[eternal05]

Does anybody know of low-displacement sportbikes that, unlike the Ninja 250, might fit a tall guy? I love my Ninja to death, but the fact that my knees don’t fit in the grooves on the side of the tank is really starting to frustrate me now that I have another bike that fits me well. The contrast going from one to the other just makes it that much more painful. I was thinking of replacing it with a better-fitting, low-displacement, and relatively low-cost sportbike if I could find one.

Anybody know of any other than the H Aprilia RS125 (which has its drawbacks) that are available in the continental US? Anybody know if a 6’4″ rider could comfortably ride the RS125 or [insert proposed alternative here]?

I’d consider a dual-sport or a street naked (e.g. SV650/Monster/Street Triple/etc.), but I just got so used to getting 65mpg…

[briderdt]

I have a 2005 SV650s, and I just clocked my mileage at 54.6 mpg for my last two tanks. I’ll get more accurate numbers as the miles rack up, though (I’ve only put 900 miles myself). But I was actually pretty shocked after reading all these guys getting high 30’s to low 40’s on theirs. I’m not really timid about riding, but I’m also not a speed demon, and I like to cruise at about 3500 rpm. I don’t do much at highway speeds at all, so I figured I’d get lower.

You had to go and put in that “available in the US” in there to mess up the options… A Honda 250 Hornet would be a great sporty naked, but alas, not a US bike. I really don’t understand why Honda just HANDS OVER the entire market niche to Kawasaki.

I sat on a Johnny Pag naked “sport” (closer to a standard though), and I remember it being comfy, but I’m only 5’9″ and small change… YMMV.

For height, there’s the DRZ400, Versys, and Gladius. You could find a Monster 620 that would be on the lower displacement end. No idea how they’d fit you though.

[DK]

Maybe you could get a custom tank built to put on your ninja so you don’t have to give up on it?

[eternal05]

I was wondering about aftermarket options, but like you imply, I’d assume I’d have to get custom work to make that happen. I’d love for that to work, so I’ll look into it, see what happens, and if anything comes of it I’ll let you guys know.

[eternal05]

Alternatively, does anybody know of a good set of rearsets that they’d recommend for moving foot position back and/or down? Is there a lot of work required to adjust the foot controls to match new riding position?

[briderdt]

I put riser plates on my SV, but I put them on upside down so that they lowered the pegs by an inch (and put them back about .5″). Check with the Ninja 250 forums and see if there’s something similar for that bike.

[eternal05]

I just ordered some adjustable footpegs. I’ll let everybody know how that goes.

[Author]

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