Making A Big Bike Fit a Small Rider

The Valkyrie Tour as Purchased

I purchased a Honda Valkyrie last spring, it’s my dream bike.  It is also too high, too wide and too heavy for me. I am barely 5’5″ tall and have a 32″ inseam and I weigh 135 lbs.  I can ride it, but it really is overall too big for me and I need to do some customizing in order to make it safer and more comfortable for me.

 It was love at first sight the day I saw my first Valkyrie standard in 2007.  I couldn’t stop looking at it and even though I was timid, I had to ask if I could sit on it.  It was HUGE and obviously made for a rider of much larger strength and stature then myself.  I felt about the size of a peanut perched on this monster. I had to push myself forward on the seat to reach the handlebars and, partly because of the size and position of the six cylinder engine i was on my toes to reach the ground.  I know there are now bigger bikes, but this to me was so large it intimidated, and excited me at the same time.  It wasn’t even running and I could feel the potential power and thought of how it must feel to be able to manage such a machine.  The Tour model, dry is 714 lbs and there is still a 5.3 gallon gas tank to fill as well as coolant and oil.  So I think if you add it up its in the range of 780 lbs.  I was so disappointed, but it was much to big, so I put it out of my mind that I could ever own and ride this particular model.  I wasn’t even looking for a motorcycle at the time, I was happy with my Yamaha V-Star 650..but I always had it in my mind that it would be great if I could. 

Maybe it IS Possible

I thought about it a lot over time and slowly started to think that maybe, just maybe I could make it work.  I researched other women with Valkyrie’s and did find one that was going through the challenge of fitting it as well but there were not many out there.  Then I bought the DVD “Ride Like A Pro IV” by Jerry Palladino.  (I recommend this DVD to all riders and you can get more information by clicking the link.)  In this instructional video it features women of small stature handling large bikes.  It gave a few tips on making the bike fit the rider better but it was the focus of the DVD to teach riding skills. 

Lower and Lighten

Then, I happened to see a Valkyrie advertised for sale a few hundred miles from my home.  It was exactly what I wanted, at the right price, so I went out and bought it. Once I got the bike home, the first thing I did was remove everything that could be removed to reduce the weight.  The windshield was first which was fairly easy to do.  If you look at the picture above, the previous owner had a toolbag on the front of the handlebars that I took off because I think it obstructs airflow and it was ugly.  The rear seat and the homemade backrest was removed as well as the luggage rack.  Much of this is practical equipment and I don’t mind having it, but I wanted to lighten the bike.  The nice thing is that I can change the look of the bike and store the components to reinstall later if I want.  Then the hard bags and frames went and I started detailing and thinking about what I was going to do next.

Lowering Kits

Prior to purchasing the bike I was told by my Honda dealership’s parts department that it is easy and cheap to lower the bike.  I had read about lowering other bikes and didn’t look for parts for the Valkyrie, but assumed it would not be too hard.  Don’t assume!  I searched and searched and to this day I cannot find spacers to lower this particular bike. Other big cruisers? Yes, but not the Valkyrie.  I was also concerned about lowering the height of the bike too much because the engineers that designed the bike made it that height for a reason. 

( note: I recently discovered a lowering kit for the Goldwing and I am trying to figure out if it will work on my Valkyrie.)

Shorter Shocks

So the first thing I tried was softening the shocks, which I felt would not cause any problems because I am riding solo, I am fairly light and don’t have any cargo or even bags on the rear of the bike.  The shocks on my bike were stock.  The settings is from 1 – 5 and there is a tool in the tool pouch under the seat that aids in turning the cam to lower or raise the shocks.  I put it on the lowest setting and tried it.  It didn’t seem to really make much difference so I went back to my computer to find out if I could install shorter shocks.

