Tall-proofing a Fazer

[Yamazer-92]

I'm struggling to sell my Fazer and don't want to sell it for pennies, I like it too much and not riding it for 2 weeks has made me miss it alot. I'm now thinking I'm a daft foccer for even trying to sell it. I bought it after a lot of research thinking I would keep it for years as my main bike and then workhorse when I can afford one I really really want which would only come out in the dry (likely GSX1400 or XJR).


My main issue is my right knee in particular hurts when I ride the bike too long. I'm going to go to the doctor as a start, but the knee position of the bike isn't helping and I didn't test ride it when I bought it my dad did who is a couple of inches shorter (I was still on 33hp restriction for a month). It is comfy for 10 miles or less, so sitting on it in the showroom didn't point this out to me. What I'm asking is what can I do to the bike to help with this?


My ideas are :

• Pack out, raise up a few inches and re-cover the seat. The thing I worry about is will my legs go into the tank grooves properly after that?
• Raise the bike with 40mm dog bones.
• Bar risers and wider bars?
• Somehow lowering the foot pegs slightly although I already scrape them if I'm riding a bit OTT.

Also if I were to keep it, I would also need some stainless pipes or to re-weld and paint mine for the 2nd time in a year. There probably isn't much left for them to weld to to be honest but I can't find the Motad Venom stainless ones on ebay anymore? This is all quite a lot to think about and I still have 4 days of the advert left but I just wanted to know if anyone has done these mods or have had a similar problem to me. Thanks.

[mr self destruct]

My ideas are :

• Pack out, raise up a few inches and re-cover the seat. The thing I worry about is will my legs go into the tank grooves properly after that?
• Raise the bike with 40mm dog bones.
• Bar risers and wider bars?
• Somehow lowering the foot pegs slightly although I already scrape them if I'm riding a bit OTT.

I'm in exactly the same boat and can't ride for more than 90 minutes without serious leg pain. I have considered selling up but I love the bike too much.
The conclusion I came to was that it's the arse to foot distance that's the problem, so raising or lowering the bike won't make any difference except when you're at a stop.
Over winter I'm going to fit adjustable footpegs on it and get a taller seat made up.


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yamaha-FZS-600-Fazer-1999-Vario-23mm-Adjustable-Front-Footrests-Foot-Peg-/130820080669?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item1e757c041d

[elbrownos]

Don't buy Motad Venoms off ebay, just ring up Motad & get them for the same price. £150 + postage

[CRH]

i rode a foxeye like mine earlier this year, which had 2inch extra padding in seat!!...it was totaly amazing in how it transformed the comfort and leg room!!..ime 6ft 1 ......still not done mine yet though?...only thing i have done is lifted bars 30mm,,,

[Fraser]

A nice set of Oberon footpegs lower them by about 10mm, not alot but def noticable.

[ChristoT]

How tall are you? I'm 6ft 3 an, with a 38" leg, and I was OK on the Fazer.

BTW, I'm selling some decent downpipes for £80 in my breaking post.

[CRH]

How tall are you? I'm 6ft 3 an, with a 38" leg, and I was OK on the Fazer.

...fkn hell christo? ....didnt know you only got one leg?....

[Punkstig]

Seat pads are about £30 on eBay, cheap way of finding out if it helps with the discomfort

[noggythenog]

I agree with Mr Self Destruct, it's the arse feet measurement on the fazer that is too squashed....not that i get any pain because i dont but at almost 6 feet i really do feel that i could do with increasing that distance a bit to make it ideal.


One of those air hawk gel pad thingys would probably work a trat plus make the seat comfier on your arse too.


I might try it.

[mr self destruct]

Another thing to consider, contrary to my earlier post, is that if you're raising the seat height it might be wise to lower the bike by the same amount. That way the arse-ground distance doesn't change.

[darrsi]

Arse implants.......i hear they're all the rage. 

