Standing tall at 5’0, finding a bike that I could comfortably handle
without standing on my tippy toes at every stop sign and intersection proved to
be a bit of a challenge. But as more and
more people are starting to get into riding motorcycles, including an increase
in women, the motorcycle industry is starting to adapt to the trend of the
smaller, female rider.
 |
| The new Softtail Slim |
For the 2012 lineup, Harley Davidson has shaved down there classic
Softtail and introduced the newest member to the
Softtail family, the ‘
Softtail Slim’. Essentially it's the Softtail, but with all of the ‘fancy stuff’ removed, leaving a vintage exposed
steel look. The pro of this strip down is it gives the bike the lowest seat height for HDs yet, at 23.9 inches (heights range from 24 - 36 inches) off
the ground. The one con to this HD though may be its price point, starting at a
base price of $15,499, it may be a bit out of some
peoples budgets.
For those of you petite riders who aren’t ready to
drop that amount of money on a new bike, heres a few lower bikes I found that
are a little bit more reasonably priced:
 |
| Honda Rebel: 26.6 Inch Seat Height, $4999 (new) |
 |
| Honda Shadow VLX: 25.6 Inch Seat Height, $5399 (new) |
 |
Buell Blast - 25.5 Inch Seat Height - $4795 (new, although no longer in production, so only used ones are on the market)
|
In light of the fact that the ride of my dreams costs about $125,000 (the four legged kind), $15499 does not seem so bad. I do like the Hondas and would go that route if I were to take up motorcycles. Now where are those winning lotto numbers?
ReplyDeleteI love that you're breaking the stereotype of the typical biker. You almost make me want to ride a motorcycle myself, if only I weren't averse to broken bones.
ReplyDeleteMy family has always been into motorcycles too. One of my concerns about ever getting my own is not being able to touch properly and having it fall over. Knowing that there are more bikes built for us females makes me want to re-think getting my own one day. Thanks for all the helpful info!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad there are tiny bikes for tiny chicks :) My reasons for NOT riding one are decreasing with every post...
ReplyDeleteIf only it was available in pink, I would be sold. Thanks for the insight Ellen!
ReplyDelete