My Blog Has Moved

I had the misfortune of having my blog closed as apparently it was spam (?!?) and as a result I have now moved it lock stock and barrel to a new web address, as I cannot risk having it happen again.

My new blog can be found at this address Blade Rider and if you follow the link you will be redirected there.

I'm am sorry for any inconvience caused during the last few weeks for those who have been following it and really hope to see you at the new site.

Raven

Motorbikes Girls CAN Ride

One of the common questions asked by girls who are new to motorcycling is "What bikes can I ride?"

As we girls are generally smaller than guys, finding a bike we can physically fit on can be difficult at times and some girls believe they will be limited in their choice if they are of small stature.

In a bid to try and answer this question I have posted the question on a few female motorcycle forums and compiled a list of motorbikes that girls are riding now. As you can see from my list, some of the girls have kindly supplied information about how the bike was adjusted, eg lowered, suspension adjusted, seats carved out, etc, to make it a bit smaller for them so they could ride it.

Please note the list is NOT recommendations on which bike you should buy, its a list showing the different bikes the girls who responded to my question are riding.

For the most part female bikers arn't bothered if they can't get both feet flat on the floor, as long as they can ride the motorbike of their choice. I know there are other considerations such as inside leg measurement, weight of bike, etc., to be taken into account when choosing a motorbike and I will cover those in other posts to the blog.

As and when I get any further information I will add it to the entry so that it is kept up to date. If you are a female rider and you are riding a bike which isn't shown in the list, please feel free to add a comment telling me and I will quite happily add it to the list.

If you are new to riding take a look at these products which will help you pass your theory, hazard perception tests and motorcycle tests.

For those who have already passed it here are a few recommendations to help you improve your riding.

Under 5’ Tall
Suzuki GSF400 Bandit -
Honda CBR400RR -
Yamaha R6 2004 -
Honda CB400T -

5’ Tall
Yamaha R6 (2002) - No adjustment but couldn’t flat foot
Suzuki GSX 600F - No adjustment but couldn’t flat foot
Kawasaki GPZ500 -
Suzuki GSXR1000 K6 - Suspension lowered, forks dropped slightly
Ducati Hypermotard - Suspension lowered, ride height adjuster on lowest setting
Honda CBR600RR -
Suzuki GSX-R600 K8 - lowered
Suzuki GSX-R600 K6 - - no adjusment but on balls of feet/tiptoes
Honda CBR600F -
Suzuki SV650S -

5’1” Tall
Kawasaki Ninja - Suspension lowered and on tip toes

5'2 Tall
Honda CBR 600 F - Hyperpro lowering kit, front forks dropped.
Honda CBR400RRN - No adjustment
Kawasaki ZZR600
Honda Shadow 750
Suzuki GSX-R600 K6
Honda CBR600F
Suzuki SV650S
Suzuki 400 Bandit
Kawasaki 750 Zephyr
Suzuki SV650 - Lowered but feet still not flat on the floor
Kawasaki ZXR400 - No adjustment
Yamaha Virago 535 - No adjustment and both feet flat on floor
BMW F650GS - No adjustment but on balls of the feet

5’3” Tall
Honda CBR 929 RRY Fireblade - No adjustment, but only one flat foot
Honda CBR400RR - No adjustment
Honda CBR400 - No adjustment
Suzuki GS500F
Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat - lowered
Yamaha R6 - Lowered
Suzuki SV650S - Suspension and forks lowered, but still on balls of feet
Ducati Monster 695 - No adjustment and on balls of feet
Kawasaki ER5 - Lowered suspension, carved out seat
Ducati 749s - No adjustment
Yamaha FZS600
Suzuki SV650 - No adjustment but on balls of feet
BMW R1200 ST

