650svs to 400 ??
 

I past my test last Oct and got a 03 K2 SVS 650 as my first bike after my 125cc Honda cbr. However I am now cosidering whether to get an 02 or 03 Kawasaki ZXR 400cc reason being I am a girly and only 5'4'' and just feel a smaller lighter bike will be more managable for me. I never fill the petrol tank up as even lifting it off its too sloping side stand I have to put all my might into and trying to push it around when parking up its just too heavy. I can just say get my feet down and haven't dropped it yet touch wood but I certainly wouldn't rule it out. Has anyone had both what driving differances will they be cos always getting a test drive sometimes is tricky. I think however the riding position might be more lent over which is possibly a negative rather than a positive. What is the driving differance between a 4stroke and twin ? Mind U I thought my driving ability would of improved vastly by now after 2000 miles but I think I'm still pretty crap
WHY don't they make sporty looking bikes for GIRLS ?
Cheers Claire..

get lowering links for the sv and drop the forks through the yokes would have the same effect...would prob be less top heavy too.

Re: 650svs to 400 ??
 

I think you mean 4 cylinder, most bikes these days are 4 stroke which is to do with the firing/fueling sequence and not the number of cylinders.

No ideas on the lowering bike front, though. A few of the girls on here have had theres substantially lowered, so there might be some suggestions on that.

if ur local to herts i xan quite happily make some lowering bones and fit them 4 u to c how u feel ??

zxr 400 are great but need to be kept reving to get them to ctually move great if u wanna tear **** aboyut not so great for keeping it steady very lent over my mum had one killed her wrist if u are gonna get one the zxr400 sp is rapid wen u get it singing but the flat slide carbs cause no end of trouble

havr u checked out the yamaha thundercat low enough for the ladies tall enough for gents can be ridden slowly or very fast (150mph on me mams) very cumfy lovely bike + www.tazmotorcycles.co.uk are still doing them brand new check it out beauifull bike

Gricey

p.s pm me if u wanna clower it ??

Its not always the height of the bike that makes it difficult, it can be more to do with the width. so a 4 cylinder is probably going to be wider.

I think the first thing to try is the dog bones and forks, then maybe have your saddle resculptured :P

Im surprised you find it difficult at 5' 4'' as there are shorter people who ride them. Im only 5' 6'' with fat thighs :D

And another thing, a half hour test ride from a dealer will not give you much clue what the bike is really like on an everyday basis

Wise words these. I used to have a TDM 125 about 10 years ago - I could barely touch one toe to the floor, let alone both yet found it very easy to throw around and control as it was so narrow.
I'm only 5'4"(ish) and have always felt comfortable on stupidly tall trailies just because of the narrow seats.

That said I'm fine on the SV and all I've done is have the seat sculpted to make it both lower and slightly narrower as the original is OTT with regard to padding in my opinion.
I also had a Kwakka 400 in years gone by - great to handle and throw around as it is as light as a feather. If it's weight rather than height that is a problem for you then it might be a good switch - but even little ol' me got a crooked neck after about 50 miles.

How anyone over 5'2" found it comfortable is beyond me! :roll:

If you're not having any issues controlling the bike then I'd suggest looking into methods of lowering/narrowing the seat, suspension etc before changing machine. There are a lot of mods that can be done which are generally 'reversable' and won't really affect resale of the bike if things don't pan out.

I don't think a 400 is much lighter, I had an RVF400 and i think the dry wieght was about 160kg's and a svs is about 170, get rid of that massive stock can and your getting towards even!

Hello there!

Have you tweaked your bike at all yet? If you are riding it as stock then there are quite a few things you can do to make it easier to ride and man handle.

I'm not quite 5'2" and I have a K3 which are normally higher than the curvy's. To be quite honest, I struggled initially and dropped it a few times as the bike was just too high and heavy for me. A few months on and I'm doing fine (I think), I find the bike handles ok and is light enough to man-handle around. I put the longer links in first of all and got the lower seat. I then dropped the forks quite a bit and put the preload on the lowest setting though I have actually raised it since as it was a little bumpy. One thing I really would advise and which sorted it for me is to put a different exhaust system on it. Believe it or not, the stock are damn heavy and it made a huge difference and now I can even hold the bike on a hill.

