Anybody else 5'6" or shorter?

[redReno_imp]

My inseam is about 30 and I can flat foot the ground easily with or without my boots.
The other day I noticed that whenever I hop on my CB11, I am right on the front end of the seat and maybe even slightly on the tank. Riding like this, my back is straight up and I have a pretty good bend in my arms.

Well I decided to try sitting a little farther back so I am right on top of where "I should be" on the seat and now I am leaning slightly forward and my arms are straighter but they still have that bend to be relaxed. This little change however has made riding the bike more fun for me.

My reach felt awkward at first, but my riding position is still comfortable and now I am able to push the handlebars forward more instead of forward and downward whenever I am counter steering through a turn. It is almost effortless to make the bike do what I want it to do, I feel more... "one with the bike"

With my old riding position, I've tried pushing the handlebars forward only without pushing down on them, but I'd still find my butt getting kicked by some sharp turns.

Anyway, just wanted to share this (mainly with the other short peoples) so others who just hopped on the bike and took off on it like I did, could read this and give a little thought about their riding position on the CB11 and compare it to how they were on other bikes.

[cb400four_imp]

redReno, I have had the same experience. My inseam is shorter than yours at 28 and I certainly can't flat foot this bike but I find riding a little further back on the seat to be more comfortable. I'm planning to put euro handlebars and will find out how that affects the seating position / overall ergonomics.

[jimigalahad_imp]

I'm still trying to figure out my correct setup as well. 5'8" but only a 28" inseam. I prefer sitting back in the seat as well but end up having to tip toe behind the footpegs with that position. Looking into going with a more streamline riding position as well.

[Dangergirl416_imp]

I'm a whopping 5'2" with my riding boots on. Defiantly cannot flat-foot it but I'm thinking of shaving my seat a bit to get me a little bit lower. I have to be careful when getting on the bike, it's a lot heavier than my Duc Monster was and almost couldn't get it off the stand once. LOL. Sure sucks being height-challenged.

[Guth_imp]

I'm a whopping 5'2" with my riding boots on. Defiantly cannot flat-foot it but I'm thinking of shaving my seat a bit to get me a little bit lower. I have to be careful when getting on the bike, it's a lot heavier than my Duc Monster was and almost couldn't get it off the stand once. LOL. Sure sucks being height-challenged.

What kind of boots do you ride in — do the soles add much height?

If you end up having the seat shaven down and aren't happy with it, you might see if you would be able to obtain one of the stock seats that ship with the bikes in Japan and Australia which are considerably lower.

[Dangergirl416_imp]

I have a pair of Puma riding boots, the add about 3/4". I had a SV650 and had the seat professionally shaved with gel padding and it definitely helped. Plus the stock seat is pretty stiff so I hope to get gel padding added for this seat also. I hope it makes a difference.

[_imp]

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.