5'4” Tall
Honda CBR600fx - Bike lowered, can almost flat foot.
Suzuki GSR600 - No adjustment but on tip toes
Suzuki Bandit - No adjustment
Kawasaki ER6f - No adjustment, almost flat foot
Honda RVF 400 - No adjustment
Yamaha Diversion 600
BMW F650GS
Honda Transalp - Seat lowered
Suzuki VZ800 Marauder - No adjustment
Honda CBR600fx - No adjustment but on balls of feet
Suzuki GSR600 - No Adjustment
Suzuki Bandit 400 - No adjustment
Kawasaki ER6f - No adjustment
Honda CBR 600 - No adjustment
Suzuki XF650 Freewind - Bike lowered
Suzuki Bandit 600 - Suspension lowered
Triumph Street Triple - No adjustment but on balls of the feet

5’5” Tall
Suzuki GS500 - No adjustment
Yamaha Fazer 600 - No Adjustment
Honda VFR400 NC30 - No adjustment
Triumph Street Triple
Cagiva 1000
Suzuki SV650 - No adjustment
Kawasaki Z1000 - No adjustment, but on balls of both feet
Kawasaki GPZ500s - No adjustment and feet flat on floor
Ducati Monster 620sie - No adjustment and both feet flat on floor
Suzuki Bandit 400V - No adjustment
Honda VFR400 - No adjustment
Kawasaki ZX6R (G1) - Seat lowered
Moto Guzzi Breva 750
Honda CBR1000 (2008) - no adjustment, one flat foot or both toes on floor

5’6” Tall
Honda VFR700, 07
Honda CB600F Hornet
Honda CB1000R - No adjustment
Yamaha Fazer 600 - No adjustment but cant flat foot
Suzuki SV650 - No adjustment and both feet flat on floor
Kawasaki ER6 - No adjustment
Kawasaki ZX6R - No adjustment and both feet flat on floor
Suzuki GS500F - No adjustment and feet flat on floor
Honda Hornet 900 - No adjustment and both feet flat on floor

5'7" Tall
Honda VFR400 - had space between self and bike!
Honda VFR800 - balls of both feet, or one foot flat the other 'balancing'
CCMR30 - bought already lowered, same as VFR400
Honda Hornet 900 - balls of both feet, or one foot flat the other 'balancing'
Yamaha FZ1 - one foot flat, the other almost flat
KTM Duke - balls of both feet, or one foot flat the other 'balancing'
Triumph Sprint ST - balls of both feet, or one foot flat the other 'balancing'
Triumph Tiger - tip toes or one foot flat the other flailing!
Suzuki Bandit 1250GT - one foot flat, the other almost flat

5’8 and over
Triumph Street Triple
Honda CBR 600F
Ducati 916 Monster
GSXR750 Special
Honda CBR954 Streetfighter
Ducati Monster 620
Honda XRV750 Africa Twin
Ducati Monster 620
Kawasaki Z500
Suzuki SV650
Kawasaki GPZ 500s - No adjustment

Mornings...

Why is it some mornings you wake up a fresh as a daisy and others, like today for me, you wake up feeling completely shattered and as if you haven't had a wink of sleep all night? I cant remember having any dreams which disturbed my sleep, I didn't wake up in the night like I sometimes do nor do I recall anything else which may explain my tiredness. So what on earth happened last night?

I went to bed as usual last night, and fell asleep after a while and that was it until this morning when the alarm clock rudely disturbed the peace! I did ignore it I must admit and didn't crawl out of bed until I absolutely had to. I'm now sitting at my computer wishing I could go back to bed for an hour or two but that would only have 2 outcomes.

1. I would probably feel worse as a nap might not be enough to make me feel any better
2. It would make it more difficult for me to get to sleep tonight

So I'm going to have to struggle through the day, yawning my head off like I am now and just collapse when I get in from work later.

I want to go to back to bed and get some more sleep.. But I cant!

Chico's Having Lunch!

What a sweetie!!

Chico, the baby Pygmy Hippo, is a bit of a fussy eater and according to staff at Oxfordshires Heythrop Zoological Gardens have been hand feeding the hippo using a glove puppet.. The puppet named Gloria, was used as a last resort after Chico started refusing food.

He's kinda cute in a way, but I wouldn't want those teeth nibling on my fingers!!!

You can find the full story about baby Chico here at the BBC News Website