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'Comfort' on the street

11118 Views 16 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  StoneyWV
I am set on this bike being my next, but I read reviews that say that the ergos are "aggressive" for a street bike. Zack Courts (who is over 6 ft) said they were outright uncomfortable. Another person I know that is about my height said that they're not that bad. I haven't been able to get on one due to their lack of availability.
I'm 5' 6" with a 30" inseam.

I'm curious what you all find for street riding and comfort - if you can list your height, too I'd appreciate it.
  • Do you find the bike reasonably comfortable for long days on the street?
  • If you find the bike not that comfy, is it just one of those "it's so fun to ride I don't care. I make it work." things? Or are you second-guessing your decision?
  • If it's not that comfy, where do you feel it? Wrists? Back?
If you have a reference point with the ergos related to a Panigale, an R6 or a Ninja 400, I'd love it. For example, less aggro than an R6, more than a Ninja - which is how I picture it...? My prior bike was a Monster 1200s with clip ons, so not super upright but not super aggressive.

I'm not worried about ergos related to track riding, as I know it will be fine there.

I do know that you can tweak the bike to fit better and be more comfortable - just looking for overall impressions.

Thanks!
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I’m 5’8 with a 31” inseam. The way the R7 seat height is setup is kind of deceiving. I say that because the tank is so slim that when I get on the bike itself I can damn near flat-footed at my height. But when I sit on the 2017+ R6 I cannot. It’s also been awhile so maybe someone else who owns one can chime in.

Compare this to the Ninja 400, a bike that is easily flat footed .. the R7 is taller and more aggressive. The ninja 400 is close to a naked bike upright style.

Compare the R7 to the R3 - same comments as above

Compare the R7 to the 2020 R1 and you will find the R1 is the most aggressive … almost as if your in a constant fetal position. The R7 is not this bad.

On the street the R7 is fine even with it’s sporty position. I ride mine to work often and don’t have an issue. Sometimes my wrists will get sore but a quick change of my body position such as gripping the tank with my legs fixes things. This can be tiring though for long street rides.

I rode the R7 back from the dealer roughly 3 hours all interstate and yes my back and knees were sore. Those moments def need lots of body changes on the bike and leg stretching like Rossi going into a turn.

Overall it’s not terrible but it won’t be super comfortable like a naked bike. Honestly though, I enjoy it and wanted this style as that’s what I enjoy.
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The R1 also is the tallest bike between the whole R series. I was always on my tip toes. (When not doing one foot down) And it’s not a huge difference in measurement of a difference between R7 - 32.9 vs R1 - 33.7

R6 and R1 or any in-line 4 is gonna be wide effectively making your reach to the ground higher. R7 didn’t have that problem
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I can't wait to be home after 45 mins. It used to be 30 mins before I switched out the clip ons to zero degree. With my 2020 r3 and grom, I can ride for more than an hour before having to take a break. Usually my butt would hurt first from the seat. R7 seat is comfy but the position is a bit more aggressive compared to the grom or the R3.

I'm 5'8 - 5'9 with a 30 inseam.
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Thanks, that’s all helpful. I’m not worried about the height as much as how far forward the bars seem.

So compared to the R6, how much further forward are you onto your arms versus the R7? I’ve only ridden an R1 once and it was a couple of years ago so I don’t remember it well.

Right now it sounds like you’re saying that it’s a little uncomfortable on longer rides but the fun makes it worth it. I’m sure some ergonomic specific tweaks would help as well.

To be honest, I used to lay on the tank a lot on the monster on highways because I was too stubborn to put a windscreen on it because I didn’t like how it looked. 😂 So laying on the tank is not an issue for me and I’m sure that would offload some of the wrist/back stuff on longer days, too.
I’m not familiar with the R3… But assuming it is similar to the ninja 400 positioning?
I’m not familiar with the R3… But assuming it is similar to the ninja 400 positioning?
Yes, r3 is more upright riding position. Handle bars are set higher and on top of the triple as well as the rearsets placement.

R7 is low and stock clip ons is at - 7 degrees.
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@Volcom1216 which clip-ons did you get? 50mm right? I’ve been looking at the Driven Halo ones.

