First Bike for a Tiny Girl

First Bike for a Tiny Girl

by Brianna
(Minneapolis, MN)

I need some sound advice and this seems to be the place.

I'm looking to get my first bike. I'm a tiny girl, about 5' and just under 100 lbs. What bike is going to have a short inseam but also be beginner friendly and light enough for me to pick up when I inevitably tip it over?

My only experience is with sport bikes but I'm open to anything.

I have another quick safety question. Is it ok to wear my hair in a ponytail under my helmet? I'm looking for a full face helmet but I'm having a hard time finding one that fits. Wearing my hair back seems to make for a tighter fit but I'm worried it isn't safe.

Thanks much!

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First Bike for a Tiny Girl

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Jun 21, 2009

Shorter Yet
by: Anonymous

I am even shorter than you, I started on a rebel 250 then moved to a Honda VLX 600 and am currently looking at a Harley 1200.

Make sure you turn the handlebars to the right when you stand up the bike it helps, you don't have to lift the weight of the whole bike then.
When you find something you like do some research see if you can find pull back risers for the handlebars, lowering kits for front and back or different shocks, make sure you look for mid or standard controls. Research and sitting on the different bikes is going to put you in the saddle.
Always check to see if you can reach the kickstand that is where I am having the problem with the Harley 883's and 1200's.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

Apr 08, 2009

First Bikes
by: Jenny

If you're not looking for customizations, I'd check out a 250cc cruiser. The Honda Rebel someone else mentioned, the Yamaha Virago 250 (I think they might now call it a V-Star?), or the Suzuki 250GZ. My first bike was a Virago 535 weighing in at 410 pounds, and while I could almost flat foot it, the weight was too much for me. It left me nervous. I switched to the GZ250 and was able to quickly get comfortable. My feet are more then flat on the ground (I'm 5'2"). However, the GZ250 has the fattest gas tank of the three bikes I listed, and I've known some slimmer women who felt that it spread their legs too far. I was incredibly comfortable on most of the newer Honda Rebels, but there was an earlier model that I was looking at which had the battery in a weird place so it was uncomfortable against my thigh.

I'd suggest hopping on the bikes and seeing how you feel. Some women wear boots with heels, but I find that to be incredibly difficult and dangerous because my heel gets caught on the foot peg and I can't reach use the brake properly. I seem to be the only person I know who has that problem, though.

I wear ponytails all the time. French braids were problematic, though, because they changed the size of the helmet (the french braid only fit when I wore a helmet that was too big). The ponytail has to be a "low" ponytail so it's down at the base of my neck. Again, if the ponytail was a high ponytail, it only worked if I wore an improperly fitting helmet.

Apr 07, 2009

Pony Tail Under Helmet & New Bike
by: Brycie

Suggest that you try sitting on a Honda Rebel 250cc motorcycle and see if you can bring the bike up to an upright position and still have both feet touch the ground or floor.

As for keeping your hair in a pony tail under the helmet, that is what I do all of the time, I ride with a helmet.

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