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bike for shorty to thailand bike for shorty to thailand
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Which Bike? Comments and Questions on what is the best bike for YOU, for YOUR trip. Note that we believe that ANY bike will do, so please remember that it's all down to PERSONAL OPINION. Technical Questions for all brands go in their own forum.
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Old 4 Jan 2010
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bike for shorty to thailand
Hello all, this is my first post so please be gentle my other half and i are thinking of riding to thailand, i really have just started looking into it so ill post loads of questions but the first has to be what bikes to use, both of us are short im 5'4" and she is 5'2". Ill ride anything but she would prefer something that has a fairly low seat height. Any thoughts.....
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Old 7 Jan 2010
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Hi there. I am also short 5'4" so i have some experience with finding the right dual purpose motorcycle for those with compromised inseams. I have only been to northern Thailand (Golden Triangle)so I cannot comment on riding in the south. In the north the roads can be very narrow with lots of twisties. I do not know where you live or if you plan on bringing your own motorcycle to Thailand. Most of the people ride small bikes or scooters so a small motorcycle will do it in Thailand. Some of the roads can be extremely congested as there are a lot more Toyota pickups and SUV's on the road.
Check out the Hubb site there is a lot of great information available about motorcycles for short people or Adv Rider. I now ride a 2002 BMW F650GS in Canada, however, if I was riding around Thailand I would rent, buy or bring a motorcycle that was much lighter(check out Chiang Mai for rentals or to buy). So if you are bringing a bike from North America an XT225/250 or a kawa super sherpa. If you want something bigger a Suzuki DR650 can be lowered easily or a BMW650GS. There are a lot more options in Europe. Australia,etc if you come from there.
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Old 8 Jan 2010
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im traveling from the uk, so im looking at maybe the BMW f650gs or the XT600 the Beemer is more expencive but is far better on fuel so the jury is still out.....
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Old 9 Jan 2010
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Trix, what do you both ride now? Are your current bikes not suitable?
If you haven't already, it may be worth asking on HUBB for suggested routes.

Having only hired a bike in Thailand (quite different to your journey) I was happy with a 125cc moped (2-up) for local journeys and hired a 400cc bike for longer distances (still 2-up). Anything bigger than this wasn't required and difficult to find (I believe due to their import regulations).

Do you want to ride off-road? How much off-roading do you want to do?
Thailand has got excellent - mostly tarmac - roads and you would be fine ridng almost anything there. But I'm sure you could find lots of off-road to do too. I would say it's the roads from here to Thailand you need to investigate further.

BTW - I'm 5'2" and have ridden a low-seat F650GS Twin and it was fine but your wife may want to consider a lowered frame version if she prefers her feet flat on the floor.
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Old 9 Jan 2010
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Originally Posted by pheonix View Post
Trix, what do you both ride now? Are your current bikes not suitable?

Currently in the garage is two 1200 bandits a 650 bandit (lowered) a 600 bandit a 400 bandit a ducati 900ss (which ill swap for a xt if anyone wants it) a fs1e and a rd350lc. The better half has already ridden through Thailand on a 400, ive only ridden in europe. Not sure on what sort of roads we will encounter as im still looking at the route.
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