Hi all. New to this forum and new to my lastest toy. Just bought a 1400 mainly to use as a big miles bike, it has come set up well for me with most of the good gear on it. I have a couple of small issues with it which is making it a tad uncomfortable, after 100 klm i want to get back on me Cbf1000. I am 6'4 and 120 kg and the Cbf is a tad small but still a very smooth bike to ride. On the other hand the 1400 feels just right in size and width. One problem with the 1400 is i keep sliding down onto the tank, i feel like the front forks need to be an 1" or so over. Looking at the bike from the side it does not sit level, it sits nose down.So was wondering if anyone else has felt this as well? I have read up on it and can find fork extenders for quiet a few other bikes but nothing on the 1400 as yet, hence this post. I will try and send a picture, the seat in the picture has been removed with an original refitted, thanks
Just a thought..
Why not consider uprated fork springs?
A lot of Japanese bikes suffer from soggy springs..
Gidday Chop1961, nice to have you along. Where abouts are you in Australia? We've got members in WA and SA to Queensland. Depending where you are determines your options to a large extent.
Us 'well bodied (130Kg & 6'5")' riders do tend to side into the tank. It's the seat not the forks, which is why it probably had the aftermarket seat fitted. I've had mine modified & had a gel insert added. I lowered the profile (made it flatter) with a more pronounced (than standard) step up to the passenger seat. Works for me, although the bloke made it too long in the riders seat area, but that's another story.
@grog has a very good modded seat fitted to his, he's in Brisbane / Sunshine Coast way I think. He'd be able to steer you in the right direction if you're in that area too.
Other guys use an Airhawk and or Sheepskin.
I had the same feeling with the original seat, so I removed the original seat cover, added some more foam to the front end of the seat and riveted the seat cover back.
Now it works fine with me.
Reshape std or buy custom seat and set suspension for your weight and riding style and maybe add handlebar risers :cheers:
Thanks mate, i just left seat with people yesterday to pretty well do as you just said, fingers crossed. I do FIFO work so will find out when i get back how it goes. How do you go with being 6"5 riding the bike, do you get cramped up a bit with the footpegs? I ordered some 30mll lowering pegs from Germany which just turned up but a bit unsure weather to fit them as im not sure if i can adjust the brake leaver down to match (i will need to get down with me glasses on and have better look) its an age thing 😎 but i have fitted 25mm handlebar rises which did help, thanks mate. Sorry, forgot to add that yes in Australia
Hi there welcome to the forum :cheers: , Its horses for courses realy i have the original seat on mine and get on well with it although i do tend to slide forward a bit but not enough for me to change it .
A couple more things to check. Have the stanchions been lowered through the yoke? Are the shocks extended with a jack-up kit? Rear tire should be 190/50, some put a 190/55 on which will lift the rear.
The original seat height is 790 mm. Your custom seat? May want to bring it up 20-30mm besides taking out the slant.
Chop, glad to see you on here. get seat and forks sorted, youll enjoy. custom seat and forks on mine, i never move an inch. mrs used to slide into me, on bike i mean, nowhere else much :lol:, sheepskin cured that . sheepskin no good for kiwis, would be pulled over cuddling it. :rofl2:
Thanks for all the replys, have been in air but will respond asap, just landed and seen the replys, good stuff
Yeah, I get cramped up occasionally in hip joints. But being 'bike fit' helps a lot, so does stretching & flexing exercises. When I get that, I just stretch my leg (whichever one it is) out in front for a bit, it goes away most of the time.
It's why I bought a Triumph Explorer, no more camping or stretching needed :stir: :whistling:
@Chop1961 Ask
@Blubber how he gets on as he's the tallest person I know and he seams ok on his gsx1400.
:cheers:
Quote from: seth on Friday, 09 November 2018, 02:39 AM
@Chop1961
Ask @Blubber how he gets on as he's the tallest person I know and he seams ok on his gsx1400.
:cheers:
Hope he's not as tall as I am. If he is, I know his pain :smoke:
I'm 5'11"
Blubber is standing next to me
:doh:
That's photoshopped :whistling:
:happy1:
@Blubber I know your pain :cry2:
And for info emma's now short she and has her own gsx1400 .
She says it's much more comfy than her old mk2 1200 bandit .
:facepalm:
:cheesy:
On a more serious note:
I have added about 3cm of foam on the front to prevent me from sliding to the tank.
I run the 190/55 but I have a extended b-king front end in my 14.
I am 203cm btw, think I am lucky that my length is evenly spread. (Jeans 38" length is fine.) no issues riding my 14.
I did some adjustment to my 14's front end, also played with 3 different rear tyre sizes and. 30mm jack up blocks. When I got the handling and feel I wanted I also found the bike felt "tipped forward". Stock bikes don't, but they aren't as nimble.
My answer was to ride, ride, ride and ride some more.
I never got around to changing the seat and now it feels fine.
Some folk do need to change the bike to suit them.
Other folk want to fix the bars, seats, pegs, grips etc etc when they are fine and they just haven't put enough miles in to be familiar and find their form normal.
I personally avoid doing mods until I've put plenty of K's in as you don't have a good view or opinion of a bike your arse hasn't spent enough time on.
Hi all, thanks to all the replys, much appreciated. I did answer yesterday to all but for some reason it didnt load 😳 put a fair bit of writing into it as well, anyway, thats life. At the end of day it will pan out, il check if maybe the bike already has rear shockie jack-ups fitted, will also check rear tyre dia. But , the main thing is that theres blokes out there around my size that ride there Gsx,s in comfort which is a major plus 😎 I plan on doin a trip from central Western Australia back home to Cairns just after Christmas so ive gotta get it right, i feel comfortable that the sliding forward issue can be resolved, thats for sure. Now for my last question.. the best windscreen?? I will post this one on the appropriate page, i have played with windscreens on many bikes, mainly Harleys but for sure it will open a can of worms, those in the know who have played with heights and spacing out to reduce buffering will know what a headache it can be, really appreciate the feed back I received, many thanks
@Chop1961 Sorry you lost your writing. Most likely you didn't chose to stay logged in "forever" when logging in.
Hi all, just an update on my "sliding forward into tank" problem, it was an easy fix. Seen my local upholstery bloke and he cut where i sit down heaps and packed the front up where it meets the tank so it sorta blends up into the tank. Beautiful to ride now, hard to believe such a simple fix can change a bike so much, thanks.
Well done Chop. A new seat certainly improves 14.