LAMs for a very tall guy?

[bigdog]

Hi guys just in the process of getting my learners license and I'm looking for a LAM to learn to ride on. However I am very tall at about 6'5" around 193cms so I don't have that many options it seems. At the moment I'm leaning towards getting a cruiser but will also consider sports or "naked" bikes as well.

So far I've only seat tested cruisers and it seems most of the 250s are too small for me (unless they have a larger frame). But have found some of the bigger fuller framed 650 LAMs to be a better fit like..

Hyosung ST7L
Hyosung GV650

Honda Magna
Honda Shadow
Yamaha V star/Drag star

The Hyosungs seem to fit the best although I'm a bit scared off them because of the many bad online reviews.. The V star Yamaha and Hondas are an alright fit although I may have to get a custom seat or peg/control forward extenders and possibly raised handlebars to make them more comfortable.

Has anyone got any other suggestions what would be a good LAM for a taller guy like me? Including sports and other bikes.


Cheers

bigdog

p.s. Don't be a troll and tell me to do a search for other threads because I already did and read them all on here and nearly everywhere else!

[Devil]

Get an adventure bike.
Suzuki DR650 or similar. Heaps of room. Easy to ride. Great in traffic. Benefits of being able to take any road.
Good on gas. Very hardy. Very simple.

[HenryDorsetCase]

Yamaha XT660 ADV bike is LAMS I think.

[Ender EnZed]

Get an adventure bike.
Suzuki DR650 or similar. Heaps of room. Easy to ride. Great in traffic. Benefits of being able to take any road.
Good on gas. Very hardy. Very simple.

+1 for DR, KLR650 or similar.

Doesn't matter if you never take it off sealed roads. They have heaps of space and basically no downsides compared to a road-only LAMS bike.

[Shadowjack]

As a bloke who also trends to the tall end of the bell-curve: what they all said so far. The 600/650's in XT, DR, KLR, etc, flavour are easy to fit on/in. And if not, there are (relatively) simple and cheap aftermarket peg-lowering kits, bar-risers and stuff to help - Procycle is your friend.
As an aside, a mate once suggested that, if i wanted to, I could take his 675 Daytona for a ride. Good bloke, but a bit of a comedian...

[Ulsterkiwi]

I am 1.94m so fully sympathise. I considered cruisers but after sitting on and riding a few found them too cramped. You can get big cruisers but any of the LAMS ones I tried were a bit short of room. I think the Yamaha might be your best bet if you were set on that style of bike.
You may well find the sport bike tuck a bit restrictive as well, its no coincidence that a lot of the competitive riders are not the tallest blokes and lasses!

My first two bikes were BMW F650s. I tried the DR650 which was good but I found the seat a bit of a pain and I felt much more exposed on what I thought was a more minimalist design. I found the KLR650 to be a good fit and more comfy than the zoomzuki, they are probably amongst the tallest bikes. Excellent machines but at the time most were outside the price range I was working with. I REALLY liked the DL650 LAMS bike but you are into a brand new machine, you didnt mention budget?

I thoroughly enjoyed my F650s, yes the price of parts can be eye watering but they are very well put together, its not like you are buying parts every week. (I would suggest if you are, the price of the parts is irrelevant, you want rid of that bike!)

I, like the rest of the KB world, will tell you what worked for me bike-wise, I would suggest thats of limited value, you are better looking for advice and learning how to best figure out what works for you not which model of bike to go looking for.
For example, do you intend to hang on to your purchase for a while or do you envisage moving on to something else quickly? To be honest if you are new to riding (as I was) then buying a new or newer bike as a first one is not in my opinion a good idea. For sure sitting on a bike or even taking it for a test ride is really important but you actually need to spend significant saddle time on the thing to let you figure out what works for you. At the start you are learning to ride, period, the foibles of the bike are a secondary concern. I moved on to a sport tourer after having two dual purpose bikes and taking EVERY opportunity to try other sizes and styles of bikes along the way. (One afternoon saw me on A Ducati MTS650, a Honda Deauville 650, a Honda CB500R, a BMW G650 and a BMW R650, on other days I was on Intruders, Ninjas, Hornets, VStroms, Dragstars and even a Spyder amongst others!) I found it useful to have a bike I was very familiar with, even with its faults and use that for comparison to other machines. Then I found the bike which ticked as many of my boxes as possible and I didn't take a huge financial hit on my learner bike. If the first thing you have to do with a bike is get it customised to fit you I am not sure thats the best way to start out what should be a beautiful relationship ;)

