Short-legged girls.

[des_picable]

Hi ladies , my daughter is wanting to get her full license and I want to buy her a suitable bike to get in some practice. She is only about 5ft2 ,not sure what that is in cm's. So she needs something light she can touch down easily on.

What in your experience can you recommend ?

Des

[James Deuce]

A Suzuki GN 250, a Yamaha Virago 250, or a Kawasaki EL250. The GN is the most wallet friendly option, but the latest batch are made in China and some people have had issues with Corrosion. A mid-'80's GN will be both cheap and less likely to rot.

The Yamaha is a higher quality option, but low speed parking accidents or 10 km/hr accident approaching intersections seem to be the new rider's most common type of accident making the GN a little less heart breaking to chuck on it's side.

The Kawasaki is the one I like as it shares the engine and gearbox with a very common bike that has just been reintroduced as a new bike, the GPX250 (18 years of continuous production!). However it is watercooled making it a more expensive (comparatively) maintenance option.

Sorry I'm not a chick, but I know lots of people recommend those three for beginners of limited vertical reach of any gender.

First picture below is the EL250, 2nd is the GN250, and third is the Virago 250.

[Joni]

She's my size.... the Zeal is perfect...

[James Deuce]

Good point, O three quarter scale chicky.

The Yamaha Zeal is more of a "naked" standard bike than the three mini cruiser's I've listed above. It is a transverse 4 cyclinder engine, where the EL is a parallel twin, the GN is a single, and the virago is a V-Twin, and the Zeal has a good deal more "oomph" than the three I've listed. Best bet is to try them out and buy the most comfortable one as far as your daughter is concerned.

[Kflasher]

The wife is only 4'11" she had trouble at stopping the GPX 250 (bit of an art kicking the stand out before stopping, cutting engine each time) she rode the GN and found it the best for her height... she now has FZR400 88 model.

[Pwalo]

Good advice chaps. Probably best to stay away from trailies and larger sports bikes, but the other bikes mentioned should be splendid.

Are there really people that short riding. I need to meet a few so that I can stand beside them to have my photo taken.

[magicfairy]

I am 5ft 1 with short legs. Causes all sorts of problems even when you have full license.
The only bikes I can comfortably put my feet down on are cruisers, and not all of them either.
The Suzuki Boulevard range work for me though. Started with the S40, now on to the S50

It is really disappointing to walk into a bike shop and know that 95% of bikes I will never be able to ride - or only with extensive lowering, which you don't get for a test ride.

[Rosie]

I'm 5'4" and I can get my feet almost flat on the ground on my KRR150.

[bobsmith]

I'm a short bugger and CBR250R is bloody perfect!!! (that is if you don't want her to get bored with her bike within a week...) I've had a ZZR250 and FXR150 too but the seats were quite high on those compared to CBR250R hope this helps

[Paul in NZ]

Check here....

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

Cheers

[LilSel]

I've had a ZZR250 and FXR150 too but the seats were quite high on those compared to CBR250R hope this helps

Im a shorty and can touch down on my ZZR250, just lol... still hoping that im gonna have a growth spurt tho

[carver]

Good advice chaps. Probably best to stay away from trailies and larger sports bikes, but the other bikes mentioned should be splendid.

Are there really people that short riding. I need to meet a few so that I can stand beside them to have my photo taken.

bah...KLR 650 all the way.
when you want to upgrade try the suzuki savage

[Joni]

Always keep in mind tho… when you are looking at a non-cruiser type bikes, its not just the seat height – it’s the seat width too… many a bike has been the right height for me but the thick seat has buggered the situation…There is lots for us shorties to consider...

Have a look around and let her try the bikes out. As you say, not all 5ft2” people have the same length of leg – so she needs to find what suits her size best.

[Goblin]

Why do people need to be able to put both feet flat on the ground when stopped? It doesn't take a hell of a lot of skill to ride a bike that you cant get both feet flat on the ground. When you come to a stop you just move ya butt slightly off the seat and get one foot down. Once you're rolling it doesn't matter how short you are or how tall the bike is. I remember going to a Castrol Six Hour Race years ago and seeing Buster Saunders racing, who would be 4 foot fuck all! He used to stand next to the bike to start it...put it in gear, get it rolling then jump on and give it shit. Was cool to watch!

Good luck finding a bike for your daughter Des.

[Joni]

Why do people need to be able to put both feet flat on the ground when stopped?

When you are a learner, there are so many scary things to consider, not being able to get your feet down would freak you out... remember back to those days Goblin (yeah yeah I know ), the bike felt like it weighed a ton and you had to remember all those "scary" things...

I will confess and say I dropped a bike once, because of my height or lack of it... came to a stop, the road was at a slight angle, I put my foot down and the road was not there and my foot kept going until the bike went for a lie down, and that was a CBR400, not the biggest of bikes... ask Her b4, she had a similar experience.... so it is something to consider for a learner.