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I am 21 years only 9 stone and 5"3 what bike should i buy

by naomi
(cheshire)

I have had a bike before but only with doing my CBT now that it has been a few years off the bike i am retaking my CBT and starting my lessons this month... I want to buy a bike in the next 3 months but dont know what i will be able to handle can you please help...
Thanks

Comments for I am 21 years only 9 stone and 5"3 what bike should i buy

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Sep 18, 2011

bike lowering
by: Anonymous

I posted this on another question but it is relevant sorry for the double post.

Honda CBR250 will work well mine is lowered, but a bit expensive to do. You should lower the front even with the back if you do it otherwise you change the whole dynamics of the bike. You are looking at lowering the bike 2 inches for what you want to do. Your going to add 600 dollars to the cost of the CBR250 just to lower it that is including the parts and labor to install. I'm not sure of a kit that will lower the ninja for the front and the back. You will also need to have the kickstand lowered at the same time when you drop it down. The kit for the CBR is from krooztune and they are in Australia. there is a really good site http://cycle-ergo.com/ where you plug in the bike and your measurement and it will let you see how you are on the bike with and without lowering. I hope this helps any questions my husband can answer for you his email is Matt71579@gmail.com he said he would be happy to help answer any questions.

Sep 03, 2011

I agree - smaller and lighter to start
by: Jane

Several issues have been identified that I totally agree with. You need to decide what type of riding you want to do - that will influence the type of bike you purchase. Will you go on long cruises on the M roads, or commute in a city, or ride country lanes?

You need to sit on bikes to see which ones will fit you - your inseam is what counts here. I'm 5'6" but my inseam is only 28" and that is the limiting factor for me. Some bikes have wider seats which take up some of the inseam, so knowing the seat height from the ground isn't enough. You really have to sit on them to see if it works for you.

I also feel that a lighter, lower cc bike is easier to manage when starting out and easier to pick up if it is dropped.

You might consider a Yamaha XT250 (or I believe it might be called a Serow in Britain) dual sport if you are interested in riding some of the back lanes/country tracks that Britain has and I'm so envious of. Here's a website for owners that features rides in Britain (and elsewhere) so you can see what I mean.

http://www.xt225.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm

Although the listed seat height of the XT250 is greater than that of a Kawasaki Ninja 250 sport bike, I found that the wider seat width of the Ninja meant that the XT250 fit me better than the Ninja.

Some bikes can be lowered (the shock absorber linkage can be changed) but that can change the bike's handling. It is better to find a bike that fits you unmodified if you can.

Good luck with you search and have fun.

Sep 03, 2011

Judy hit the nail on the head
by: Martinique

Judy could not have said it better, and I completely "ditto" all of her remarks. Stick with a smaller, lighter bike, you're skills will develop faster, and a year from now you won't be scared of your bike still. :-)

Sep 03, 2011

Well I had to look up what "stone" was...
by: Judy

Apparently that converts to you weighing 126 pounds.
Height and weight are fairly UNIMPORTANT. What actually IS important is your inseam (leg) length from the bottom of your feet to the top of your crotch, and your overall strength. The inseam length will greatly help determine what seat height on a bike will be comfortable for you and allow you to sit on it with at least one foot flat on the ground. That is important for confidence with low speed maneuvering and being stopped. Your strength will help determine how well you can "muscle" a bike around too.
Many women that have short legs and inseam lengths gravitate toward the "Cruiser" (Harley & Harley clone type) bikes due to their very low seat heights. However, these type of bikes are quite heavy, and their fork rake (angle) make for slower steering response at low speeds, so those two factors can make them more difficult to learn on. I read over and over again on here and many other sites about petite women having more difficulty learning due to buying a very large, heavy Cruiser style bike to learn on.
I believe the best type of bike to learn on is a "standard" style or a small, street legal on/off road bike. The are light and very easy to maneuver which can allow for a lot more confidence, along with responsiveness without so much power to scare yourself. A good example of a "standard" is the new Suzuki TU250. It looks like a bike from the 1970s with very neutral seat, handlebar and foot peg arrangements.

What kind of riding to you anticipate doing after you learn? Commuting to work? Touring? Twisty road canyon carving on a sport bike? The best thing would be to sit on many different types and models of USED bikes. Most used starter bikes can be bought inexpensively and resold later for near what you paid. A good example is the Kawasaki Ninja 250, a very popular starter bike. Although it looks like a sport bike, it has 1970's style conventional handlebars, and neutral seating and foot pegs, instead of the low clip-on handlebars and high, rear set foot pegs like most sport bikes have. It is a very "forgiving" bike that won't scare you.

Again, sit on as many types and models of bikes you can to find several that fit you well and you feel very comfortable on. DO NOT under any circumstance try to start with a very fast SuperSport bike like a GSXR600, R6, CBR600RR or Ninja 636, nor should you start with a huge, heavy Cruiser style unless it is a 500cc or below. It's much more difficult to learn properly and fully develop skills with a bike that is difficult to maneuver at slow speeds because of its weight, or in the case of a Supersport, because it is SO unforgiving with it's hair-trigger responsiveness to chassis, braking and throttle input, which can at best scare you, and at worst, remove you from this earth.

Good luck with your quest, I hope to hear you have fun and progress well.

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