[Big Dog]

Hi guys just in the process of getting my learners license and I'm looking for a LAM to learn to ride on. However I am very tall at about 6'5" around 193cms so I don't have that many options it seems. At the moment I'm leaning towards getting a cruiser but will also consider sports or "naked" bikes as well.

So far I've only seat tested cruisers and it seems most of the 250s are too small for me (unless they have a larger frame). But have found some of the bigger fuller framed 650 LAMs to be a better fit like..

Hyosung ST7L
Hyosung GV650

Honda Magna
Honda Shadow
Yamaha V star/Drag star

The Hyosungs seem to fit the best although I'm a bit scared off them because of the many bad online reviews.. The V star Yamaha and Hondas are an alright fit although I may have to get a custom seat or peg/control forward extenders and possibly raised handlebars to make them more comfortable.

Has anyone got any other suggestions what would be a good LAM for a taller guy like me? Including sports and other bikes.


Cheers

bigdog

p.s. Don't be a troll and tell me to do a search for other threads because I already did and read them all on here and nearly everywhere else!

At an inch taller tan me this should be pretty close to useful information.
Doesn't matter what anyone else says get what makes your ticker flicker.
I have ridden many bikes most would regard too small for your size. You get used to it and you adapt. That said, it is easier to adapt to something your heels don't press into your but when you put the balls of your feet on the pegs.
LAMS bikes I like for fit bit it is up to you to decide are they fit for purpose:
Er6
Versys
DR 250,350,400 or 650
Mt03?
XT


MODELS I AM NOT FOND OF:
Any 600 or smaller with a full fairing.
Any 600 or smaller where the bars are narrower than my waist.
Any 600 or smaller with less than the length of my boot between the peg and the seat.
Any 350 or smaller if regular 30minutes plus at 100 is required.




Stupid phone / Tapatalk, apologies in advance.

[HenryDorsetCase]

I am five foot 4 and I have NO concept of what you are talking about. Literally. Dirt bike seats are nipple level for me.

every bike I have had since age 15 is "too tall". I put my back out a few weeks ago swinging a leg over my street triple.

What I think I am trying to say is ... fuck all of you :( You think you got problems? <_<

[Crasherfromwayback]

Get an adventure bike.
Suzuki DR650 or similar. Heaps of room. Easy to ride. Great in traffic. Benefits of being able to take any road.
Good on gas. Very hardy. Very simple.

Best advice.

[BlackSheepLogic]

I am five foot 4 and I have NO concept of what you are talking about. Literally. Dirt bike seats are nipple level for me.

every bike I have had since age 15 is "too tall". I put my back out a few weeks ago swinging a leg over my street triple.

What I think I am trying to say is ... fuck all of you :( You think you got problems? <_<

We all got problems just not that one....

[Big Dog]

I am five foot 4 and I have NO concept of what you are talking about. Literally. Dirt bike seats are nipple level for me.

every bike I have had since age 15 is "too tall". I put my back out a few weeks ago swinging a leg over my street triple.

What I think I am trying to say is ... fuck all of you :( You think you got problems? <_<

Are you feeling a little short changed?
You wanna try not fitting under dinner tables. Anywhere.
Although I have to admit that is better than having to decide to duck or go around. :doh:


Stupid phone / Tapatalk, apologies in advance.

