The challenge of setting the bike up for you

[Astir]

Most of us have a bit of a disadvantage as far as ergonomics on stock bikes. Lets face it, motorcycles are designed for mens average height and weight. How many men or women truly fit in that average?

Demenshea brought up the topic in her blog (http://demenshea.com/blog/?p=3967), about things you can do for modifying your bike to fit you.

I challenge you to think about the various interfaces on your motorcycle and whether they fit you.

When I bought my GS, I felt like a little girl on a big kid bike. Although once moving it handles like a ballerina, sharp turns were difficult because frankly, when the handlebars are fully turned, I could not keep my hand on the outside grip. Dirt roads where I was really using the suspension were beating me up, the suspension didn't squish properly under my 130#'s (and I am not going to tell you if I fudged that number or not :D:). My back ached because I was leaning forward at the wrong angle, not to mention the seat slope was rolling my hips forward, which I don't need to explain further. I want to sit on my sit bones, thank you very much. Last but not least, ground handling was difficult because it was too high.

You can see all the mods to my bike here (http://www.twowheelfemales.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3109)... we call it farkling, which somewhat minimizes the importance of the ergonomic modifications. Where I work, these modifications would be called - insuring ergonomics by studying and modifying work stations in order to reduce fatigue, strain, and short and long time injury of work force (oh man - that makes me sound like I am drinking the coolaid :eek: ).

So now that I have rambled on... I can tell you one mod I still need to accomplish to make my GS fit me better. I need to shorten the bars. Even with all the work I have done, it is much easier for me to do very tight turns standing up because I still have the trouble of not being able to reach the outside bar when sitting.

One thing I have simply adapted to is reaching the turn signals, hi/lo beam switch, etc. My hands are very small, but I believe I have adapted and do not feel stress in my hands after a ride.

So... whatcha got?

(and a big thanks to Demenshea for sparking the thought to start this conversation. If you haven't been following her blog (http://demenshea.com/blog/), it is chocked full of wonderful information about motorcycling.)

[ImaSoftT]

Great idea for a thread Astir, we will probably get a ton of farkle ideas.:ears:

As for me, I bought my bike used (it had 3,100 miles on it) and the person that had it before put a lowering kit on it. Now I'm not sure what all that entailed but I know that I can flat foot it which I love. There is only one tiny little problem. It has been lowered so much that if I make a left hand turn to sharp the kick stand drags the pavement :hiding: which just about scared me to death the first time it happened. And also I have to lean the bike way over to the right to get the kick stand down and fully in position.

So if anyone is thinking about lowering your bike, please make sure you test it out carefully the first time or two you ride it afterwards, just so you are aware of any new lean restrictions.

And I don't know if an engine guard is a farkle or not but I know it sure saves a lot of wear and tear on both the bike and my feet and legs (not that I ever drop my bike mind you :whistling:)

[Luna Tique]

Oh boy :chin:

on the KRL
Soupy's Lowering links
Corban duel platform low seat ( with the nose shaved by Corbin to get me even lower.)

http://lunatique.smugmug.com/photos/856703283_E2EWT-XL.jpg (http://lunatique.smugmug.com/Other/2010/10978806_Rz4Be#856703283_E2EWT)

[Cyclone67]

I'm lucky -- both my bikes are a good ergonomic fit; especially my TW200. It fits me like a glove. The one thing on my Bonnie I would like to change -- the long thumb stretch to the turn signals. I have the hardest time hitting the turn signals when I make a two quick turns in a row; probably would just be cheaper to stretch my thumb out; anyone heard of a thumb rack??? :lol:

[Unforgiven]

Sportbikes are usually a challenge for women and some men if you are on the shorter side. They usually have high seat heights as they are taller for lean clearance and overall handling and some have very extreme positioning of forward lean. They are obvious designed for racing and not long hauls but they can be made reasonably comfortable.

The best thing you can do is a set of helibars. They will bring the clipon up higher and closer to you making it where you can sit more upright. A soupy linkage is great for lowing it as you can fine tune how low you want it unlike dog bones with set positions. No sense lowering it 1 1/2 inches if you only need one inch. That 1/2 inch is mile considering how the bike is affected. Depending on how low you drop the rear, you may have to bring the fork tubes up through the triple tree a bit but I have found that an inch or so really won't matter. You can also add aftermarket rearsets to make the foot position better fit you.

