[Supraholic]

The rr's good for short riders??!? I ride my buddy's '05 600 rr all the time...and it's cramped to say the least!! (although it's no literbike...)

{I ALWAYS recomend the gixxer as an all around sportbike to any seasoned rider... 600, 750, 1000...pick yer poison}

I don't personally think comfort is more important than performance...call me crazy...although I own a Katana just as my commuter bike (2 is better than one!), my Gix 750 is my weapon of choice...but I think my boy likes when I bring the Kat out, 'cause then he has a real reason to be slower!

I haven't ridden any of the new Ninjas...although I've heard they're the most comfortable of the big four, right there w/ the Gix...but they're sloppy on the track. (which ironically(sp?), out of the four, they've put the most public emphasis on track design), I'm don't know how "spirited" your riding gets...but if you want comfort in a SS, test ride a ZX...but for a rece...the GSX-R owns joo! (and is my 2nd most comfortable out of the four)

HTH
-Steve

-BTW...I'm 6'3"-6'4"...180lbs.

[SweetLou]

Honda CBR 1100xx...... A.K.A. "The BlackBird"

[WildKat]

Honda CBR 1100xx...... A.K.A. "The BlackBird"

that is an awesome bike, and so freekin comfortable too !

[irenekat]

i think jordan rides a gix

[The CyberPoet]

Many of the MotoGP riders are fairly tall (Rossi and Seti excepted). The standard practice is for riders to get shorter dogbones (rear suspension links) to raise the rear of the bike up, and rear-sets (to change the foot's position). Given that combination, many bikes can be tailored to you... Probably more importantly than your total height is your inseam length, which really dictates how tall the bike has to be to be comfy.

A lot of taller/bigger riders tend to look at G/S (Gelande/Strasse -- which means on+off-road) and GS-wanna-be bikes, like the VStrom, the BMW GS series, Triumph Tiger, KTM 990, etc. because of the higher riding position and longer shock/fork travel makes the natural riding position more comfortable for their tall frames.

Good Luck!

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[MadMax]

Hey K! Like you I put a fair bit of investigation into finding a good fit on a sport bike. I am 6'6" with a 34" inseam and find many bikes tollerable but not ideal (aka cramped). This list comprises what I found to be the best for me starting from the best.

1) ZX12R Ninja
2) CBR1100XX Blackbird
3) Triumph 955 Daytona
4) GSXR 1300 Hayabusa
5) Katana

Since 1~4 were out-of-this-world for insurance I went for the Kat. Good luck, and like Cyber said you can always modify to tweak the fit of any bike.

[Mojoe]

personally, I think you better just decided which bikes are on your "I would buy" list, then go sit on them for yourself. and you don't state what kind of riding you want to do. will you be on it of a few hours, or will you spend 10+ hours on it? I am 6'1 and have bad knees. I have yet to sit on a true sportbike that I felt I would be able to ride all day without some major discomfort. Never tried the Blackbird though. I KNOW the kawas are out.

there are also things you have to consider. your gut is one. if you have a bigass gut that pushes your ass back 3-4 inches more than usual, and it makes the reach for the bars lower and farther....well, you aint going to be all that comfortable.

you are asking a very general question because there is alot to consider.