here i am

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by diffluere

I want the translucid red one. Hey zen, if I drive to Tennessee will you buy me a buell?! hahahahaha

Hey, forget him. Next month I will show you a REALLY good looking RED Honda with a useable seat height. Might even let you ride it for a few feet !!

[dannylightning]

one reason i would never buy a sports bike is cus of the seat height, i dont know why they don't make sport bikes for short people

i like to touch the ground when i set on a bike. i see a lot of guys on those things at a light on their tippy toes.

[diffluere]

sweet!

[Water Warrior 2]

A gal I know is less than 5 feet and rides a S-40. Much like a GZ in appearance but with a 650 single and only 60 lbs more weight.

[zenbutcher]

Originally Posted by music man

That is the second comment you have made along these lines, you are probably pushing your luck a bit. This is not really a dating site.

:roll:

[dannylightning]

s40 is a cool bike, got drag bars and every thing, supposed to have good power, some say it is still not great for highway riding, and it will max out around 85mph but you can easily get up to 85 and keep it going. i set on a s40 quite a few times, i think the gz feels better honestly but the s40 feels pretty good too. 250 up to a 650 is going to be a big upgrade,

my friend, short little girl not even 5 foot tall got a Yamaha 650 for her first bike and was fine with riding that. she was a little chubby so maybe she had enough weight to push those shocks down a little and be lower to the ground lol. i have set on the Yamaha 650 a few times, i liked it, i spoke to a guy that has one, i was getting something to eat and a guy pulled in on the bike, i liked it a lot, it was all flat back witch i really really like. told him i was thinking about getting a new bike. he said he can cruz at 80mph all day long on that bike, and it will top out right around 100mph but you would only want to run it between 70-80 mph so the rpm don't get really high, and he was kind of a big guy, i have also read a few reviews stating those bikes have a good top speed and plenty of power for being a 650

[diffluere]

I just really don't want another cruiser, especially one that looks essentially just like the GZ. If I have to ride around for more than 3 hours total (even when taking breaks) I'm miserable. I need a gel pad and a sissy bar, haha! Since I've only ridden my bike and 2 ninjas it's hard to tell if I'll like others. By far the ninjas were more comfortable for me, even riding around all day in the mountains, but I'm sure some fancy ass crusier bike with a gel seat and huge squishy grips and a ginormous windshield would be pretty sweet too.

I really like the SV650 but it's a TEENY bit too tall. If I lowered it an inch I'd be okay. I think dual sports are pretty sweet but those things are seriously TALL. 34.8" seat height on the DR650? Did they invent them for basketball players and Sasquatch? The guy at the dealer told me that lowering a bike will totally ruin its geometry and he's short, so he "just deals with it." I'm not sure how you deal with not being able to stop unless you're next to a curb, but ok....

Either way I probably won't get another bike until next spring when I graduate UF and my jeep is paid off. Then it's crunch time to figure out what I want! By then I should feel more comfortable taking test rides. Right now I'm scared I'll dump the thing in the gravel parking lot at our dealer (i know, wtf?) and have to pay for it.

[Mercutio57]

I've got the Ninja 250 on my mind as well. I love my GZ, but she's all alone in that garage and needs a friend...

Seriously, sometimes one wants to ride a cruiser, and sometimes one wants a sportbike. One bike, no matter how large (and expensive) could never meet both needs. If the budget won't really permit two larger machines, why not two small ones?

Eminently logical, as Mr. Spock used to say...

[patrick_777]

Originally Posted by diffluere

I really like the SV650 but it's a TEENY bit too tall. If I lowered it an inch I'd be okay.

An SV650 with shorter "dogbones" (lowering links) in the back will do that trick. You can lower it over an 1½" before affecting handling...any lower and you risk scraping in REALLY tight corners...this, however, is unlikely for a rider not going to the track or riding super-aggressively on the roads though. In summary, you could probably get away with an SV running just over 2" lower than stock and be fine.

BTW, don't listen to ANYBODY at a dealership. They're trying to sell something, even if they're "customers just looking around"...

[Water Warrior 2]

Diffluere, if you like the SV you might want to take a peek at it's cousin. The Gladius is similar in size but IIRC the seat is a touch lower. Not as sporty as the SV but still a fun ride. Same basic 650 cc engine as the SV and Vstrom which is known to be near bullet proof.The GS 500 is another semi-sporty bike to look at but I don't remember the seat height. It has older technology but still a decent buy at it's price point.