[Yamazer-92]

Well I'm glad its not just me anyway. I had this problem on 2 of my previous bikes as well and sold them fairly easily, but I didn't like them like I like my Fazer so wasn't that fussed, they were smaller than the Fazer too. No reviews of the Fazer said "not ideal for tall riders" and it's not a small bike so it was something I wasn't really prepared for.


I do agree it's the pegs to seat distance definitely, especially the right as I have to have the ball of my foot on the peg or the brake lever gets in the way of my boot. I do think my knees may be slightly knackered though because at work if I squat down for too long when I stand up it's really painful at first and I walk like I've just crapped myself for a few seconds, I'm only 21! 


Those adjustable pegs look great, quite pricey but worth it if they are an inch or so lower. I don't think it mentions on the advert so does anyone have any and can vouch for them?


I do think padding the seat will be a good idea, I went to Wales and had a small cushion in my waterproofs the whole way and that raised me a few inches which helped as we were covering a couple of hundred miles or so a day which whilst quite bad would have been crippling otherwise.


Christo I'm 6 foot 4 and I can't remember what my leg measurement is but they're pretty long like yours. Like I say I think there may be a medical issue contributing here as well as have had a couple of sport / one biking incident that put a lot of strain on my knees and the right one in particular.


Self destruct I have wanted to raise it a lot higher for quite some time because when I'm filtering or stopped at lights, especially when I have a heavy pillion, my shins feel like they are uncomfortably long in a strange way and it unsettles the bike if I'm not careful so I sometimes have both feet down.


The raising seat thing though - In wales I was a bit worries my legs didn't quite go into the tank grooves as they should. Also I was so much taller than the screen at that point it was doing bugger all. I've always been tempted to make my Fazer naked but there are a few factors stopping me, the main being it's too back-heavy looking when the fairing is taken off and the clocks look like a dogs dinner if you aren't careful, but I have seen some good examples on here that I would consider shamelessly copying. 


Other than the knee comfort thing, handling and engine wise this bike is a beaut which is overlooked by most so if it could be fixed I would be more than happy to keep it.

[Yamazer-92]

Arse implants.......i hear they're all the rage. 

Oh I'm way ahead of you there darrsi 

[simonm]

One thing possibly of note is that I believe the Fazer seats were re sculpted during a revision.  I think one version has a seat with more padding than the other which may move you upward an inch or so.

[mr self destruct]

One thing possibly of note is that I believe the Fazer seats were re sculpted during a revision.  I think one version has a seat with more padding than the other which may move you upward an inch or so.

I can't find any definitive answer on this one way or the other! 
There are folk that say the earlier boxeye seat is an inch or two higher, but others say they're the same, and yet others say only the pillion seat is higher.

[richfzs]

I'm 6'1", never had any bother with the old legs.... Have you looked at your leathers (or whatever), are they a decent fit round your knees? Or are they bunching up and pinching - could be the cause of your bother, and a damn sight cheaper fix than a new bike...

[simonm]

One thing possibly of note is that I believe the Fazer seats were re sculpted during a revision.  I think one version has a seat with more padding than the other which may move you upward an inch or so.

I can't find any definitive answer on this one way or the other! 
There are folk that say the earlier boxeye seat is an inch or two higher, but others say they're the same, and yet others say only the pillion seat is higher.

I have two Fazers and I'm positive the seat is lower on one :-)

[richfzs]

I've never seen mention before of the seats changing. Possibly one of yours has been cut down, Simon, it's quite a common mod...

[mr self destruct]

One thing possibly of note is that I believe the Fazer seats were re sculpted during a revision.  I think one version has a seat with more padding than the other which may move you upward an inch or so.

I can't find any definitive answer on this one way or the other! 
There are folk that say the earlier boxeye seat is an inch or two higher, but others say they're the same, and yet others say only the pillion seat is higher.

I have two Fazers and I'm positive the seat is lower on one :-)

Well if you could take some measurements and let me know which is which I'd be grateful bud! 

