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.

Originally Posted by lawsoc

What is the driving differance between a 4stroke and twin ?

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

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

Originally Posted by wheelnut

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.

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!

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

Originally Posted by lawsoc

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 ?

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