As mentioned above, if you make height changes and in this case rearset changes, you need to be aware that your lean angles are going to be reduced.

[demenshea]

Gosh Astir, thanks so much for your wonderful blog compliments!!! Man, I try to keep it updated with pertinent info, but let me tell you...there are days. :cloud9: :coffee::sleep:

I am working out my bandito currently and am planning a quick run with my husband to AZ in two weeks for some escape riding. We are going to rent bikes, since he can't get enough time off for us to ride there. I am going to rent a lowered F800ST so I can't wait to have it for three days to try it.

Back to the bandito. I am going to see about going down one tooth in the front sprocket to try and get the low end power i miss from my old bandit. I am also taking it to Sunnyvale to have the guy that's in the video on the post you linked to. He can check it with me on it and some stuff in the bags which is pretty much how I tour and we'll have a proper evaluation for it roadwise. I am going to have the seat cut down as well. I may even head over to Corbin and have them see what they can do for me.

I own the bandit. I don't have payments and I'd like to keep it that way, if that's possible. The beemer is a dream bike for touring, but I'm not sure I wanna take on the expense. The Bandit is serious bang for it's buck, it's a smooth riding machine, and has boundless power. It's pretty much up to us to decide what we want from a bike, and how we need to get it.

Like has been said before, it's rare that you ever get a bike right off the showroom that doesn't need some sort of tweaking. That said, let's get to tweaking...:D::D::D:

[lerxstqueen]

I'm lucky -- both my bikes are a good ergonomic fit; especially my TW200. It fits me like a glove. The one thing on my Bonnie I would like to change -- the long thumb stretch to the turn signals. I have the hardest time hitting the turn signals when I make a two quick turns in a row; probably would just be cheaper to stretch my thumb out; anyone heard of a thumb rack??? :lol:

LOL, not only do I wish the turn signal was closer, but I wish they were self-canceling as well...

[ImaSoftT]

LOL, not only do I wish the turn signal was closer, but I wish they were self-canceling as well...
My husband and I both have self-canceling signals, but they can have a draw back especially when you are just changing lanes. After you have made your lane change the light continues to blink for a little while before it goes off, it may only be a few seconds, but you can go quite a distance in a few seconds. I always manually cancel my signal as soon as I'm in the lane I want to be in, but RT tends to let his run until it turns itself off (he does that in the car also) http://www.twowheelfemales.com/forum/images/smilies/GAAH%21.gif I worry that other drivers may think he intends to make another lane change or turn and then make their own move accordingly, such as pull out in front of him. With the manual ones you just get use to turning them on and off as they are needed.

[theWolfTamer]

For comfort:
Gel Grips
adjustable levers
Gen2 FZ1 handlebars (flatter than OEM)
Shaved seat to get rid of hump that pushes me into the tank and added a layer of memory foam -- my back and butt love me now.
I don't bother to lower my bike because I don't want to lose any clearance. If the FZ1 was super tall like the Tenere I rode, I'd probably lower it then.

For Looks:
my adjustable levers are chameleon blue
black billet foot pegs
LED Turn Signals all the way around
Blacked out the Radiator Shrouds

For power
RavenRider Jetting (A DIY kit detailed on the FZ1OA Forum) and ported carb boots
Yoshimura Slip on (it's pretty too!)

Upcoming for suspension:
2003 r1 forks (I'm doing it for looks but this is an upgrade over the oem forks)
2008 r6 rear shock

Speaking of suspension. I haven't done much using the stock adjustments other than taking some of the dive out of the front end. I don't know what that's called but I do know there's a lot more adjustments available that I know nothing about! I'm just getting around to playing with and understanding what they are.

There's more stuff. See this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hqJ83ZAiBE

I'll need to make another one of those vids.

[miss_su2006]

I was able to find a pair of adjustable dog bones and lowered my bike almost 3 inches. My husband bent out my kickstand so it would actually lean again. lol. It stood almost straight up!

[ImaSoftT]

miss_su2006, what did your hubby use to bend the kickstand and how did he do it. My bike has been lowered to the point where I have to lean it way over to the right just to get the kickstand up or down. If I'm on the slightest slope I really have to fight it to keep from going over to the right http://www.twowheelfemales.com/forum/images/smilies/GAAH%21.gif It's the only thing I don't like about my bike, but then it is RED which makes up for this tiny little flaw.

