Most motorbikes are designed on the one size fits all philosophy. Short riders will complain,
tall riders will complain, but the vast majority of normal people will be quite happy.
We tall freaks of nature will complain about any bike,
but especially bikes that are designed for shorter people.
I want to specifically look at the Suzuki DR650 and Honda CB500X, with an emphasis on
footpegs. Most of us are familiar with bar risers and custom seats, but repositioning
your footpegs can make a big difference.
We need to make this triangle bigger for taller riders. A major problem with older
style bikes the DR650? The footpegs can only only be too high, but are too far forward,
because they didn't expect riders to stand on the footpegs. It probably
won't bother short riders, but it becomes terrible for standing for tall riders.
Wirtz Wire produce two solutions to the problem. For tall riders, they have brackets that move the
stock footpegs down by about 5 cm (or two inches). Then if you are freakishly tall,
their second option also mounts the footpegs about 3cm to the rear (1.3 inches).
Which will suit best? As a rough rule of thumb, Jeff is 184cm or six foot tall.
He used the first option and just lowered his footpegs only.
He said standing is now so much more relaxed and this option felt perfect for him.
Me? I'm 193cm or six feet four. And I have big feet (but oddly
only a tiny penis). On Jeff's bike I still feel a bit cramped, but the second option worked
brilliantly for me. And I can still reach the gear shift and rear brake with no trouble.
These are quite big changes of course. After smaller adjustments? Look at footpegs like Fastway
from Promotobillet. You can move a collar to either have stock footpeg positioning, or
mount the pegs about 2cm down and to the rear. It might not sound like much,
but it makes a difference. See our review of the Fastway footpegs.
And now a different sort of problem, the Honda CB500X. Honda calls it an adventure bike,
but the footpegs are not only too high for taller riders, but also mounted too far back this time...
because it's based on the road bike design. And the narrow road style footpegs are terrible for
standing on. These Knight Design footpegs are not only lower, but actually are moved forward
to correct that sports bike positioning. And provide a much bigger platform for standing on.
These are only a few options available for various bikes, google for things like lower footpegs,
repositioning footpegs and footpeg brackets to see what is available for your bike.
Some guys cut and reweld their stock footpeg brackets, but you really want
to know what you are doing. Otherwise they can snap right when you need them most!
Handlebar risers? Everyone should be familiar with these so I won't cover the basic ones. For tall
riders, the DR650 and CB500X handlebars come back too much, so it can be worth looking at the Rox
pivoting risers. Instead of rolling your handlebars forward into an awkward position,
these pivoting risers let you get it just the way you want. See our review vid for more details.
If you want smaller adjustments, you can look at high rise bars instead, aftermarket
bars will give you different heights and also sweep... how much they bend back toward you.
Most of you will be familiar with custom seats, for either short or tall riders. So I won't
go into details there. But they are so bloody expensive! If you are on a budget, I encourage
you to try experimenting yourself. Just buy a staple gun and some black vinyl, and cut up
some foam from an old cushion. I just put this on top of the existing seat so if it doesn't work,
just rip it all off again. The jobs I have done aren't pretty, but man are they comfortable.
The next option? Contact your local upholsterers and ask them if they do
one-off custom jobs. Often they enjoy the challenge
and can make it for cheaper than some of those crazy expensive aftermarket jobs.
Okay what else? Long term viewers will know I'm a fan of Steg Pegz. If you are very tall,
and stand on the footpegs a lot, you can anchor your boots against these
and make your legs do the work, instead of using your arms every time you accelerate
or hit bumpy ground. A life saver especially for us older riders.
Wind shields? Often us taller guys can get buffeted by stock windshields, or get very little
protection at all. Plenty of taller aftermarket wind shield options for many adventure bikes.
Some final notes. It really helps to pick the right bike
of course. While these mods can make a difference, sometimes the bike will still simply be too small.
I had to sell the Honda CB500X for this reason. The mods still didn't
make it quite comfortable enough. I bought a DR650 instead, and the mods worked great!
Also some riders will tell you these mods aren't necessary,
and you just need to learn proper body positioning and work on your skills.
It's a common saying from top level riders in the motocross and enduro world, but
most adventure riders are looking for comfort, not shaving seconds off their lap times.
Keen to hear your thoughts, let us know in the comments. We will add your tips
to the pinned first comment! Any other suggestions? What worked best for you?
What didn't? How tall are you, and what sort of bike were you riding?