar roads only, which can be very limiting and not so much fun.

It really is up to you, but it can add more risk to your ride if you're unable to flatfoot a top-heavy bike.

Cheers,
Loonette

Being able to flatfoot takes a lot of the work out of riding. When you can't flatfoot, you constantly must always be planning ahead, more so than you would with having that worry.


One can ride and tiptoe, but you have to be aware of the situations always.

While first learning I think being able to flatfoot is essential. It takes one more element out of the equation that could potentially lead to your bike hitting the ground followed shortly by your tears. Remember, this isn't a pedal bike, and it can take a lot of work to keep it upright.

However, once you get used to riding and become really comfortable with stopping only using the one foot... and you feel confident only being able to tiptoe stop I suppose it would be okay to get a bike like that.

Personally I wouldn't ride a bike unless I could at least get the balls of each foot comfortably on the ground. When I was learning to ride my MSF instructor (who races for Kawasaki) said that being able to flatfoot a bike was not essential to riding it.

So really it all comes down to personal opinion I suppose.

However, since you're asking this question in the first place I feel obligated to point out that this is going to be your first bike. And you really don't need or want a 600cc supersport for a first ride. There are much better bikes to learn on out there.

I followed the post that was mentioned earlier about the experienced rider who moved to a bike that he could not flatfoot and died after dumping the bike at a stoplight. I have ridden a lot of miles and I would not buy a bike that I cannot flatfoot. In motorcycling there are a lot of risks; the safest riders minimize every risk they can. There are risks that we have little control over, but choosing a bike that you can flatfoot is one way to minimize risk and maximize safety. Also, if you are a true beginner, please revisit your decision to start on a 600cc sportbike. There's a lot to learn and it's easy to think that you know it all after a few hours of riding. When that happens it's really easy to "hot dog". You will probably get away with "hot dogging" for a while, but riding something as powerful as a 600cc sportbike gives you the potential to get in a whole lot more trouble than you can handle.

JR

If I can't flatfoot I don't buy. Simple as that.

Of course some bikes can be modified. The V-strom for instance, even at 6' I can't flat foot the current floor model at my dealer.

jrdudas wrote:Also, if you are a true beginner, please revisit your decision to start on a 600cc sportbike. There's a lot to learn and it's easy to think that you know it all after a few hours of riding. When that happens it's really easy to "hot dog". You will probably get away with "hot dogging" for a while, but riding something as powerful as a 600cc sportbike gives you the potential to get in a whole lot more trouble than you can handle.

JR

By way of example we have a member here who has wrecked three times on his 250 because he keeps trying to show off. It would have been a lot worse had he tried any of the stuff he was doing at the time on a 600.