I went to http://www.progressivesuspension.com/ and ordered the shortest shocks I could find to fit .They have a really well designed website and if you click on “What Fits My Ride”  it is very convenient to see only the products that fit your particular model. I ordered the 412 Series 11.5 inches, which is the shortest shock they have that would theoretically lower the bike by about 1 – 1.5 inches. 

The Longer Stock Shock

 The Shorter Progressive Shock

The installation of the shorter shocks was very straight-forward and easy to do.  It did make a difference in the height of the back of the bike but I will need to lower the forks to even it out.  That is something I have to research more and may attempt it this winter. If you look at the pictures you can see they are much different looking and I am very pleased with how they make my bike look. I didn’t want the all chrome because I think this bike has plenty of chrome already.  You can also see the black rear crash bars my husband made for me.  This helps me with confidence and turned out to be a very good decision because I did drop the bike turning off of a highway. (A bit more about that is here:  Learning to Ride A Bigger Bike. Only thing hurt was some scratches to the bar and my pride.

Lighter Pipes

I installed a set of Two Brothers Pipes that saved me 11 lbs per side for a total of 22 lbs.  They increase performance as well so that is a bonus, but they are a bit noisier which is a problems since this summer they passed a noise bylaw for motorcycles in the city I ride in.  Thats another story.  Here is how they look.  You can read more about the install here:      Installing TBR Pipes on a Valkyrie.

Lower the Seat Height

The seat on the Valkyrie is very easy to remove with a turn of a keylock and simply lifting it out.  The seat height is not adjustable so my next step was to find a lower seat.  The previous owner of this bike had altered the stock seat and I wanted a new one anyway.  After researching on the internet I decided on a low-rider from Ultimate Seats.  They claimed it would lower my height about one inch.  It did not, in fact it raised the overall height.  I discovered later that they had at some time changed the design of the seat and that may have been true in the earlier models but not with the model they sent me.  I liked the seat if it would have been lower, the quality and finish was very nice but, because my main objective is to lower the seat height, it was of no use to me and I sent it back.  I spoke to their Customer Service and they agreed to refund my money but i had to pay to ship it back which cost me $50 and I wasn’t pleased with that but I suppose that is the cost of doing business. 

I did manage to find a used Ultimate Seat that was not in great condition but I bought it for $20 and I am using it for now until I find a better solution. It is very old and probably the original design that is a bit lower. I do like how it fits me, so I will try to have it reupholstered.  I took the old stock seat apart and stripped it down to the pan, threw a sheepskin over it and tried it for height and was very pleased.  Now I know this is something to pursue and I am going to look into rebuilding the seat from the pan up or maybe even making a new pan.  I will report how this turns out when I get to it. 

Boots

My last idea was to make my legs longer.  I do have a very nice set of boots with a 2″ heel that I really like but I wanted something that made me taller but had a better platform to land on, so I took my old boots to the shoemaker and had him make the soles to my specs.  They would work great except on the Valkyrie.  There is not a lot of room, as it is, to get your foot under the shifter and with this big thick boot it is almost impossible.  I may try to invent something to attach to the boot to help with this but thats on the back burner for now.  I am considering something called a Kick Shift from Rattlebars to make shifting gears easier for me.  What I really liked was the Kliktronic Push Button Gear Shift.

Other Resources to Explore

I was excited to see some new technology that may help me a great deal.  It is a system where little wheels come out when you apply your brake and slow to a stop that prevent the bike from tipping over.  They come up and almost out of sight once you start moving so that the handling while moving would remain original.  They are not available for my model yet but I am watching eagerly to see if this might be my solution.  Again, I will be reporting my findings here as it becomes available. It is called LegUp Landin Gear.  I contacted them by email because they do make this product for the Goldwing and I think the Valkyrie might have the same frame dimensions so it might be possible.  

Handlebars

The handlebars were very easy to adjust and I did manage to loosen the bolts and lower the bars to make it a bit more comfortable but I will look for some curved risers that will bring the bars closer to me and I think that solution will be satisfactory and I won’t have to go to after-market bars.