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When you are new to motorcycles, a 250cc engine seems more than enough to satisfy your speed thrills and your joy of riding. When you are a small female, this is doubly true. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve been told that you shouldn’t ride a bike you can’t pick up. If that were true, I would never have gone past a pushbike! The reality is that many people, male and female, ride bikes which, if they were dropped, would have no chance of being righted by one person. That’s when you flag someone down and, terrible as it is to admit, that’s when being female is a distinct advantage!
The question when it comes to bikes and engine sizes, is one of personal preference rather than one of the size of the rider. In the past, one big problem for females wanting to ride bigger bikes, was that the seat heights were usually designed for men. This meant that you often had to ride, stopping on tiptoes. Now though, bike manufacturers are realising that there is a market for low seats with the increase in female riders.
When looking at engine size, what will be the best for you will depend on when you want to use the bike and your comfort zone. Really big bikes like 1300 or 1400 cc bikes, are not really practical for nipping in and out of traffic and parking in public carparks or outside on a regular basis. Aside from the fact that they are often as expensive as a car, they can be damaged by the weather and often unwieldy in heavy traffic.
If you are comfortable on a 250cc bike, having lessons on a bigger bike will be quite different. Aside from the obvious weight and power differences, larger engine bikes stop more quickly and take some getting used to. One of the main things you should really master on a smaller bike first is clutch control. For girls, and smaller men, the weight of the bigger bikes can easily overbalance the bike at certain key times such as when doing U-turns, going around roundabouts and doing figure-8s. Using your clutch correctly when performing these maneouvers means that you will be able to do them with control and not risk the bike falling. Let’s face it, if you’re 55kgs and the bike is 235kgs, your chances of holding the bike up once it starts to go are pretty remote!
So what if the bike does fall? What do you do then? The first and most important rule is to remember that the bike is replaceable and to get yourself out of the way. If you’re a small person, you’re not going to be able to hold it so don’t even try. The key of course is to not drop the bike in the first place, but if you do, let it fall and MOVE.
Another point to watch when on a bigger bike but also on small ones is the place that you are stopping. This is important for a number of reasons; firstly because you might be on gravel or soft ground which is unstable when you put your feet down. Secondly because, if the bike is big, you will probably find it difficult to reverse it and, if you park on a slight slope in the wrong direction, you will need help to get the bike out. Think ahead about where you intend to stop so that you are parked facing up slopes for easy reversing and so you avoid stopping on unstable surfaces. The worst thing that you can do is park facing the wrong way on gravel because you just have no purchase at all when you try to back out.
Aside from these few points to watch, there is no reason that you can’t enjoy the pleasures of riding a big bike. All you have to remember is to plan your riding thinking about your own skill and confidence levels.
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