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Maybe Done With My NC700x

Juan_Banjovy said:
Maybe I got the wrong bike. Alway liked these but my legs are too short for ADV bikes. I went through the same thing with my Vstrom 650. I can flat foot because the seat is thin, pointed & slanted downward. Which sucks after 20 miles. So I got a comfortable seat. Now I'm on my toes. So I got a lowering kit. Now the side stand & center stand are too long. So I spend even MORE time & money on an S model side stand which is too short. I also ordered an S model center stand off Amazon which is too long so it may be for an X model. I keep a piece of wood in the frunk to put under the side stand & I can't use the center stand. This is why I don't ride much. I bought the wrong bike. 1,200 miles in 2 years because I'm tired of fighting it. I'm old enough I must flat foot. I'll drop this if I'm on my toes. Difference is I can pick up this bike if I drop it. Not the Vstrom so I sold it. Looking at cruisers now. Not sure I'll like the weird ergonomics & I'm not a do rag guy but once winter is over I'll rent one & make a decision. This is a great bike for so many reasons but my legs are too short. It's probably a cruiser or quit riding. I hear the new NC750X have better seats that are lower. I'd bet they got feedback about the first generation. New ones not in my budget yet.
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I'm 5'9" with a 30" inseam , stock seat, and can balance it with my left foot down no problem. The center of gravity is so low, that it takes little to no effort to do this.
 
davidc83 said:
The nc700x paternal twin is the ctx 700 cruiser....same engine, same tranny (either manual or dct versions), basically has the same frame.
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That may be my best option. I checked & saw a few on Cycletrader. Checked RiderShare & there's one for rent but it's 273 miles away. Thinking about it.
 
I rode a Yamaha VStar for years and didn't have any ergonomic issues. It has a good forward flat foot to it. I even came off of back surgery while owning the bike with no concerts.
 
The Honda 500 comes in a rebel (cruiser) version. If you can ever find one, the new Sportster S looks interesting. That NT 1100 is also intriguin.
 
Juan_Banjovy said:
That may be my best option. I checked & saw a few on Cycletrader. Checked RiderShare & there's one for rent but it's 273 miles away. Thinking about it.
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We owned a 2016 CTX700 DCT. Great bike. Zero issues. Incredibly easy to ride. It was my wife’s primary bike. With a Corbin seat she was able to do 300+ miles in a day.
 
I found a compromise tonight. I'm happy. My speed bump was the red thread locker on the used adjustable lowering links I bought. Turns out they weren't adjustable with the red thread locker & frustration set in because I went through the same thing with my previous bike. Found a way to weaken red thread locker without cooking them at 500 degrees. Chlorinated brake cleaner. I used CRC Brakleen. Non-chlorinated doesn't work according to the Youtube video I saw. Anyway I broke loose the ends & shortened them halfway & put them back on. Adjusted them where the rear tire is one inch off the floor instead of three inches on the center stand. Used BLUE thread locker. Taller now but with the 1" inserts in my boots I can flat foot & it's MUCH easier to get it on the center stand now. Only thing left to do now is the side stand. It's an S model side stand because the stock one was too long so it's one inch too short. Weird that the S model side stand is too short but the S model center stand was too long. Anyway, options are shorten the original stand, get an adjustable side stand on eBay or attach something to the foot that's one inch thick. I'll deal with that next weekend. Got 2 days to ride before icy roads again. I didn't always have to flat foot. I always used one foot on my Vstrom & that got hard to do in my 60s. Always had weak ankles but they're weaker now. If I'm on my toes sometimes my ankles buckle & I don't want to drop this a dozen times like the the Vstrom I sold.
 
Oldbear said:
As the guys have noted, you really don’t have to have both feet down flat on the deck to be “safe”.Most guys that ride are pretty comfy with one foot down solid (or even just “toes down” ) and seldom if ever put both flat down on the deck. Suggest you try it on a nice flat surface (large parking lot) until YOU get comfy doing it. It may just be a thing you need to learn (if you’re a somewhat new rider). I Can probably count the times in the last couple hundred thousand miles that I’ve used (or even felt the need for) two feet of the fingers of one hand. With that said, I’ve been riding since ‘67. Right foot is on the brake and left is used as “landing gear“. The NC is so well balanced that I can bring her to a stop and use no feet for a few seconds. I used to ride a BMW Dakar that had like a 35” seat height. On it I had to lean a good bit for one foot to touch.. Don’t give upon the NC too quickly.
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My "standard practice" is left foot only.
Occasionally I'll do both, but not because I think I need the second foot for safety/stability, just to do something different. Like, I'll rock the bike back and forth between feet for something "interesting" to do while stopped in traffic or something.

