Adventure Bike Rider Forum

Hi all...
Just a quick hello from sunny Bristol
For any of you out there like me..'Tiny'..and struggle with big adventure bikes then I purchased a triumph tiger 900gt LOW in july and it's the best bike I've owned so far....I find the seat height and weight spot on....cant wait to take it abroad..'hopefully in April'
Hope this may be of use to someone..! Cheers.

Hi
Just how tiny
Coz there are a fair few shortarsed individuals on this forum..
Me being one of them

littlebiker1 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 4:34 pm Hi all...
Just a quick hello from sunny Bristol
For any of you out there like me..'Tiny'..and struggle with big adventure bikes then I purchased a triumph tiger 900gt LOW in july and it's the best bike I've owned so far....I find the seat height and weight spot on....cant wait to take it abroad..'hopefully in April'
Hope this may be of use to someone..! Cheers.

Go on then... How little?
I'm 5'6" with a 29" inside leg. Standard height GS Adventure, with a low seat, and a standard height CCM 450. It amuses me when what I consider to be tall folks say they need a low bike. It helps to keep your hips flexible too

I've always thought that many women and shorter men are very short-changed by the bike manufacturing industry. Lots of road bikes don't really need loads of ground clearance so why do they have 850+mm high seats? Many ADV bikes aren't ridden in sufficient anger on the road, nor are they capable enough off-road, to have need of ultra-long travel suspension and tall seat heights.

There are a hell of a lot of things I would change about myself, given the chance of a 'redesign', but my height - at 5'11 - is just perfect I think, especially for motorbikes, nearly all of which I manage to fit on to pretty well. I feel lucky in this respect, but really sorry for those beneath 5'4 or over 6'3, who are severely limited to what they can comfortably ride. There really should be far more adjustability.

Beta has been impressive on this recently. It's enduro 'RR' range has always had a very slightly lower seat height then the equivalent KTM, but since 2020 they have offered a factory option of a lowered bike. Not just shorter rear shock linkage, but the whole thing. They take length out of the front end, the rear shock and the seat height, to produce a proper full-on enduro bike that shorter people can ride and have some sort of chance of getting their foot down when they stop. It's a fairly low-cost option when you order the bike.

Not being able to touch the floor teaches you to ride better instead of paddling.
Welcome.

I did the off-road level 1 course in Wales and there was a very short red haired lady instructor there. I don’t know her name as I wasn’t with her group. She rode a 1200 GS.

To move off she fired the bike up, clutch in, first gear, left foot on the peg and accelerated away, swinging up and over as you would pushing off a push bike.

To stop she just slowed down, swung off onto one peg and as she braked she popped out the stand. Cracking woman.

None of the instructors used the clutch to stop, they just stalled in first, so giving themselves a handbrake.

I am 5' 7" but legs less than 29". learning some skills especially the low speed stuff will be a massive help for the shorter rider and everyone else for that matter, and safer too for your lower legs and the rest of you. In 13 years I have dropped my big girl quite a few times unable to reach the ground in any meaningfull way. Early in those 13 years I also used to try and hoon around on enduro bikes often with much better riders than myself a slow learning enviroment for me, always just trying to stay on and keep up with the roost in front, usually good fun none the less. Tried the ridiculous idea of riding my long time owned GS12 Fatlady on the trail very easy to start and progressively tougher stuff realized early on that there is little chance I can save it with a dab, but amazed myself how much I enjoyed it. Anyway point is Generally I rode on my own much slower much more in my own comfort zone, which gave myself time to think about what I was doing , and I seemed to have learnt a bit, a wobbler like me can do it so can most others. Unfortunately there are predicements when short legs will fail you no matter what, so the shorter the bike you can get away with for your purpose the better is my conclusion. The example above is all well and good and it looks cool too but not all stops and starts are planned, at these times us Shorties have to be gratefull for not having to bend down so far to pick the t**ting thing up. For stopping and starting save you a trip to BM school the guy is a joy to watch anyway

Also from Bristol vertically challenged. 5 ft 6 29 inside leg.
And
Hopefully Overseas in April as well! )

Morning all..
Thanks everyone for the response to my intro and first topic...
A few have asked..'how tiny'
Well...believe it or not flat footed i'm 5'3'' and my inside leg is 27'' and I can get both feet down and manoeuvre it around no probs..
I believe the lowest seat height of the LOW version is 760mm....oh and by the way I'm no big built guy so if any ladies my size have been considering such a bike I'd recommend taking a test ride..'you'll be very surprised'