Seat height for 5'9" around 30" inseam?

[Gilstrak_imp]

Hey gang

I'm 5'9" around 30" inseam and looking at getting a 2013 cb1100. There are not any stock bikes in my area, but one listed for reasonable shipping. I sat on a modified cb1100 cafe racer custom to judge the weight, but it had modified suspension and was quite tall for my comfort. Anyone with similar proportions with a stock model able to comment on the seat height? Did you do any mods to help? Last thing I want to do is tip toe 500+ lbs around in a parking lot and drop it when I slip. Also anyone able to comment on occasional 2up trips with 3-5 in seat times? Thanks for the comments looking forward to reading them and crossing my fingers for good news.

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[Cormanus]

Welcome Gilstrak. I'm probably a bit shorter than you but my inseam is around 30". I can manage the stock bike fine, heavy though it is, although I can't quite flat foot it with both feet. That's mostly because I sit on an Air Hawk cushion. I find the stock seat unendurable for more than about an hour. An Air Hawk makes the pillion more comfortable too. The bike is otherwise fine for 2-up touring.

 

[Gordo_imp]

Welcome to the forum. As a new CB1100 owner I was a little apprehensive about buying mine. I bought my 13 last month. I sat on a 14 last year and fit pretty comfy. I am 5" 7' tall and weigh roughly 170lbs with about a 28 inch inseam. My riding boots are Harley Davidson logger style boots with a larger sole and heel. If your looking for a lil extra height, take your favorite riding boots and get a lil extra sole inserted. I had a hard time fitting the older 70's CB's. I always had lower shocks in the rear. Good luck! I have absolutely no regrets owning this bike. I came from cruisers and I'm not leaving

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[Gilstrak_imp]

Thanks for the vote of confidence you guys. I think I'm going to do it. I'll sleep on it and see if anyone else has some more feedback.

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[Gordo_imp]

Awesome! "When" you bring er home make sure you post some pics! Good luck!

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[Lord Popgun]

I’m 5’9” with a 32” inseam. I, like Cormanus, sit on an AirHawk cushion too. I have no trouble flatfooting the bike. I guess I could put 2” of something on the seat for an experiment and see.

Ferret, you have a short inseam, what say you?

Can’t help with the 2-up (never do it) or long trips as I have a road bike for that.

 

[max]

Hi gilstrak, i think i'm 6.0 ( i'm a metric guy 1.85 m ) and have no problems flat footing on the low stock seat, ( there is a higher stock version on some models ).
Recently have bought and modified a corbin seat which is a bit higher but very comfy.
If you are handy to Auckland you are welcome to try my 2010 out for peace of mind before you buy, i think there are more for sale coming up later in spring if the past is anything to go by.

 

[Gilstrak_imp]

Oh man sweet as bro. I'm in Torbay North Shore, small world. I'm free any time for the next 3 days if you have a minute I'd love to swing by if you don't mind. pm me an address and a good day/time and I will come by.

 

[Lord Popgun]

Max,

Do you guys get the low seat stock in NZ? We get the high one stock in the US.

Looking on Samurider I see the low seat is 30”

 

[decarmine_imp]

I'm 5'11" with a 30" inseam. When I had my 2014 standard I could *just barely* flat-foot with the stock seat, but found it *very* uncomfortable. I bought a Corbin seat, which improved the comfort, but found I had to slide forward from the riding position in order to flat-foot when stopped. The Corbin seat seemed to be a bit lower but somewhat wider, negating any height advantage...

 

[Rocky_imp]

I'm the same size as Gilstrak and get along fine on my 2014.

 

[Gone in 60]

I’m 5’9” with 29” inseam and it suits me just fine.

Just get the bike!

 

[max]

Yes, Lord Popgun it's the low seat that originally was installed on the first year's 2010 model, fine for an hour and a bit around town but not so much on a longer 5 hour trip hence the corbin;

 

[Charlie Bravo_imp]

Five-ten/30" inseam. My stock '13 suits me well.

 

[Guth_imp]

I'm 5' 8" with a 30.5" inseam. My 2013 came equipped with with the taller stock seat as standard just as all CB1100'd did here in the States. I lived with this without any major issues for a number of years. Personally, I found the stock (tall) seat to be very comfortable. If I had to guess, it's highly likely that so do most owners — those who feel negatively about something are far more likely to speak up about it than the rest who are essentially content and don't spend much time thinking about such things. This applies to almost everything imaginable, not just CB1100 factory seats, lol.

That said, I did have an interest in lowering the seat height to improve my footing on the ground while moving the bike around while seated. Knowing that those in Japan (as well as Australia it seems) received the lower height seat as standard I decided that I wanted to give the lower seat a try on my CB. In addition to that, I really preferred the look of the lower Type II handlebars that were available in Japan from the CB's introduction. So back in 2018 I decided to take the plunge, feeling that a full Type II conversion was in order for my CB1100. You can read more about my efforts in this thread.

I'm happy with my CB1100 as I have it configured now. But one other thing I should note that don't have the knee problems that many on the forum deal with. For some the angle that their knees rest at while riding, or how their legs are angled at the hips, are more important considerations that the seat height or seat comfort so that would be enough to prevent them from opting for the lower seat even if their bum found it to be comfortable. Ergonomics are challenging as none of us are the same.

 

[Gilstrak_imp]

Ok I slept on it and read all of these positive comments first thing when I woke up

. you guys sold me I'm pulling the trigger.

Cheers

 

[Lord Popgun]

And you will be glad you did!

 

[Gilstrak_imp]

She is due to arrive later this week

. Any recommendations for things I should check out or be on the lookout for in the 2013 model?

 

[the Ferret]

I’m 5’9” with a 32” inseam. I, like Cormanus, sit on an AirHawk cushion too. I have no trouble flatfooting the bike. I guess I could put 2” of something on the seat for an experiment and see.

Ferret, you have a short inseam, what say you?

Can’t help with the 2-up (never do it) or long trips as I have a road bike for that.

Well at 5 5 1/2" with a ridiculously short inseam depend on how you guy want to measure, I don't flat foot anything, but I am very comfortable on my 2014 dlx as it came from the factory. I had to lower my ST 1300 and FJR to feel comfortable and on the FJR I wear boots like Gordo describes with the large vibram sole.

I'm usually a 2 balls of the feet down or 1 foot solidly down and 1 foot on the peg at a stop

 

[Gordo_imp]

Looking good ferret!

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