The only time I chose to put both feet down was the first few times I brought a full dressed Harley to a stop. That thing was (top) heavy and until I had the feel of it, I wanted to be sure not to drop the (brand new, still inside break in period, and expensive) machine. After the first few stops, I got the feel and was back to one (left) foot only.
 
Juan_Banjovy said:
I found a compromise tonight. I'm happy. My speed bump was the red thread locker on the used adjustable lowering links I bought. Turns out they weren't adjustable with the red thread locker & frustration set in because I went through the same thing with my previous bike. Found a way to weaken red thread locker without cooking them at 500 degrees. Chlorinated brake cleaner. I used CRC Brakleen. Non-chlorinated doesn't work according to the Youtube video I saw. Anyway I broke loose the ends & shortened them halfway & put them back on. Adjusted them where the rear tire is one inch off the floor instead of three inches on the center stand. Used BLUE thread locker. Taller now but with the 1" inserts in my boots I can flat foot & it's MUCH easier to get it on the center stand now. Only thing left to do now is the side stand. It's an S model side stand because the stock one was too long so it's one inch too short. Weird that the S model side stand is too short but the S model center stand was too long. Anyway, options are shorten the original stand, get an adjustable side stand on eBay or attach something to the foot that's one inch thick. I'll deal with that next weekend. Got 2 days to ride before icy roads again. I didn't always have to flat foot. I always used one foot on my Vstrom & that got hard to do in my 60s. Always had weak ankles but they're weaker now. If I'm on my toes sometimes my ankles buckle & I don't want to drop this a dozen times like the the Vstrom I sold.
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You may want to wear high-top laced boots and/or an athletic ankle support to give more support.
 
lol tall guys just don't understand. They always say to just put one foot down. Imagine if you are 5'11" and your bike's seat was 38" high.... or even higher if you are taller than 5'11' (which is what it is like for a 5'6" guy and a 32" seat height), and you had to mount it and hold it up at a light on unlevel ground or on a hill, or in a sandy spot or gravel parking lot, then you might understand.
 
Juan_Banjovy said:
I found a compromise tonight. I'm happy. My speed bump was the red thread locker on the used adjustable lowering links I bought. Turns out they weren't adjustable with the red thread locker & frustration set in because I went through the same thing with my previous bike. Found a way to weaken red thread locker without cooking them at 500 degrees. Chlorinated brake cleaner. I used CRC Brakleen. Non-chlorinated doesn't work according to the Youtube video I saw. Anyway I broke loose the ends & shortened them halfway & put them back on. Adjusted them where the rear tire is one inch off the floor instead of three inches on the center stand. Used BLUE thread locker. Taller now but with the 1" inserts in my boots I can flat foot & it's MUCH easier to get it on the center stand now. Only thing left to do now is the side stand. It's an S model side stand because the stock one was too long so it's one inch too short. Weird that the S model side stand is too short but the S model center stand was too long. Anyway, options are shorten the original stand, get an adjustable side stand on eBay or attach something to the foot that's one inch thick. I'll deal with that next weekend. Got 2 days to ride before icy roads again. I didn't always have to flat foot. I always used one foot on my Vstrom & that got hard to do in my 60s. Always had weak ankles but they're weaker now. If I'm on my toes sometimes my ankles buckle & I don't want to drop this a dozen times like the the Vstrom I sold.
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Great news! A enhanced side stand “foot” may be just the ticket. The NC carry’s her weight low, and that’s a big help. Today even a lot of “little” bikes have seats designed for 6’5” Austrians ( talking to you KTM). I’m nearly 71, 5’11” with a 31” inseam. I fell in love with one of the 1190 Katooms and a Aprillia Caponord several years ago. Had a good deal on the KTM and a GREAT deal on the Capo, but the altitude was a deal breaker. Loved the way they rode and handled but I had to lean WAY over to get even my tiptoes down. In certain situations I could have gotten into I’d have had the bike leaned so far my ability to hold it up would have been questionable. I’m too old to be dropping and picking up motorcycles, so I passed on both. Still loved the bikes but the risk was too high for me. Later I was at a local shop and saw this big dude ( 6’6” at least)on a new KTM and HE couldn’t flat foot it . Makes you wonder what the designers are thinking. Never had a problem flat footing my old Norton Commando, KZ1000R or other bikes.
 