[Ender EnZed]

I am five foot 4 and I have NO concept of what you are talking about. Literally. Dirt bike seats are nipple level for me.

every bike I have had since age 15 is "too tall". I put my back out a few weeks ago swinging a leg over my street triple.

What I think I am trying to say is ... fuck all of you :( You think you got problems? <_<

If you were an inch taller you'd fit an R1200GS.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kRFyw57o_Ic

[Drew]

I am five foot 4 and I have NO concept of what you are talking about. Literally. Dirt bike seats are nipple level for me.

every bike I have had since age 15 is "too tall". I put my back out a few weeks ago swinging a leg over my street triple.

What I think I am trying to say is ... fuck all of you :( You think you got problems? <_<Jesus! At that height you'd fucken near have to go UP on a girl.

[pete376403]

KLR is more on-road oriented than the other adv bikes. Better seat, better lights, better fairing. Downside is a bit less competent (but still pretty good) on gnarly off road.

[Ender EnZed]

KLR is more on-road oriented than the other adv bikes. Better seat, better lights, better fairing. Downside is a bit less competent (but still pretty good) on gnarly off road.

Along with the F650. Those are even less likely to be seen in the rough stuff. They typically do very high millage though and there have been some on trademe at great prices. (The single cylinder ones)

The "old man"/"woman's adv" image they have makes them fairly immune to the LAMS-grab as well as the ADV crowd price boost. They're a faster road bike than most learner legal mounts for the money as well.

I'd probably still look for a jappa but wouldn't rule them out.

[flashg]

Yamaha XT660 ADV bike is LAMS I think.


Yep that's what i have XTZ 660 Tenere. I'm 6' and find it high in seat. Good punchy motor, goes anywhere. LAMS approved.

[MisterD]

Mt03?


Yup, XT660 motor.

Pretty much anything that's a single cylinder 650 and adventure-y (or styled that way) will be ok because it'll be setup for torque over power.

The other thing those bikes have going for them, if you're outside of averagely-built, is a world of aftermarket bits to lower pegs and raise bars etc.

[bigdog]

Okay thanks for your replies guys. I had been considering a dual sports bike so that I could take it off the road which would all me to have a bit more fun and get more experience riding.

I'll check out some KLR, DR, and XT 600+s over the next few days and let you know how I go. :niceone:

[clint640]

DR650's are one of the more compact bikes in that class so you'll probably find the KLR a better fit. Not so common but also worth a look if you find one is the Honda XR650L. There was a KTM LC4 400 in the for sale section on here that could be an option too.

Packing up seats & raising bars is pretty easy to do on the dual sport machines too, have a couple of tall mates that have done that.

Cheers
Clint

[GrayWolf]

Okay thanks for your replies guys. I had been considering a dual sports bike so that I could take it off the road which would all me to have a bit more fun and get more experience riding.

I'll check out some KLR, DR, and XT 600+s over the next few days and let you know how I go. :niceone:

The KLR is the 'lowest' powered one, but has a huge following (and large worldwide sales) but really KLR,DR.XT,F650's you cant go wrong as long as they are well looked after.

[BlackSheepLogic]

High heals perhaps?


If you were an inch taller you'd fit an R1200GS.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kRFyw57o_Ic

[bigdog]

Hey guys sorry about the lack of update.. in the end I went for a Suzuki DR650. It was a toss up between the DR650 and the KLR650, I liked the appearance of the DR a bit more and also got a good deal on one.

I've only had it a week but have already clocked up about 600kms! Very happy with my choice its an awesome bike. So thanks for all your advice it was pretty sound. If you see a guy riding a gray DR650SE around the North Shore and wider Auckland area with L plates it, theres a good chance its me.

:wari:

[Big Dog]

Cool bike. Given how many full licence riders love them they can't be all bad right!
Congrats.


Stupid phone / Tapatalk, apologies in advance.

[Devil]

Good stuff. :scooter: