07-04-2013, 11:52 PM
I'm 5'7". Been riding 30 years, dirt, street, roadracing, and only ever dropped one of my bikes in the first couple of months of ownership, in 1983. Being short requires a lot more strategy in planning where you are going to park and how you plan on getting turned around. Also getting that clutch control down and learning to slide to one side or another to get a foot in position, watching for off-camber situations, and other tight spots. My heaviest bike was a Dyna, 700 lbs. but have owned many bikes in the 500 lb. class. I am not at all trying to brag but as I mentioned before that it's not the years since a person first started riding, but the actual amount of experience, I have owned about 35-40 motorcycles and have about 600,000 miles of riding experience. A lot of times it is factors like fatigue, night riding, and inexperience that contribute to a bike being dropped. I consider myself very fortunate to have gone this long without an incident but every day when I get ready to ride I realize that today may be the day everything changes.