My last post ended with me needing to find a 250F. After much online research and going to different dealers to sit on the different offerings out there, I decided on a CRF250R. The reviews were great and the ergonomics were the most suited to me. So, in February of 2005, I purchased the 2005 model and my husband and set about trying to make it fit me better. In stock form, I couldn't even touch on tip toes.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm only 5'3", with a 29" inseam. We had originally thought that I'd never be able to ride a full size bike, but the popularity of supermoto helped me out there. Riders were having their suspension lowered to help improve the performance of the bike on the pavement and suspension companies began to offer the modifications to the public. So, after more online research, we sent it off to guy named Ed, the owner of Trackside Engineering. After conferring back and forth over email, we decided to lower my suspension by 1.75" front and rear. Based upon my weight and riding style, we figured we could cut out that much of the suspension without having to worrying about bottoming out. In addition to lowering the supsension, I also had the forks and shock revalved to better suit my weight and riding style. I was VERY pleased with the results. (I would highly recommend Trackside Engineering, but, unfortunately, Ed sold the business and reviews have been less than stellar on the new owner.) With the bike lowered, I could solidly touch on tip toes when wearing my riding boots, could lean it over a bit a be able to kick start it, and as an added bonus, the re-valved suspension soaked up hits both big and small. My husband then cut down the seat foam to bring down the seat height even more.
At this point, the bike was ridable. I rode it for a while in this configuration, but still didn't feel like I could dab as well as I would like, particularly when making really tight turns on a track or harescramble course or when trail riding. I'm not the most flexible person, so I also had problems kicking my leg over the bike. The last thing left to try was lowering my subframe. The problem was that the subframes on the newer bikes are aluminum, so cutting the subframe and rewelding it is far more tricky than with a steel subframe. My husband can weld steel, but not aluminum and we really didn't want to pay someone $200 to weld it and then have to hope that the welding process didn't make the metal brittle. At that point, my husband decided to put his engineering degree to work and he designed a CNC-machined link that allowed us to cut the subframe without having the weld it. The link slots into the shortened subframe and is bolted into place. The end of the link is shaped to align the subframe properly and to allow the subframe to be attached at the stock location with the stock hardware. My husband machined a set of links and installed them, lowering the middle and rear of my seat about 1.5". I kicked my leg over and was amazed. The first thing I noticed was that it was a lot easier to kick my leg over since I wasn't at full stretch to clear the rear of the seat. Then I realized that I could solidly touch the balls of BOTH of my feet. I no longer felt like the bike was going to tip over if I overbalanced just a bit because I could use my leg strength a lot better with a sturdy base. We went out to the track and I rode with a new confidence because I knew I could catch the bike if I started to go over in a turn a lot easier than I could previously. I also found an unexpected benefit to lowering the subframe. It brought the seat closer to the footpegs, making the "cockpit" ergonomics even better for me. The lowered seat height is even more beneficial when we go trail riding. There are several trails I wouldn't have made it up without being able to plant a foot to stabilize myself.
So, with cut seat foam, lowered subframe, and lowered suspension, we were able to get a CRF250R to fit me.
So, now it's time for a shameless plug. My husband decided that other people might be interested in the lowering link and thus started a business name SpeedMetal Designs to sell them. You can get more info on the links and see what models they are available for at http://www.speedmetaldesigns.com/.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Making a Full Size Bike Fit - Part I
In my post below, I talked about my quest to find a good bike with a low seat height. I ended up with a GasGas Pampera 280. I loved it for riding trails, but I wanted something with more pop (for riding sand dunes) and better suspension (for the track). I really liked my CR85R, so we decided to try a CR125. My husband found a really good deal on a nice 2002 CR125 and surprised me with it. Since I can't even come close to touching on a stock 125, we installed a kouba link on it and lowered the triple clamps as far as we could down the fork tubes. The pro of this configuration were that I could now actually touch with both tip toes or, if I slid over on the seat, I could just about touch with the ball of one foot. The cons were that the bike felt a little tilted upwards because we couldn't adjust the forks enough the really balance the lowering of the rear end and that the link changed the handling characteristics of the bike. The changing of the handling characteristics is not necessarily a bad thing, if the change suits your riding style. My husband installed a kouba link on an Aprilia RXV450 to lower it and really preferred the new suspension characteristics.