[Astir]

Yeah - what ImaSoftT said - also how do you like the bike after dropping that much? That is quite a bit of height.

WolfTamer - you are the farkler extraordinar! :worthy:

[demenshea]

I am having some work done on my Bandit to get it to fit me better...finally! :devillaugh:

It's having its 16K service next week and then i am sending my seat to Florida to Spencers (http://greatdaytoride.com/Home_Page.php) for a seat rebuild. He done lots of Bandit seats and tells me he can lower it by one inch and then put in surpacor for ventilation and alleviation of vibration and pressure. From there it goes to Dave Moss (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXvobTB39Kc) for suspension adjustment.


Then, I should be ready to go on my 5500 mile trip to Canada!!

Now if I could only get the big MOFO onto the centerstand, then I'd be golden!

[VStar]

I've only got a few hundred miles on the Vstar 1300, the only other bike I've ridden was it's samller sister, the 650 so I'm not sure what or if it needs much changing. However, the bars do seem far apart, creating a tendency to lean slightly and sit in the saddle all the way forward, so far this hasn't bothered me, I can sit up straight if I make a conscious effort.
My husband has ridden it a few times, doesn't like the bars at all, they are very uncomfortable for him, his friends also make the same claim, the 1300 forums talk about the bars too, commenting that they need to come in a back a few inches & give replacement suggestions. We have a local Yamaha store but I hesitate to go in to try out the bars on the Road Star and the Vstar 950 because I don't want to take up the saleman's time when I probably wouldn't buy from a dealer unless he comes reasonably close to online prices.
I had added a few doo dads and shiney thangs, blinged out the license plate and have a friend making special earings for me, in the perfect red.

[Astir]

I think pictures of the earrings are part of the :rules:

:D:

[theWolfTamer]

WolfTamer - you are the farkler extraordinar! :worthy:

The FZ1 has two (yes two) great forums where you can get all kinds of tips and advice. Anything I ever thought of doing, a few searches revealed that someone else had already done it. I think the only new ground I broke was the ebay chinese adjustable levers and mounting the hard case to the seat (I had the idea but the how-to I borrowed from a ninjette forum).

Farkles personalize the ride so you can tell yours from someone elses. I'm going to the rally next weekend and hope to see other FZ1s and what their owners have done to them. It really helps seeing the thing you've been drooling over (like the frame plugs) on the bike. That really gives you the extra push you might need to pull the trigger.

My next thing after the suspension is possible paint. I like the skunk (black and silver) fz1 a lot but I really love the Yamaha blue (mine is called Bruise because it's blue with the black frame). I'm thinking of maybe doing something like the skunk but with blue and black instead of black and silver.

The most important to me are the comfort ones and the frame sliders. Those were the ones I did first before I even considered jetting or other performance mods. If I'd known jetting would make the bike easier to ride (in addition to adding performance) I might have not waited as long as I did to do that.

Since every bike is different, it's hard to say what things should be done first. That's why I focused more on my comfort initially. Once I was comfortable, I was able to notice other little things. Then riding another FZ1 that was jetted really sold me on the jetting.

There are others with way more farkles on their fz1s than I have. There's a guy in SC (http://www.yamahafz1oa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113231) with more stuff than I have. I've joked that I would steal his muffler if we ever met in person. I didn't but it was because there was too much stuff going on for me to remember.

Anyway, shameless pic of what Baby looks like right now:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ooObUUYh_PY/TeGCnd3creI/AAAAAAAAIvk/CJZpFLh9ghU/s640/DSCF4731.JPG

Now just imagine black upside down forks! They will be coming soon, I'm still collecting the parts for that mod.

[ImaSoftT]

http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww173/prestonjjrtr/Smileys/yougogirl.gif?t=1296230631

[miss_su2006]

miss_su2006, what did your hubby use to bend the kickstand and how did he do it. My bike has been lowered to the point where I have to lean it way over to the right just to get the kickstand up or down. If I'm on the slightest slope I really have to fight it to keep from going over to the right http://www.twowheelfemales.com/forum/images/smilies/GAAH%21.gif It's the only thing I don't like about my bike, but then it is RED which makes up for this tiny little flaw.


He heated it with a welding torch to soften the metal and then bent it out. He's so handy! He also just fixed my cracked fairing and made some custom mods to the body. He's been sanding it and getting it ready for some paint. Yea! :yahoo: