Trailriding Mods for Tall Blokes

[AlexMember]

Being old and tall can make trail riding harder than it should be on the body.
Anyone keen to share their setup or ideas/opinions on mods for easing the sit-stand-sit transition effort?

My efforts so far are:
– Ride a KTM. I have found they used to suite taller riders.
– Fastway 3 pegs with the “lowboy” position. Pegs can be adjusted to 8mm lower than standard. Sadly there is a big gotcha with that – the peg sits further back toward the rear of the bike. I end up with heels on pegs.
– Handlebar risers. I’ve got a 25mm block of aluminium under the bar mounts.

First questions are:
– What bend/brand/model of handlebars have the highest bend to do the job?
– What tall seat does the job without being overpriced?
– Is there any other tricks I don’t know of? Is there any “gotchas” with any of these mods?

Axel

[Eric SmithMember]

Oh you poor “old” thing! And tall too! Next you’ll be handsome, have a beautiful wife and daughter, great job and lovely house!

Mate, not being a tall rider myself I can only pass on my experience from others, but the consensus seems to be that, yes, KTM and Husaberg seem to suit taller riders. Husky’s tend to feel cramped, but tall bars and high rise seat helps. Bar risers also good.

In terms of a tall seat, a few blokes I know have modded the stock seat with foam they bought themselves. The downside is that the seat often ends up very flat from front to back. Oh, and your shorter mates won’t want to borrow your bike!

I’ll shut up now! Sorry I couldn’t be of more help!

[DarrenMember]

If one more person looks at my Husaberg, and then at me, and then at the Berg, and back to me, and says “are you sure your feet will touch the ground?”… “It looks really big compared to you” … I think I will punch them!

The moral to the story, get a Berg or KTM, they are quite “tall” (obviously).

BTW: I’m 5’8 and a half, but with kinda short legs (I’ve been told).

Razz

[alanMember]

your only a young pup axel :kiss: young and tall hay at least your not old and fat ride more and a spoon of cement will fix it :laugh: ps would love to try a tall seat to :whistle: allso piss those bar rasers of makes it harder to get round corners have been down that track na just get some higher ones might slow you down a bit

[AlexMember]

Looks like I know more about this than you lot….

[Steve WyethMember]

axel wrote:

Looks like I know more about this than you lot….

Yet, you’re still here asking questions about it :whistle:

[AlexMember]

moto wrote:

axel wrote:

Looks like I know more about this than you lot….

Yet, you’re still here asking questions about it :whistle:

Farkinell. Well that’s a real shame isn’t it.

[Matt BakerMember]

Protaper handlebars, Pastrana FMX/ATV Race are the highest bend, they are a bit narrower than normal.

On my 625 I ran these with a 25mm riser and the clamps in the most forward position. On my Berg I run the standard bars, I started with 25mm risers, recently reduced to 20mm but will be going to 15mm soon for better cornering. I also roll the bars forward in the clamps but thats just the way I like it.

The seat on the Berg is higher than the 625 so going from sitting to standing is not such an issue, I think lowering the pegs will make it get stuck in ruts a little easier.

When I get tired I use bumps on the trail to seat bounce up onto my feet.

[Matt BakerMember]

BTW Alex you’re not that tall you’re just old

[AlexMember]

LC4skin wrote:

Protaper handlebars, Pastrana FMX/ATV Race are the highest bend, they are a bit narrower than normal.

On my 625 I ran these with a 25mm riser and the clamps in the most forward position. On my Berg I run the standard bars, I started with 25mm risers, recently reduced to 20mm but will be going to 15mm soon for better cornering. I also roll the bars forward in the clamps but thats just the way I like it.

The seat on the Berg is higher than the 625 so going from sitting to standing is not such an issue, I think lowering the pegs will make it get stuck in ruts a little easier.

When I get tired I use bumps on the trail to seat bounce up onto my feet.

Hooray some good info. Thanks LC.

– They still make a Pastrana bend after all these years. Will look them up.
– I understand raising the bars affects the handling, that’s why I tried dropping the pegs. As for dragging in ruts, don’t you remember XR pegs!?! How low were they! I am hesitant to fool around with the pegs due to safety although it really is the “best” option in my opinion anyway.
– Enduro Engineering make a tough tall seat (Suttos has a special) but they are really weird looking.
– I use bumps to stand up too. Way too often now days.

[RoyMember]

Not so sure about the KTM being better for tall people. I have a 2009 KTM and feel like a hunch back riding it when standing up. I had a 2003 yamaha WR 250 and it felt fine. The KTM feels better sitting, the yamaha better standing.

I’ve tried bar raisers on the KTM but found I kept washing out the front end on corners so got rid of them. I’ve had to replace my bars a couple of times and from memory the ktm bend is one of the highest already. I don’t think it is as high as the Pastrana but not far behind it.

I have never worried about lower pegs higher bend as the difference is always sub 10mm. How much difference can that little amount make to how it feels.

[AlexMember]

Bundyroy wrote:

I have never worried about lower pegs higher bend as the difference is always sub 10mm. How much difference can that little amount make to how it feels.

I can answer that = a noticeable difference. I noticed with pegs at a lower position the pain reduction in the quads was noticeable at the end of a long day. At the time I thought it was worth the $160. Problem is I had to but 5-10mm from front of my Tech 6 heals so my boot would be in the correct position. I’m not hacking my Tech 7 boots this time.

Lower the pegs means I won’t have to raise the bars or seat height and change the handling of the bike.

[Alex RichardsonMember]

My old berg had underbar mount then a set or raisers with Pastrana high bends. Was great to learn how to ride standing up but was extreme. Tried taking the raisers off a few times and didnt change the front end much but the back was noticably sorer at the end of the day

Also had tall seat and low fastway pegs. These two made a huge difference for me as I had more bike between the legs to grip on to. Steg pegz helped as well especially for up hills.

You can see in the pic that my new KTM is tall standard. It only has the same bar raisers with standard bars and is only slightly lower than my berg was. Also have the extra tall KTM hardparts seat. Looks good and was only $120 so pretty good I reckon!

[Jeffrey SmithMember]

I had a taller seat that came on the Berg when I bought it, it also had 25mm bar risers. I tried swapping back to the standard seat to see the difference but didn’t find it noticeable really.

I am 6′ 2”.

[Alex RichardsonMember]

The other advantage of the tall seat is less distance / effort to go from sitting to standing. I am 6’6 so will take any help I can get!

[Author]

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