[Punkstig]

I do agree it's the pegs to seat distance definitely, especially the right as I have to have the ball of my foot on the peg or the brake lever gets in the way of my boot.

Have you not attempted to adjust the pedal lower? Or are your aches and pains restricting you from lowering it whilst still being able to apply the brake.


Only changes to the seat unit were to the thickness of padding for pillion in conjunction with changing their pegs too afaik!

[simonm]

I'll have a look tomorrow.  I'm reasonably certain the guy I got the bike from hadn't modded the seat.

I don't exactly know where or how to measure the seat height, just that it looked and felt lower when I changed them over.  I heard it from someone, but I can't remember who that the seat height changed.

I'll look even more of a prat than I always do when I measure them tomorrow and they're the same. heh heh.

Sorry in advance if I'm incorrect but it didn't look/feel like it.  Now I need to go and take my placebo's.

[Yamazer-92]

Rich, I bought new trousers the day I got my fazer and they're decent textile ones which fit well. I don't think I get knee ache in jeans but I only wear jeans rarely and for small trips less than 10 miles where my knee doesn't play up. When I ride my dads SV I don't get the same problem so I'm wondering if it's the tank or something because his bike is about the same size. Either way I'm quite strongly coming down in favour of keeping my Fazer and making it fit me better.


The brake pedal may need to go a bit lower, I can press it down fine now so I can experiment with it I guess but I do sometimes like having the balls of my feet up anyway just would be nice to not have it up always on the right.


This is all probably going to add up though, and I still haven't even bought half the things I was planning to buy when I actually bought the bike due to having to fix stuff.

[simonm]

Perhaps it's psychological, sorry.

The shiny one does feel lower down but is slipper maybe due to the bike have done 30k rather than 6k on the other or maybe the bloke I bought it from was heavier. Dunno.

Either way having your seat reshaped may help. Sorry for my false lead.

[noggythenog]

Rich, I bought new trousers the day I got my fazer and they're decent textile ones which fit well. I don't think I get knee ache in jeans but I only wear jeans rarely and for small trips less than 10 miles where my knee doesn't play up. When I ride my dads SV I don't get the same problem so I'm wondering if it's the tank or something because his bike is about the same size. Either way I'm quite strongly coming down in favour of keeping my Fazer and making it fit me better.


The brake pedal may need to go a bit lower, I can press it down fine now so I can experiment with it I guess but I do sometimes like having the balls of my feet up anyway just would be nice to not have it up always on the right.


This is all probably going to add up though, and I still haven't even bought half the things I was planning to buy when I actually bought the bike due to having to fix stuff.

Is it your right knee then???


If your brake pedal is too high & youre skewing your foot out to the right then that cant really be good for anybodys knees.ive recently adjusted my pedal right down & although ive only done 1 short run since then it did make a difference as I could put my foot on the peg facing forward instead of turned out.


I'd seriously try strapping something to your seat to raise you up, even as an experiment, dont know what you could use but if you found it made a difference you could get a custom seat made up with lots of extra padding for height.still cheaper than changing bike ifit works.

[kebab19]

I asked you before about your leg pains but without response. If you haven't sustained an injury and there is no family history of knee pain it is almost certainly muscular. I found Clair Davies' book on Trigger points worked well for treating most of my muscular pains including legs. Failing that, a decent Rolfer will bend your legs / knees back into the right shape, although they cost a lot more. At 21 there's no way your knees are b0rked ...yet


Regarding the bike, if I were you I would add extra foam to the seat & re-sculpt it. This would then allow your legs to be straighter (as long as you're tall enough to handle the extra seat height).
Then if your seat is higher you may need to add risers.
There are lower pegs on ebay but £££  eg item 130820080669

Failing all that, you may need to consider swapping/part exchanging your bike for the likes of a TDM850 which I found to be much more comfortable
Compare ergonomics here:
http://cycle-ergo.com/