@magpie as far as comfort is concerned, the only thing that bothers me after about 30 mins. riding is my wrists. I’m 6ft though. The Tech Spec tank pads really helped get a better grip on the bike though in my opinion.
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I'm 6' tall, 230, my son is 6'5" 280, we both find the stock position very comfortable on the street, canyon, or track. We can go through a tank on the streets easy without needing to rest. The only thing I didn't like about positioning comfort, which I never like, are the Yamaha factory pegs so they were changed. I've been meaning to measure the R7 to compare to the other R bikes, I have each so this shouldn't be so difficult for me. <facepalm> The geometry is similar to the R6 angle wise the advertising said, but I am not sure of the distances, I'll try to do that tomorrow, I've wanted to do that so I just should do it.
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Thanks, for your input.
And re: the R6 - I'd appreciate it! My husband has an R6 for racing so that would be helpful.

I usually swap out for adjustable pegs on my bikes also, no matter the manufacturer.
I apparently did not have a protractor, I checked both kids rooms, nothing, so I printed one and having a measuring tape ready, I am just still working. Angles and distances is what I am after for the R3, R6, R7, R1. The R6 and R1 have aftermarket rearsets and clipons, the R1 also has aftermarket seat pan as well so those will not be factory angles and measurements.
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I owned a Ninja 400 outright about 1 year ago as a second bike It's fun, you can climb balls up the wall and really have fun doing it It's really fun on the winding country roads near me It's also more comfortable than most Supersports Although I'm a little on the heavy side, I'm also 6'2 Sometimes I wish I had a bigger bike This is why I like my bike for comfort Everything is fine in the countryside. Equivalent horsepower, I've run it up to 130, which isn't the most accurate, but still capable of at least 200 mph. It was also cheap. I wish there were more aftermarket items like road bikes also, especially aftermarket fairings Currently only race fairings are available.
I'm 6'5 and this is my first bike so it's diffucult for me to compare it to anything except the R3 which I test rode a few times.
I have no issues with comfort on day to day but after 1,5 hour my butt hurts and wrist may be a little sore but I find that pretty common on sportbikes if you ask around.
I mostly use it for transportation to work and it works just fine.
For commuting I'll put a small tank bag on & lay on that for highway stretches. For fun rides in usually moving around/changing position enough that I don't get sore. I'm 6'1 and about 190lbs.

I did swap out the clip ons for a pair of Woodcrafts and I pushed them forward a little. I don't know if it helped with the comfort, but having the longer bars and with them less angled back seems to give me better leverage and the bike turns more easily. You might try playing with the bar position and see if that helps.
6' tall 200 pounds. This is the third super sport I have owned, I had 2003 ZX-6R, Victory Vegas, 2011 ZX6R, and recently a 2015 GSX-S750. I would say my R7 bars are about an inch taller up than both of those ZX-6Rs. There reach to them seems about the same, I put the woodcraft rear sets on my R7 last week and put them in a position that is about 5mm down and few mm forward from where the stock ones were located and that fits me little better as it gets my legs in the middle of the tank for grip.
I would say after about an hour of riding the roads I'm feeling it, but I'm not one that drags knees in the corner I just like the handling of the super sports better than the naked bikes. If I was going faster I probably would be getting more time before fatigue due to moving around a lot. I am planning on putting the 35mm risers on my bike soon to raise the bars up about an inch but it's still in the break in process and I want a solid 600-1000 miles on it before I do that.
I take my bike out to give myself a little need for speed rush when I ride which normally never exceeds two hours. I don't do commuting over 30 minutes and never get on the interstate with it which is why I got the bike that's the most fun for me. If you plan on putting tens of thousands of miles on a bike each year I would think the MT would be the better choice, however I don't like the twitchy handling of the naked bikes at speed which is why I got rid of my GSX-S750 in favor of buying the R7, and the adjustability of the suspension.
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The woodcrafts can give you at least an inch down. I put them all the way down and ended up bringing them back up because it was too relaxed. I have not installed the clip ons yet and I'm not sure that I will. I think the position of the bars factory is pretty damn good now that I've gotten used to it..
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