Don't give up on the SV! Have a go at tweaking it first anyway!

HTH

Kate

Why not try the sv 400? They are curvy..which are best.. And it looks like a 650 :D

Re: 650svs to 400 ??
 

Why not try the Raptor 650, or even the Raptor 1000, if you want a low seat height.

did you now? could you fix my gearbox please?

The trouble with the 4s is that they're now mainly pretty old designs and therefore still heavy- though they are definately smaller. I think this year's R6 is lighter than the RVF400, for example, though I wouldn't totally rule out the potential that that's total s*** :) i really wish one of the big 4 would take the plunge and make a modern, updated 400 with all the benefits of recent weight reduction and engine efficiency.

If I were you I'd have a crack at shaping the seat and lowering the bike- OK, it might not work, but £100 spent now could save you spending a fortune on a new bike, and most of the cost should be recoverable. I'd neer recommend anyone to get a bike with the intention of lowering it, sounds like madness to me, but once you have it it's probably worth trying to fix it.

FWIW I'm in a sort of similiar position just now that my right leg's too weak to support or push the bike much, so parking etc is a total nightmare... I've returned it to roughly stock height from its 30mm jack-up and it's made a huge difference, both in practical results and in confidence.

One reason I dont like the pointy SVs over the curvys - seats are higher. Im 5ft 4 and manage ok on my 2000 curvy without modifying it...

but Id go with what Kate and the others have said - modify the bike and lower the seat before you lose money on swapping for another bike.

If you want a sportsbike with low seat aside from those already mentioned, see if you can get hold of an early model cbr600. the FH-FM [87-91 IIRC] models have the really low seats and being hondas should be pretty good nick still :D

Nah, leave that one to you.

Unfortunately, some of us don't have much choice.

Well, you did have a choice though didn't you? Crusiers, Raptor 650, VFR400, the usual suspects...

When I was at the dealers yesterday looking for a faster, low, comfortable bike! I felt like I had 2 heads, till he explained that most of his customers struggle to find something to fit.

There are one armed,or one legged bikers out there and they have to adapt the machine. What really gets me, is why do not all the major manufacturers design some adjustment into pegs, seat, bars, tailpiece?

To me, someone who is 6'2'' and slim is abnormal :D

The thing is that regardless of actual real world poundage, some bikes just 'seem' lighter and easier to manhandle than others... even if they are of a similar lbs weight.

I know it makes no logical sense - but speaking from shortarsed experience here, some bikes just defy physics I guess.

I could manouver my 400 around, riding or pushing, like I would a 125 and yet it probably was of a similar wieght to my SV.
That said I find moving a new FireBlade at work easier than moving my SV, the Blade's strictly speaking heavier, wider and should be more cumbersome - go figure.

Going by stock figures of weight and seat height is a bad idea in my opinion - always get your mits on a bike and push it around abit - statistics lie, only experience tells the truth. :wink:

Just from my experience yesterday of the SV1000 and the Z1000 there is only 3kg difference, but the Z felt so light, both on the road and pushing it backwards into a parking place at the shop.

Its the ease of getting it balanced and I suppose the high wide bars helped.

I still want an SV though :D

how about a ZZR 600. my dad has just got one and very short on the leg front :wink:

alright lads, il handle this one :D

Hello young lady, would u like to see my SV400S? :D

http://groups.msn.com/Bikerzz/shoebox.msnw?Page=1

*shes all mine lads*






p.s. this was only a joke but yes u do see a SV400S before u its mine and shes still geting TLC!

Thing is, the SV400's no better than the SV650 for size and weight- it's more or less the same chassis, bodywork, wheels, tank, geometry and engine, just with a shorter stroke engine. So if a 650s too big a 400 would be too.

cheers northwind i was nearly in there :lol:

yeah true but was just showing off my 400. :D