Advice for short riders please

[Niccihallas]

Hi everyone. As a small female (5ft 3 and 65 kgs), I can only get one foot down properly which is fine on my little SV650S. I'm a novice rider and a while ago, I was riding with my dad. His bike got a puncture and although id never had anyone on the back, I needed to give him a lift home. Dad probably weighs twice my weight, but apart from being a little wobbly on the slow stuff, it was fine. So, yesterday my daughter wanted to come out for a little whizz around, I couldn't see a problem, however, I had to make an unscheduled stop due to some twat driving his car at me, traveling the wrong way down a road. I put my left foot down, but as I had to lean the bike over a little to plant, the added weight (around 70 kgs) of my daughter on the back was just too much for my one leg to hold the bike up - oops! No damage done, now it leaves me wondering how other vertically challenged riders do it? I'm guessing the extra weight of my dad pushed my bike lower, and so planting said foot was not a problem. My daughter's weight wasn't enough to do that which left me doing the usual of having to lean a little. My daughter wants to come out with me and so how can i do this safely? Is it just practice? Or is it just a case of its crazy to take someone on the back when u can't touch the floor properly and I shouldn't be trying?.........

[billinom8s]

There's a few options really.

Get the seat shaved(lowered)
Soften the Suspension
Lower the Suspension
If all that fails

Platform boots.

[Jug]

Move to that side before putting your foot down.
Literally hanging one cheek off the seat on the side your going to place your foot can give you that extra bit you need.

[Streetmann]

I'm only a short guy and in the past I have used dog bones to lower shaved my seat dropped the suspension. I find now after years of riding once you got the bike balance it doesnt matter how tall the bike is you learn best ways ie slowing down instead of stopping if you stop as jug inspector said slight slide to the left or dare I say find a bike that fits or as billinom8s said get the bike set to fit you

[Niccihallas]

Thanks, guys for all your advice. The bike has been lowered and I've had thicker soles put on my boots. Ill practice the ass off technique but ill get it down before I take my daughter out again. Phew, I thought I might be hit with cross comments about I shouldn't take anyone on the back if I can't put my feet down properly. Hope you all have a wonderful day x

[banditman]

I’m a short guy too
I would be careful leaning bike over when u stop with pillion cos there weight will transfer for you to hold up
I would put both feet down and keep bike upright even if your only on your toes weight should be easier to hold.

[Ming]

I gave up taking my wife as pillion as the extra weight high up meant I struggled to hold the bike and us upright if we were on an incline or in really windy weather. Shame as she loved it.
I never felt comfortable unless I could get both feet down, but that's because I have balance issues. Hope you persevere with it

[TLS-Moose]

The bike itself makes a difference too.
Many bikes nowadays have separate seats for pillions anything up to 4"-6" higher than the rider, and bikes with clip-on type bars, pulling you forward over the tank which all helps de-stabilise your control of the bike and emphasise the extra weight.

[Red5]

No substitute for practice, practice, practice... You'll develop as you get use to the bike more and more. Consider lowering or getting the seat shaved off a bit too

[goatpants]

You can get lowering kits for most bikes now

[Woo636]

Hi Nicci

Some comments from another short arse stumpy legged lady! Live up in somerset but out on most rides with the riff raff listed above! Would be nice to say hi

I have to agree with all the great advice above, I can't totally comment on taking a pillion but as for the height of the bike and planting your feet I have found a combination of things to be the best.
I started out riding bikes that had to be massively lowered by having the seat sides shaved to make it more narrow, lowering kits and obviously starting with a lower bike in the first instance, but with more confidence, practice and technique your bike size will increase in time and will help with taking a pillion.

[Niccihallas]

Hi, be nice to meet you. I absolutely adore my bike and after a few months of riding every day, I find it fits me beautifully. I practice my stops as I know it's my weak spot by riding home right through the center of Exeter in the hope ill hit loads of red lights. Weirdly, I never really do when I'm going home. When I'm going to work, I seem to hit them all! Got it down well so was happy. When I gave my dad a lift, the only issue was a little bit of a wobble when going slow but I'm guessing that's just practice. So it was a shock when I took my daughter out and needed to stop but couldn't get both feet down. My dad is convinced that it is his fault as he is saying he's overtightened my chain which stops the bike from sitting down, however, there are conflicting comments. Hes going to loosen it for me and I've asked that we put my daughter on the back on Dad's really quiet road, so i can ride really slow and try stopping. I'll get dad to walk beside me until I know I'm good. Can't wait to meet you guys. I was a little worried that I might get a load of "you shouldn't be doing that, its unsafe blah blah blah, but you've all been wonderful x

[Jug]

Taking a pillion can be tricky but the only way to learn is to do it.
Also you are most likely to drop your bike at low speed or when stationery so honestly I wouldn't beat yourself up about it.

I'm impressed your happy to give it a try so soon.

Small stones can be tricky too, the amount of times my foot has slipped out when parking, leading to almost dropping my bike... Portland bill bike parking bay for example.

[ptolemyx]

I'm a little concerned your dad thinks he adjusted the chain so tight it compromised the suspension movement.

[Scotty]

Hi Nicci,
Something that an old girlfriend of mine from Wiltshire Bikers did years back was get a pair of Daytona Ladystar boots - they’re designed especially for the vertically-challenged female of the species and for her they made all the difference. She graduated from a lowered SV650S to an unmodified Street Triple and said that she couldn’t have done it without the confidence afforded by those boots. They aren’t cheap - I found hers for a good price 2nd hand, but they could be the only boots that you’ll need. Quite a few of the other girls on WB were impressed with her boots and bought them for themselves too.
As said by others (and acknowledged by yourself), there’s little substitute for practice and the confidence that comes with it. Sports bikes don’t help you in this situation; your posture is all wrong for low-speed balance and control with high seat and low bars (plus the aforementioned additional height of the pillion perch) - an upright bike is more manageable.
My wife (Chicky on here) is a firm believer that for a shorter rider, tall and light bikes are much easier than low and heavy ones - I think that the key element is the bike’s mass. She currently rides (and absolutely loves) a KTM 790 Duke, her last bike previously being an SV650N and she says that despite apparent similarities in capacity and naked bike layout, they’re night and day different, the Duke feeling far lighter and more manageable at low speed despite having a similar seat height to the SV. An improvement was a KTM PowerParts seat as a birthday pressie; 10mm lower and actually more comfortable. Taking a little foam from the seat is a better option than lowering kits as they mess up the geometry that the bike’s designers spent ages getting correct.
Anyway, hope this helps, have fun.