Short inseam concerns

[Doc4216]

I'm 5'7" and I at first this bike was going to be way too tall and too heavy for me. After about 4 months of ownership, I am completely comfortable with only the balls of my feet touching or doing the awesome side slide and standing flat footed on my left foot. You can always try different seats or having it lowered but that brings other issues up. Good luck and let us know how it works out for you.

 

[Steel_Gin]

I am 5'8" and 28" inseam and been riding my FJR for two years. I stand on the balls of my feet with a Russell Day Long seat and I am fine. The RDL increased the height a little when it was new, but now that it's broken in I think the height is very close to OEM. I do have to move forward just a little when stopping because of the wings which is no big deal at all; the wings kind of pushes me forward anyway when I put my feet down. When stopping plan ahead as best you can, don't rush when moving it around and you will be fine.

It doesn't matter how tall you are, if your foot slides on some small stones or step in a pot hole (didn't happen on the FJR) it's going down.

Welcome and enjoy your new ride!!

 

[fastpappy]

29" inseam for me also. Corbin seat and 7/8" Kouba links, slid the forks 1/2". The only performance issue I've noticed is when two up we seem to overpower the stock shock on speed bumps. We're healthy.

 

[vtwinn]

5'4" and 29" here too.

I have the Soupy's links for the rear and Highly recommend them! Much better since they are infinitely adjustable and can be used to raise or lower the rear.

They are turnbuckle style and you can adjust them with a 3/4 wrench with the bike on the center stand.

 

[LKLD]

5'7" on a 2013. Instead of adapting the bike to me, I adapted myself to the bike. One drop early on (garage), and all good from there on. I currently have 8,300 miles with one trip to the Smokies and the rest in Fl. I feel very comfortable on, but aware of possible footing issues, and I avoid dicey situations. All the best!

 

[Simo]

Thanks guys. Appreciate your input.

John

 

[mcerick]

I'm 6'2" tall but have a short inseam , 30". I weigh around 260 so handling the bike is fairly easy. Have to be real careful when stopping as I can't get completely flat footed even with my 2013 seat at the lower position. Putting one foot out and landing on sand or gravel has almost caused me to lay the bike over twice. Dam my short legs!

 

[trapperdick]

I just sold a 2010 Goldwing because it was to heavy for my 70 yr old legs. I bought a 2013 FJR two days ago. I have 280 mi on it . At first it was pretty tall, but the difference in weight more than made up for it. I have soupys adj links ordered, but I'm not sure how much I'm going to lower it, probably not much. I will raise the handlebars though..hope this helps...TD

 

[kballowe]

OK.

Corbin seat arrived and installed. It's about the same height for me as the factory seat. It's hard. I knew it would be. But, after about 500 miles... I can say that it's much more comfortable that the OEM seat. The front is higher and the rear is lower - and the center is contoured lower in such a way that doesn't wear on the you-know-what.

Installed the Motorcycle Larry riser blocks. They're an inch higher and a little back, and changes the angle of the bars for the better. It also allowed me to drop the fork tubes in the triple tree by an inch.

Installed Soupy's links on the rear. Adjusted them to approximately 1" lower.

Sooooo - Corbin seat (no difference in height), 1" riser blocks (arm comfort) Soupy's rear links (dropped 1") and dropped front fork tubes 1".

Not quite flat footed, but I can stretch a fuzz and get them flat on the ground.... while wearing heavy soled boots.

BIG difference.

Bike seems to handle about the same. Of course, I haven't had it into any panic corners yet. I'm interested to see what will drag first.

BTW: on the Soupy's links...... They arrived with 10MM holes (0.400). The bolts on my 2012 FJR are 0.470 diameter.

I emailed Soupy, and they told me to "drill them out" so that they would fit.

I'm told that some of the Yamaha bolts are fatter than others, and they don't know why.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Why does everyone want to be "flat footed?" What's the magic with that. Every bike I've ever ridden, except cruisers puts me on the balls of my feet; IF I have to put both feet down. Don't most of you hold the bike up with one leg at a time most of the time?? The bike's not that tall. It just takes some getting used to.

 

[kballowe]

OK, well I spent a couple days running the twisties.

Make sure that you set the suspension just a fuzz on the hard side.... or you'll be hitting the center stand mounting area.

I found this out while in a hard left and a light dip in the road surface.

The suspension was adjusted on the "soft" settings, so cranked it up much heavier. That appeared to solve the problem.

If you're a crazy rider, then you should probably not lower this bike.

THAT being said ...... I'm very happy with the bike in it's current configuration (1" lower - front & back). Ran a couple gravel roads and crossed a couple of creeks.

Works well, at least for an FJR.

Did several hundred interstate miles and was surprised how well it "tours"... hahahahahahahaha.

 

[luvtoride]

5'9" ?!

There's not much I wouldn't do for another couple of inches.

I'm 5' 4.5", i wear WP BMW boots withOUT sole or heels built up, and I've put 46,500 miles on my FJR since 2008 - from Canuckistan where we can ride only 6 or 7 months a year

Yeah, I've dropped it a few times. But who hasn't ?