The CR125 is an absolute blast to ride at the dunes. It revs quickly and it is a fun challenge to keep it on the pipe. However, I never felt comfortable on track or trail with the 125, so it has been confined to a dunes bike, where peaky power is fine and you don't really need to be able to turn on a dime, and I ended up keeping the GasGas. So, now I had a great trail bike and a great dunes bike, but still nothing great for the track. At the time, we did very little track riding, so running a less than ideal bike on those rare occasions wasn't a big deal.
Eventually, though, my husband got interested in riding hare scrambles and as a result, we started riding the track more often. He then got a CRF450R and his brother got a KX500 and the little CR125 just didn't have enough power to keep up with them on the sand dunes. I needed a 250F. And I needed to be able to modify it so I could touch the ground without affecting its handling. Part II of this post will describe how we did this.
The CR125 is an absolute blast to ride at the dunes. It revs quickly and it is a fun challenge to keep it on the pipe. However, I never felt comfortable on track or trail with the 125, so it has been confined to a dunes bike, where peaky power is fine and you don't really need to be able to turn on a dime, and I ended up keeping the GasGas. So, now I had a great trail bike and a great dunes bike, but still nothing great for the track. At the time, we did very little track riding, so running a less than ideal bike on those rare occasions wasn't a big deal.
Eventually, though, my husband got interested in riding hare scrambles and as a result, we started riding the track more often. He then got a CRF450R and his brother got a KX500 and the little CR125 just didn't have enough power to keep up with them on the sand dunes. I needed a 250F. And I needed to be able to modify it so I could touch the ground without affecting its handling. Part II of this post will describe how we did this.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Good Bikes For Short People
I had a heck of a time figuring out what bike to get. I needed to find a bike that I could actually touch the ground on, and that would work for riding sand dunes, trails, and on the track. I searched online for suggestions for bikes for short people, but the only suggested "short person" bikes I could find were the Honda XR200, the Honda XR/CRF100F, or the Yamaha TTR125L. All are great bikes, but the XR200 was still too tall and too heavy for me, and the others wouldn't have been much fun on the sand dunes. However, if you don't have that immediate "need for speed", I think one of these bikes, or even a Honda XR/CRF 70, 80 or 100 would be a great bike to learn and gain confidece on, particularly if you are riding trails. The bikes are stable and you'll be able to dab. Perhaps even better, you can buy an older one, learn to ride on it, and, if you decide you either don't want to continue riding, or you want a different bike, you'll be able to sell it for most or all of what you bought it for.
However, since we do a lot of our riding on the sand dunes, my husband and I finally decided we wanted to find a smaller two stroke. We first looked at a KX110. The step-over height was about right, but the distance between the pegs and the seat is so short that I felt unstable when standing up (the seat hit at about the top of my calves). Eventually, we decided upon a 2003 CR85R Expert. The "Expert" designation merely means that it is the big wheel version (19" front and 16" rear). The CR85 is an amazing machine, weighing in at only around 150 lbs and packing plenty of horsepower. I had to learn throttle control early on, because you can definitely bring the front wheel up easily. As a matter of fact, the first time we had the bike out, my brother-in-law, who is actually a talented rider, managed to wheely straight off the back of it within 5 minutes! After that first trip, my husband decided to put a flywheel weight on it to tame the beast a bit. Even with the weight, you still had to apply a delicate touch because the front wheel would still come right up on you, but it wasn't so violent. As you might have already inferred, the CR85 is not a good bike if you are going to be scared easily (or maybe even scared at all). I've read several ads for them along the lines of, "Bought this bike for my wife. Scared her and she won't ride it again." But, if you like a constant shot of adrenaline, this is the bike for you. Great power and, perhaps even more importantly, great suspension and thus great handling. The one downside of this bike is that its quick power delivery makes it an unsuitable bike for a novice on twisty trails through the woods.
