| Author | Message | ||
     Joojoo |
I guess shorter riders wont be able to enjoy this machine..... No way I could touch the ground on it....I noticed that most of these Dual Machines have REALLY tall seats...is there a riding style that compensates for the tall seat height? Jack | ||
| Dale |
Yea there is. Do not STOP. | ||
| Metalstorm |
"Do not STOP" LOL! Yeah that about sums it up. Maybe some elevater boots? I'm in the same boat. I can't wait to sit on one and see if I can get at least the toes of one foot on the ground  | ||
| Roc |
Don't stop on a hill and try to put your down hill foot down. | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
Side saddle it. You slide off to one side til your foot is down. Just don't forget  | ||
| Jackbequick |
I don't have a problems with leg length but since bike controls were standardized, I have always tried to "land" the right foot and do any final stopping with the front brake unless there was some good reason to do otherwise. I leave my left foot on the peg and keep the right leg straight and away from the bike to keep a little weight on it. I occasionally will lose balance to the left but can get a foot down quick enough. This habit arose from my being pretty anal about sitting with the clutch lever released at lights and needing to drop it in gear to move on. My M2 has a neutral that is "unpleasant" to find at a stop. But when rolling slow with clutch out and almost at a stop, even down from second, a slight nudge without using the clutch finds it easily and every time. Jack | ||
| Eor |
Is the stock seat height 33.something as the Buell specs indicate, or 35" as mentioned in the Cycle World article? Is Buell using the seat height of the optional lower seat in their published specs? | ||
| Steve_a |
Buell gives seat height laden, as does Harley-Davidson, so there's some suspension and seat compression from the rider's weight. Cycle World measures unladen, just as the bike sits, putting a level across the seat at about where the sitbones on the rider's pelvis would rest. That explains the difference in the two measurements. Both were made with the stock seat. Anonymous's suggestion about dropping the preload and putting on the accessory seat would probably make the Ulysses comfortably ridable by 80+ percent of American men, a smaller percentage of women. There is some room to build a lowered version if you had to have one. The ride height was raised about an inch for increased ground clearance in addition to the increase that came from increased suspension travel. If you were willing to give up a half an inch of each, you could get the laden seat height down to around 31 inches with the short seat. But that would mean a new or modified shock, shorter fork tubes, and shortened dampers in the forks. I suspect the aftermarket will offer both those parts as well as longer travel suspension components for the kind of guys that hang out on advrider.com | ||
| Eor |
Thanks for the info Steve. I was unaware that the different numbers represented laden and unladen seat heights. | ||
| Rr_eater |
Steve, Going the complete other way, what is the maximum ride-able height the suspension is capable of? I ask, as with a 35 inch inseam and 250lbs of pure man, you guys dont want to know how high above the seat of my current XB misses the crotch by. People are dumbfounded when they see me stand over the bike!! My only current question, is there any current plans for uprated springs/suspension for the 12X. I currently have the preloads on both ends of my 12S at the max setting, and is very close to what everyone agrees a sport suspension should be set for street use. I have longed to have Corbin make me a seat for the XBS that instead of dipping down at all, would go straight across from the front to the very back in an attempt to raise the seat height to lower the angle of my knees for longer riding. The Ulysses looks to be my godsend bike, but not till next year says the wife, and thats cool with me! Bruce P.S. I think, looking at my bike, that another 1 1/2 inches could be gained by the installation of a D&D pipe!! Hmm something for us bigger men to think about!! (Message edited by rr_eater on July 24, 2005) | ||
| Koz5150 |
Joojoo, I have a friend here at work that is 5'9" and rides a KLR 650. He just sets the suspension soft on it. | ||
| Joojoo |
cool, Thanks for the info guys/gals. It would kinda suck if I coulndt look at the new 12X because my height is 5'5. Ill have to try to sit on her when I see her at the demo rides... Time will tell, Jack | ||
| Eor |
I used to worry about seat height more than I do now. I currently ride a BMW Dakar which has a seat height of 34" With the accessories I have added, it doesn't weigh much less than the Ulysses. I'm 5'10" and have a short inseam of 30." I can get both feet down but I don't have enough traction to do much good. I get a bit uptight when I am riding off road and have to stop or turn on gravel, especially on an uneven surface.  You have to learn how to ride smarter...plan your stops, keep a better eye on your footing, etc. It ain't easy but if you are willing to use some patience and caution there is no reason why people can't ride bikes whose seat height exceeds their inseams...even by several inches. Don't be too quick to deny yourself an opportunity to enjoy the bike you want. There's a point regarding inseam and seat height at which physics is just working too hard against you...not sure where that is, though. (Message edited by eor on July 25, 2005) | ||
| Enigma |
From a UKBEG poster on riding the Ss "Just spent about an hour riding the Lightning Long. From the front seat, it goes, feels, looks, handles just like a regular XB12S. Big news is the smoother shifting gearbox- it really is noticably "snick, snick" and you no longer have to struggle to find neutral- its very postive and easy to find- you dont have to blip the throttle and fish around. It is a big step forward in the riding experience. The other bigs news is that when I was sat on the bike, (I take a 48inch waist (FB sized)) there was a full 12 inches of seat behind me- so plenty of room for the pillion. Even riding solo, I noticed that the bike proportions were much like my beloved X1 and I didnt feel anywhere near as "perched" on the top as I do on my XB12S" And the 12X "I have a 30inch inside leg and at first I thought that it was going to be too tall for me- as I definitely cant get both legs flat on the floor at the same time. (I cant do this on any of the big trailies, so it wasnt anything different) However, I soon realised that by shifting my bum over slightly, I can get one foot totally flat on the floor. Other impressions 1. Commanding riding position 2. V V comfortable seat 3. You dont notice the height when you are moving at all 4. V easy to trickle through traffic 5. Outstanding suspension ( we road across a number of railway crossings and v badly made up roads- it soaks it all up without any jarring at all.) 6. Huge Pillion seat 7. Very comfortable (much bigger) footpegs 8. Easy to stand up out of the saddle 9. V V V V Cool LED stoplight 10 Great and V beautiful pillion grab rails 11. Sensational handling ( typical of Erik) 12. Reassuring brakes (although you do notice the suspension dive as you have so much extra travel) 13. Mirrors you can actuall see behind with 14. The Orange Pillion seat looks way cool when you are solo (It just looks like the bodywork) 15. The lockable backrest is very comfortable as a backrest 16. You dont think about shifting with the smoother shifting gearbox. 17. The visibility is brilliant 18. V light clutch effort 19. It looks a very well proportioned bike with either one or two passengers 20. Same 1203cc grunty engine which fits well with this type of bike"  | ||
| Tommy_2stroke |
Steve_a... Regarding lowering; perhaps the springs and shock from the Ss would transfer directly to the 12X. In combination with the low seat, this would give us shorties an easy path to the "XB12XL". Yes I know we would give up some of the off-road capability of the bike, but it would still be perfectly usable on smooth dirt roads which is more than satisfactory for me. If this mod would make the 12X accessible to me, its a compromise I would not hesitate to make! |