Traditionally, woman have longer legs then a man of the same height. The man will traditionally have a longer torso than a woman... so, I hear, anyhow. I'm 5'-8" & sport a 32" inseam. I'm not going to be any help with suggestions. I flatfoot fine... not a whole lot of extra leg length to spare... but I do flatfoot.

 

[RichDoyle]

I'm kind of lucky with respect to taller bikes. Even though I'm only 5'10" with a 32" inseam, the overall reality of my anatomy is such that I can flatfoot with my feet well out from the bike, as well as fore and aft of a direct downward direction. If the best I could do was touch the balls of my feet down I couldn't back it out of my carport, since the driveway is gravel. And then there's that case where you back the bike out of a kind of steep driveway that intersects a street with a substantial crown. There's that area where the pavement below the seat is much farther away than normal. In fact, more leeway on any any uneven surface is an advantage when shlepping the bike in various ways at zero-ish speeds. Of course, while riding merrily along, none of this matters.

 

[weekend rider]

Just learn how to ride being vertically impaired .

 

[AKjitsu]

Why does everyone want to be "flat footed?" What's the magic with that. Every bike I've ever ridden, except cruisers puts me on the balls of my feet; IF I have to put both feet down. Don't most of you hold the bike up with one leg at a time most of the time?? The bike's not that tall. It just takes some getting used to.

Agreed. The availability of being able to "flat foot" a bike while stopped is way, way overrated. You keep the bike upright with small nudges of the clutch and throttle, not with your legs. If you try to hold a 600+ pound motorcycle up with your legs, your gonna lose.

 

[colorocket]

just a couple cents to add: make sure your seat has been adjusted to the lower position, rather than the higher position. also, invest in good traction boots so when you put down your left foot, it doesn't slip and slide, which can trigger a "you know what". the long wearing rubber soles of my harley boots have served me well for a few years now. when i've worn my office/work shoes, i don't feel as secure, so i wear my harley boots on the ride to work and change into my dress shoes for work.

 

[Krell]

I'm 5'9" with a 30" inseam. I can't flat foot the bike in the lower seat position. When I bought my 08 I thought that was going to be a concern but it was n't. In fact I ride most of the time with the seat in the higher position for slightly more leg room to the pegs.

I like others here just tip toe or slide off to one side at stops. I usually slide off to the left so I can keep my right foot on the rear brake. It's really not a big deal. You just get used to it.

Have I ever dropped it? Yes once but even if I could flat foot it I probably would have gone down any way. Leaving the dealer (can you say embarrassing!) no less.

Coleman Powersports in Falls Church VA was having a demo day and it was a zoo. I came to try out a Ducati Panigale but decided I would rather ride then wait in line all day. I decided to leave but the drive way was blocked by a cager chit chatting with some one at the event. So I decided to go off road so to speak and go around them and down a curb. I slipped the clutch and the front wheel went over the curb then I cracked the throttle and ... She stalls. Not enough momentum for the rear wheel to follow and now both feet are like 8" off the ground. By the time my right foot touched down it was a for gone conclusion that I was going to drop this pig. All I could do was ease it down but down it went.

I don't even think any noticed as I picked up the bike, assessed the damage, a few scratches to one pannier, and proceeded to ride off. Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I couldn't hear the laughter for my ear plugs anyway.

 

[PhilJet09]

Just learn how to ride being vertically impaired .

Yep, that's what I did being 5'3".

 

[gixxerjasen]

Wish I still had the picture. When I started riding off road, I thought my inseam and seat height would be a concern. I did have difficulty trying to dab and keep the bike balanced moving slow and stopped. I hit my local trails and got comfortable with the off road thing and was so excited to hit up the first big meet of the KTMTalk group near where I live. People came in from all over to ride.

Anyway, there was this short little dude there who made me feel like a freaking giant. He had his new KTM there and while he admitted he'd done a few height mods to his old one, he was going to leave his new one alone. When he stood next to his bike I swear the seat was a few inches below his armpits. When time came to ride, he climbed on, hit the starter button, pulled away and popped the kickstand up. This guy was easily one of the best riders out there. Since he could dab and stop and look and stand around, the guy just rode through the gnarlyest stuff on the trails...because he had to. Some serious motivation there for those of us who thought we were inseam challenged. It's all about adapting, developing your skills and overcoming what might be perceived as a challenge.

 

[FJR Bill]

Jasen,

A very good point and it's a great example. I've been adjusting to my limitations (physical/mental) my entire life and somehow have survived by doing that. But everybody is different and physical conditions like arthritic knees, weak legs, short legs, old age, etc narrows how much one can adjust. For me at 66 suffering from all of the above, I've adjusted to the FJR becuase I love the machine. Hain't dropped it yet.

Having said that the FJR and any other tall, heavy bike might not be for everyone, thus the discussion and I can see why a buyer might go to something else. You should see me on my humble 250cc Ninjette. Confidence like you wouldn't believe...Turn around on a narrow rutted dirt road, no problem with feet on the pegs. FJR, I'm doing little baby steps to do the same thing.

Met an older rider on a trike. He smoked the roads like a pro. I asked him, "Why are you riding a trike?" Answer, "My knees won't hold up a bike anymore so I chose a 3 wheeler". That's another example of adjusting to the situation and riding on.

Best wishes, Bill