So, we started looking for a good woods bike. I really wanted a full size bike. We ultimately found a bike that few here in the US have heard of - the GasGas Pampera 280. GasGas is a Spanish brand that is best known for their trials bikes. There are several things that stand out about this bike. First, from the standpoint of this blog, is the low seat height. If I remember correctly, the 2004 and 2005 models had a seat height of only 30". With suspension compression, I could easily touch with my 29" inseam legs. Another great feature of this bike is the motor. The 280cc 2-stroke is from GasGas' trials bikes. Thus, it is a torque monster. It revs slowly, is very hard to stall, and provides great tractable power when you are inching around obstacles. Combined with amazing stability and this bike is possibly the ultimate trail bike for the shorter statured person. The bike is so wonderfully stable, when doing some trail riding in wet conditions on a trip down south, I think I actually had a easier time of it than my husband, who was (and still is) a far better rider than I am. The Pampera also features a wonderful Hebo hydraulic clutch, which provides for an incredibly soft clutch pull. Great for people with wussy hands like. It's so smooth and soft that people would pull it and think that it was broken. They were, of course, wrong. :) Finally, the Pampera 280 weighs in at a very light 200 lbs. I'm pretty sure that this is far lighter than any full size Japanese trail bike. That's important when picking the bike up after a fall. If you ride primarily trails, I'd highly recommend this bike. And, if you live in the Denver area, I'd highly recommend talking to Martha or Flint at Pro Motosports. They are an authorized GasGas dealer and provide wonderful customer service.
Well, that's the rundown on my first bikes and the bikes with shorter seat heights that I am familiar with. I hope someone out there finds some useful information here. Feel free to leave me a comment asking questions.
However, since we do a lot of our riding on the sand dunes, my husband and I finally decided we wanted to find a smaller two stroke. We first looked at a KX110. The step-over height was about right, but the distance between the pegs and the seat is so short that I felt unstable when standing up (the seat hit at about the top of my calves). Eventually, we decided upon a 2003 CR85R Expert. The "Expert" designation merely means that it is the big wheel version (19" front and 16" rear). The CR85 is an amazing machine, weighing in at only around 150 lbs and packing plenty of horsepower. I had to learn throttle control early on, because you can definitely bring the front wheel up easily. As a matter of fact, the first time we had the bike out, my brother-in-law, who is actually a talented rider, managed to wheely straight off the back of it within 5 minutes! After that first trip, my husband decided to put a flywheel weight on it to tame the beast a bit. Even with the weight, you still had to apply a delicate touch because the front wheel would still come right up on you, but it wasn't so violent. As you might have already inferred, the CR85 is not a good bike if you are going to be scared easily (or maybe even scared at all). I've read several ads for them along the lines of, "Bought this bike for my wife. Scared her and she won't ride it again." But, if you like a constant shot of adrenaline, this is the bike for you. Great power and, perhaps even more importantly, great suspension and thus great handling. The one downside of this bike is that its quick power delivery makes it an unsuitable bike for a novice on twisty trails through the woods.
So, we started looking for a good woods bike. I really wanted a full size bike. We ultimately found a bike that few here in the US have heard of - the GasGas Pampera 280. GasGas is a Spanish brand that is best known for their trials bikes. There are several things that stand out about this bike. First, from the standpoint of this blog, is the low seat height. If I remember correctly, the 2004 and 2005 models had a seat height of only 30". With suspension compression, I could easily touch with my 29" inseam legs. Another great feature of this bike is the motor. The 280cc 2-stroke is from GasGas' trials bikes. Thus, it is a torque monster. It revs slowly, is very hard to stall, and provides great tractable power when you are inching around obstacles. Combined with amazing stability and this bike is possibly the ultimate trail bike for the shorter statured person. The bike is so wonderfully stable, when doing some trail riding in wet conditions on a trip down south, I think I actually had a easier time of it than my husband, who was (and still is) a far better rider than I am. The Pampera also features a wonderful Hebo hydraulic clutch, which provides for an incredibly soft clutch pull. Great for people with wussy hands like. It's so smooth and soft that people would pull it and think that it was broken. They were, of course, wrong. :) Finally, the Pampera 280 weighs in at a very light 200 lbs. I'm pretty sure that this is far lighter than any full size Japanese trail bike. That's important when picking the bike up after a fall. If you ride primarily trails, I'd highly recommend this bike. And, if you live in the Denver area, I'd highly recommend talking to Martha or Flint at Pro Motosports. They are an authorized GasGas dealer and provide wonderful customer service.
