Both feet on the ground?

[motorbike.ventures]

Hi, I'm new to the forum (and not used to the lingo yet, though I must say I love it :) ), so Im not sure if I'm posting this in the right forum but...

I'm a chick and I am short. And I do offroad riding, just started. And my feet don't touch the ground. The boys ride circles around me while I keep falling. Keeping in mind I don't have that much motorcycling experience in general, how much would it help me to have both feet 2 cm closer to the ground?

I am thinking of changeing my wheels for some smaller ones, but the difference will be about 2 cm, which is not much I dont think. And it will cost lots of cash and I'm wondering how much it will be worth it. When my skill improves and I become stronger won't it matter less how much my feet touch the ground? (the boys I ride with seem to think this is the reason I am falling all the time. However I notice that at the end of our trips when I am more tired I fall more and more)

Ok, long post, would love thoughts, thanks :)

[scarysharkface]

While there is something nice about being able to touch with both feet, I know of some excellent off-road riders who can't even come close to doing that on their bikes..

Welcome to the joint, by the way!

John

[motorbike.ventures]

Thanks John,

Yeah, I think I should save my money and just start working out more! We are planning a trip in August/September to Albania or the Balkans, and I want to be able to keep up with the boys. I must say I'm glad I found this forum, I think I will learn lots! :)

[PacWestGS]

Forget about thinking of getting both feet on the ground and start thinking about which foot you are going to get on the ground firmly.

You have to move your butt off the seat in the direction of the fall or the uphill side and plant the best foot forward.

Welcome to the asylum, you posted in the right place...

P.S. In the mean time lower the pre-load on the rear shock and raise the fork tubes in the triple-clamp to lower the bike some. That's free...

[Skyclad]

If you really want to get a bit closer to the ground, I would recommend lowering the seat. It isn't all that difficult to cut out some of the foam and put the cover back on.

On the plus side, you are not losing ground clearance and it would be a lot cheaper than buying new wheels. You could also do a bit of shaping on the seat while you are lowering it (ie. narrowing the front a bit) to make it easier to reach the ground.

On the down side, you would lose a bit of padding for your butt. Then again, your should be spending lots of time on your feet anyway when playing in the dirt, so the effects of padding lost would be minimized.

Good luck, have fun and welcome to the asylum.

[bill pierce]

Welcome,

I love to see girls willing to dive into the sport.

Don't worry about not being able to touch the ground. The clearance and suspension travel is much more important. Hang in there and practice. I had a CR500 Honda that I had to stand on a hill to be able to start, once you are rolling it's not a problem, rather an advantage.

[motorbike.ventures]

Thanks guys :)
We bought a new seat that was lower than the one the bike game with (not an original) I have to apologize, my english vocabular on bikes is very limited as I hang with czech riders, but we did the fork tubes and we actually took out this one bone looking part and made it shorter which lowered the bike a few cm

Yeah, and hills rock, especially since I have a kick starter, it helps! I had to get a kick starter, but dang they are so much fun :)

Thanks for the tips guys!

[anonny]

How about a lowering link? Reality is I can't touch on my dirt bike amd barely on my GS1200 but after many years of ridding "too tall" dirtbikes I just got used to it.

http://www.carlscycle.com/eshopitems...580.Suzuki.htm

[kodiakfrank]

Have your riding boots resoled a little taller.

[weems]

When I took the Rawhyde course in California, there was a woman teacher who was pretty short. The seat of her bike was about chest level on her, and she would mount and dismount while in motion--putting one foot on the peg and swinging the leg over as the bike acclerated and decelerated. Amazing!

She told me that the secret was trials riding, and she showed us some film. I think you can do similar stuff with a mountain bike on a trail, or over obstacles. She said the secret to THAT secret was learning how to balance at extreme low speed, or even stopped. We applied it a lot in the course.

Now, with my GS, when I go to a stop sign, I try to stay upright as long as I can without putting feet down. When I do put feet down, I try to only put one. It helps when I plan ahead as well--for example, putting the uphill foot down, not the downhill foot.

It's really impressive that you are comfortable about falling, and reasonable about minimizing it.

Will you marry me?

[Monkey_Boy]

Originally Posted by weems

Will you marry me?

Hey, cool it!

She's not a sex object, she's one of us.

[motorbike.ventures]

Hehehe he :) I really can't imagine riding a dirt bike with the fear falling, no fun at all! Plus the ground is so much softer than asphalt and you have all that extra gear... Plus Im a bit of a masochist :mrgreen:

But I will definately try more balancing when I am going super slow and/or stopped.

Also, we did the lowering link... it was a lot of work and I didn't notice a difference, but I only road once or twice before we lowered it. I say, if there are short people out there that can ride without both feet on the ground, then darnit I can do it too! :)

Thanks again guys for the tips! :)

[viverrid]

Originally Posted by motorbike.ventures

Thanks again guys for the tips! :)

Hey, Czech Republic!

We are maybe going to visit Prague in September, is that a good season to visit? (Not going to be riding though.)

Ride a bit more before you commit to lowering. When I bought my first modern (high) bike, I thought is was really high, but after 500 miles I was okay with it and never lowered it.

[Jet Jaguar]

A thread like this isn't complete without the obligatory pics of Gaston Rahier, the shortest winner of the Dakar Rally. He was 5'2" and raced on bikes with 40"+ seat heights.

Originally Posted by weems

When I took the Rawhyde course in California, there was a woman teacher who was pretty short. The seat of her bike was about chest level on her, and she would mount and dismount while in motion--putting one foot on the peg and swinging the leg over as the bike acclerated and decelerated. Amazing!

Cowboy style, that's how Rahier did it too:

[Strong Bad]

Originally Posted by Jet Jaguar

A thread like this isn't complete without the obligatory pics of Gaston Rahier, the shortest winner of the Dakar Rally. He was 5'2" and raced on bikes with 40"+ seat heights.

Being able to touch the ground is only good for when you are stopped, otherwise you really don't need to. From this pic it doesn't look like any of these guys can touch while sitting.