* * Feeling small at the motorcycle store

Nothing makes me feel smaller than a visit to my local motorcycle showroom.

I’m a short person. Diminutive. Always have been. It’s a heredity thing and I’ve grown used to it and accept it. I think Abe Lincoln was right about height. When asked, “Mr. Lincoln, how long do you think a man’s legs should be?" he replied, "Long enough to reach the ground.” Mine do, unless I’m sitting on a new motorcycle.

I’ve had a love affair with motorcycles from my formative years. I’ve owned bikes off and on since I bought my first trail bike at age 14. Nowadays I have four in the garage, and I am a devoted rider, riding for commuting and recreation. I often say that living around here, with our plethora of scenic, winding, uncrowded back roads, and not owning a motorcycle is like living in Aspen and not having skis or living in Key West and not having a sailboat; it’s just a shame.

Each of my bikes has its own specialization and purpose. My newest is a 2007 “ST1300” touring bike, big enough for the missus and me to pack some luggage and hit the road for a few days. Next is a 1998 sleek speed bike, the “VFR Interceptor,” ideally suited for our curvy mountain roads. Then is my 1989 commuter bike, the “Hawk GT,” which for 17 years now has been my regular conveyance on the 16-mile round trip to the office and back. And lastly I have a classic bike from 1981, the “CBX,” that I ride on pretty weekends. Coincidentally, all four are Hondas, although I’ve owned other brands including Triumph and Yamaha, and don’t consider myself to be inordinately brand-loyal. But I appreciate Honda’s well-earned reputation for reliability.

Every now and then I get the urge to look at something new. Yamaha has just released a 700cc bike that caught my eye. I wanted to throw a leg over one, thinking of it as a possible replacement for the Hawk GT.

In my formative years, Harley Davidson was producing large, antiquated cruising bikes with time-honored V-twin motors. British bikes like BSA and Triumph were popular with more sport-minded riders. Then came the Japanese invasion, with smaller, inexpensive bikes flooding our shores. “You meet the nicest people on a Honda,” was one of the most successful marketing campaigns in history. Its flagship model, the CB-750, introduced in 1969, revolutionized motorcycling and brought millions of new riders into the fold.

These days, Harley is still strong as are the Japanese manufacturers. Triumph has been revitalized and other players like BMW, Ducati, KTM, Moto Guzzi, Victory, and dozens of other niche brands compete for riders’ dollars.

Motorcycles are increasingly specialized. There are still large cruisers, heavyweight machines with chair-like feet-forward riding positions. There are long-legged touring machines like the Gold Wing. There are racing bikes, both on-road and off-road. There are trail bikes, street bikes, commuter bikes, scooters, and a rapidly growing segment called adventure bikes. Which brings me to my current dilemma: none of the bikes in categories I’m interested in, with rare exception, fit me.

I have a 27” inseam. The adventure bikes in particular, designed for mixed on-road and off-road use, are huge machines. The most popular, the bike that defines the genre, is the BMW 1200-GS. This machine is simply monstrous, weighing over 500 pounds and with a seat height of over 35”. 

The average American male is 5’9” but nobody under 6’ can ride one. I love the concept of adventure touring, but the bikes are out of the question for me. Dirt bikes, even of smaller displacement like Kawasaki’s “beginner” KLX 250, are extraordinarily tall. When I sit on bikes like this, my feet dangle comically well off the ground.

Sport bikes like Suzuki’s GSX-R and Honda’s CBR have 33” seat heights. Better, but still a stretch for me. The cruisers have lower seats, but they don’t interest me.

I mentioned this dilemma to the salesman. He recognized the problem but shrugged, “The manufacturers build for the average size. It’s even more of a problem for our female customers, who are smaller and not as strong.”

In general, manufacturers are solving problems that I don’t have. Sport bikes routinely make over 100 horsepower and can reach speeds of over 180 mph, and yet new bikes are producing even more. On our country roads, nobody can use that much power. Why can’t they make a bike that is size-adjustable? The new Yamaha is a fine little machine, compact and sporty if overly origami for my styling tastes.

It’s a silver lining, I suppose, that none of the new bikes work well for me. I can keep riding the old ones, as they seem to last forever.