Well, that's the rundown on my first bikes and the bikes with shorter seat heights that I am familiar with. I hope someone out there finds some useful information here. Feel free to leave me a comment asking questions.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
A Few Suggestions For Getting Started
When you first get started, you might not want to spend too much money until you are sure you enjoy dirt bike riding. The first thing I'd suggest is buying a used bike. I've seen a lot of ads for dirt bikes along the lines of "only ridden once by my wife". A new bike drops in value at least a few hundred dollars (if not 1k or mroe on a more expensive bike) as soon as it is purchased. Even if you can get someone to pay full price for it, you'll never get tax and any dealer fees back. With a used bike, if you sell it relatively soon after buying it, and you didn't damage it while riding it, you should be able to sell it for what you payed for it, or pretty darn close to it.
If you are inclined to buy riding gear, I'd suggest holding off, other than a helmet, until you are sure you are going to stick with it. (A good helmet is an absolute must.) I know several people who have been riding for years, and still ride in what I'd suggest for your intial outing - long sleeve shirt, long pants, sturdy shoes (hiking boots, work boots or Dr. Martins are some good options), gloves, and the afore-mentioned helmet. Again, you don't want to spend a lot of money on gear and then decide that you just don't like riding.
When you head out for your first rides, you'll be more likely to enjoy it if you can ride at your own pace. Basically, you don't want your first ride(s) to be with a whole group of fast riders. If you're anything like me, you'll either spend your time worried or embarassed about slowing down the group, or you'll end up going too fast for your skill level. Try to go out in a small group, preferably just you and the person teaching you to ride. If you do end up with a group, you might suggest that the others go do their own thing while your spouse, significant other, or friend rides with you at your pace.
If you are inclined to buy riding gear, I'd suggest holding off, other than a helmet, until you are sure you are going to stick with it. (A good helmet is an absolute must.) I know several people who have been riding for years, and still ride in what I'd suggest for your intial outing - long sleeve shirt, long pants, sturdy shoes (hiking boots, work boots or Dr. Martins are some good options), gloves, and the afore-mentioned helmet. Again, you don't want to spend a lot of money on gear and then decide that you just don't like riding.
When you head out for your first rides, you'll be more likely to enjoy it if you can ride at your own pace. Basically, you don't want your first ride(s) to be with a whole group of fast riders. If you're anything like me, you'll either spend your time worried or embarassed about slowing down the group, or you'll end up going too fast for your skill level. Try to go out in a small group, preferably just you and the person teaching you to ride. If you do end up with a group, you might suggest that the others go do their own thing while your spouse, significant other, or friend rides with you at your pace.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Why I Created This Blog
So, why did I decide to start this blog? My husband, James, got me into dirt biking about 4.5 years ago, just before my 29th birthday. As the name of this blog implies, I have not been blessed with even average height. I'm somewhere between 5'2" and 5'3", with a 29" inseam. The issue with that became immediately evident the first time I threw a leg over my husband's bike at the time, a 2002 Yamaha WR250F. For starters, I could barely even get my leg over the seat. When I finally managed to fight my way onto the seat, I was dismayed to discover that, even with the bike leaning over on its kickstand, I could only barely touch the ground with the very tip of my left toe. Thus began the search for a bike that I could actually touch the ground on. I scoured the web looking for a good suggestion for a bike for a short girl, and could find very few. Having gone through a number of bikes and having watched friends and relatives get into the sport, I thought I'd share a few of the things that I've learned. I hope someone out there finds this useful.
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