Hi guys,

I just bought my first bike, a 02 F4i. I'm going to take MSF classes in next few days, and hopefully will get a license waiver by next week.

I haven't ride my bike yet cause I really don't feel safe with one foot barely touch the ground (I'm 5'6, 140lbs, and I'm the more torso than leg type person). I have dropped the bike once while trying to move it in garage. Lifting nearly 400lbs of weight is not fun, and it really hurts my arms.

Is there any vertically challenged rider here? I would like to hear your CBR riding experiences. I really feel sorry for my bike after dropped it.

 

Make sure you are lifting the bike properly so you don't hurt yourself. Here is a Youtube video that you can study in case it happens again.
Girl lifting Harley - YouTube

Are you able to plant both your feet on the ground when standing over your bike? If you don't feel stable at a stop you might want to look into getting it modified to sit a little lower. If your stability at stop isn't an issue I think you'll be fine once you build some more confidence in your riding skills with practice. There is some great info about riding practices in the How To: Riding Skills section.

How To: Riding Skills - CBR Forum - Enthusiast forums for Honda CBR Owners

This video on counter steering is worth checking out.

Counter Steering - How to Ride a Motorbike - Part 3 - YouTube

 

Hey welcome aboard.

If yanhang about for a bit, Yumi will prolly pop is and offer to trade you heights. She rides a 600rr and is under 5'. You can do some minor modifications to get yourself to flat foot (shaving the seat cushion, buying different motorcycle riding boots). Then there are the next level of mods to lower the bike height (lowering linkage and adjusting the fork height). The most expensive and complex are changing the springs in the forks and on the rear shock.

But I doubt you need to go anywhere near that far. Change your riding boots and get to know your bike. Almost everyone drops their bike once (I dropped mine twice in 10 minutes). Its mostly a confidence thing. And with experience + confidence you'll find flat footing over-rated. I'm 5' 11" and usually only have 1 foot down with the bike slightly leaned.

 

mordeth13 has lots of good videos on youtube for new riders. i think he has a website with instructional videos listed.

 

4"11" here

Nobody has more vertically challenged them me. you will be fine as you get used to

I was a first time rider and really had challenge getting over the fear and anxiety. What I did in the beginning was... because nobody was helping me to learn and I was scared to put my feet on the peg (because I was not good at brake and dropped it couple times when I came to stop), I powerwalked one way and I got off and push the bike backwards to the starting point. That made me used to with the weight of the bike and how the weight it distributed too. I have impressive forearms due to this. haha ask people who knows me.

I think once you get used to with the front brake, you should be fine. I normally have both toe touching the ground when I come to stop. Sometimes, my left leg reaches more than right. If I leave my right feet on the brake. I can flat feet the left.

You will be fine.

 

Same height as you, maybe a 1/2" shorter or so and the same year/model bike. Riding for a couple of months now. You'll get use to the weight and the height, it just takes a while. I find that a good comfortable pair of over the ankle leather hiking boots make a good wear for the day and helps with the leg reach and traction.

 

Thanks guys! All of your advice are helpful to a noob like me, lol!

I tried to practice move my bike into a parking spot. Apparently, the pushing method some of you have mentioned is not working for me because I tend to lean my bike to my side. I'm using the duck-working method now, which works well except it's slow and looks really funny.
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I realized the hardest part of learning motorcycle is to keep it stable at low speed and complete stop. Can I use only one foot to balance my bike instead of use both? I feel it's more stable than using both feet.

 

I have been riding for a month now was very nervous ,first time I tried my bike out I flew across my lawn .....freaked me out ,but I got use to all my controls .I strongly recommend msf coarse help me out a great deal.now to the height I'm 5'5" I sat on a stock 08 gsxr and was on my toes didn't like that at all.then I found my bike 02 f4i has 2" drop that puts my feet flat on the ground.I love it

 

I have the same bike/year as you man but not the height problem seeing as how Im 6'2 lol. Im in the same newb boat as you though. Cant wait to see some pics of yours.