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Oldbear said:
Today even a lot of “little” bikes have seats designed for 6’5” Austrians ( talking to you KTM). I’m nearly 71, 5’11” with a 31” inseam. I fell in love with one of the 1190 Katooms and a Aprillia Caponord several years ago. Had a good deal on the KTM and a GREAT deal on the Capo, but the altitude was a deal breaker. Loved the way they rode and handled but I had to lean WAY over to get even my tiptoes down. In certain situations I could have gotten into I’d have had the bike leaned so far my ability to hold it up would have been questionable. I’m too old to be dropping and picking up motorcycles, so I passed on both. Still loved the bikes but the risk was too high for me. Later I was at a local shop and saw this big dude ( 6’6” at least) on a new KTM and HE couldn’t flat foot it . Makes you wonder what the designers are thinking.
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See that's what I was saying. That's what it's like for us munchkins with even the lowered 21's seat height. I sit on a lot of bikes in the showroom and my feet dangle inches above the ground on both sides. I did ride a KTM once. My nephew's. I climbed on, he held it up while I put it in gear and let out the clutch. When I came back from around the block I pulled up, stopped and hopped off, to hold it up lol. I rode a Yamaha Super Tenere' at a demo days and when I got back from the ride I couldn't get the sidestand extended. My leg wasn't long enough. My son ran over and put the sidestand down so I could climb off.

Being 5" taller would open up a whole new world of motorcycles I could own.
 
the Ferret said:
See that's what I was saying. That's what it's like for us munchkins with even the lowered 21's seat height. I sit on a lot of bikes in the showroom and my feet dangle inches above the ground on both sides. I did ride a KTM once. My nephew's. I climbed on, he held it up while I put it in gear and let out the clutch. When I came back from around the block I pulled up, stopped and hopped off, to hold it up lol. I rode a Yamaha Super Tenere' at a demo days and when I got back from the ride I couldn't get the sidestand extended. My leg wasn't long enough. My son ran over and put the sidestand down so I could climb off.

Being 5" taller would open up a whole new world of motorcycles I could own.
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You need 5" longer inseam, not necessary taller....:)
 
hulkss said:
I guess short people got no reason to..... own ADV bikes.
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I'm 5'4" with a 27 inseam and I handle it just fine with Soupy's about 1" lowered. There's very few instances where you need to flatfoot a bike (parking?). One foot down is mostly all I ever need. But then, most any bike is too tall for me, so you adapt, get used to it. I've had several BMWs (650 GS, 800ST, 2 each) all were like 33" seat height. Loved the bikes and put over 100K combined on them. I guess it didn't hurt coming from riding dirt bikes all those years. Think these are tall, how about a Kawasaki KDX?
 
dduelin said:
If one doesn't have to flat foot to be confident it opens up all kinds of possibilities of motorcycles. Lowering bikes with suspension and seating modifications just seems to bring all sorts of problems and having the requirement to flatfoot limits the type and style of motorcycle one chooses and even the places riders feel comfortable stopping. When I see someone coming to a stop looking like a duck busily paddling with both feet I judge ( perhaps incorrectly of course ) a rider that hasn't been taught how to stop a motorcycle with a firm hand on the reins. The bike has mastered the rider when it should be other other way 'round.

Try attacking it from the other direction and put in the work and practice to gain confidence in one's abilities to start and stop on motorcycles without having both feet flat on the ground. For example, you can choose beforehand what direction the bike will fall when it stops so plan on a flat foot that side. Just before the wheels stop turning, a tiny push on the left grip will make the bike favor the left side. It's counter steering at perhaps 1 to 0 mph. Reach down to stop with that leg down while the right foot remains on the brake. A tripod of two wheels and one foot is all the stability a motorcycle rider needs and the brake holds the bike from rolling and becoming unstable. Gain confidence in stopping with the bars squared up and very very gently using the front brake. The counter steering trick works the same both ways if you want to stop with the right foot down perhaps due to terrain or ground slope that favors the right foot down you must use the front brake to stop. A countersteering push on the right grip will make the bike favor the right side when the wheels stop. Hold the bike steady with the hand brake so it cannot start rolling and upset the tripod.

To push a bike backwards when only the toes of each foot can touch a useful trick is to sharply compress the forks with the front brake on then quickly release the brake so the bike begins to move backwards as the forks rebound. It takes more effort to start the bike moving than it does to keep it moving so then push backwards only with the one foot that has the best footing while the toes of the other foot are only needed to balance, not push so it's a sort of one leg doing the work.

As I age into my 51st year of riding I'm loosing inseam which never was more than 29". It's now 28 or less.
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Great tips Dave. Totally agree.
 
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