Cafe' Racer vs Upright Seated Position

17244 Views 21 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Jensstreet500, Mar 9, 2016

MtnMustang

Discussion Starter · Jul 20, 2014 (Edited)

I like the Street 500, but I'm 67 and my body doesn't like the cafe' racer body position. So...bought the seat that moves you up and back, the handlebars that reduce the reach and move back about 2 inches, added a 2 inch high wedge shaped door stop to brake pedal, rotated the mirrors forward and added extenders, and am going to raise the gear shift peg about 1 inch.
Also adding windshield, luggage rack for a trunk, engine bars, center stand, and small leather saddle bags.
I believe it will be one comfortable but nimble riding 500cc.... Even for a 67 year old.

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StoneFree

· #2 · Jul 21, 2014

MtnMustang said:
I like the Street 500, but I'm 67 and my body doesn't like the cafe' racer body position. So...bought the seat that moves you up and back, the handlebars that reduce the reach and move back about 2 inches, added a 2 inch high wedge shaped door stop to brake pedal, rotated the mirrors forward and added extenders, and am going to raise the gear shift peg about 1 inch.
Also adding windshield, luggage rack for a trunk, engine bars, center stand, and small leather saddle bags.
I believe it will be one comfortable but nimble riding 500cc.... Even for a 67 year old.

The Street 500/750 aren't really cafe racers that typically use rear controls for the lay-down road racing style of rider position. At the same time they're not a cruiser either. They're that in-between motorcycle for normal street use like the older mid-size motorcycles of the past.

Possibly adjusting the motorcycle with a different seat and handle bar combination for comfort in riding the Street 500, as with any motorcycle, is always advised and I believe you've taken good pragmatic steps in addressing that. Rarely does any motorcycle "fit" perfectly from the factory based upon my personal experience and I've always made minor tweaks to address that including seat changes and handle bar changes if necessary. I've also moved the foot controls because they just didn't feel right for me.

My point would be get it the way you want it because you'll enjoy it more because of those changes.

Reactions: 1

Yusef

· #3 · Jul 21, 2014

Are you going to move the pegs as well? Is that easy to do with the Street 500/750?

harleyhoonigan

· #4 · Jul 21, 2014

Keep us posted on what making those changes ends up being like for you in the end and even in the process of making those changes.

Livin On

· #5 · Jul 22, 2014

2

I think you'll be very happy, as Stone elucidated above the Streets are not really cafes, nor are they chaise loungers like some other harleys. Its very similar to that old UJM position...

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Testiphony

· #6 · Jul 22, 2014

Looks pretty upright in the first place to me. Not sure how you can make it a more upright seating position than that.

StoneFree

· #7 · Jul 24, 2014

Livin On said:
I think you'll be very happy, as Stone elucidated above the Streets are not really cafes, nor are they chaise loungers like some other harleys. Its very similar to that old UJM position...

What I will also state is the Street 750 is extremely nimble to ride. It's actually been decades since I rode a motorcyle as light and yet still as powerful as my Street 750. As I mentioned the power is about equal to my 1200cc Sportster but the bike is far more nimble to ride than my Sportster. Because of the lighter weight the rider's body weight can be used more to effect the handling which is true of all "mid-size" motorcycles.

It's a lot of fun riding the Street 750 because it's completely different than my Sportster in it's handling characteristics.

HDGuy

· #8 · Jul 24, 2014

being able to use your bodyweight more on the bike is something nice to have, at least with that you have more control.

Testiphony

· #9 · Jul 24, 2014

StoneFree said:
What I will also state is the Street 750 is extremely nimble to ride. It's actually been decades since I rode a motorcyle as light and yet still as powerful as my Street 750. As I mentioned the power is about equal to my 1200cc Sportster but the bike is far more nimble to ride than my Sportster. Because of the lighter weight the rider's body weight can be used more to effect the handling which is true of all "mid-size" motorcycles.

It's a lot of fun riding the Street 750 because it's completely different than my Sportster in it's handling characteristics.

Good to hear about the handling. I wan't expecting it to have poor handling, but I also wasn't expecting excellent handling. It makes the Street 750 sound like a lot of fun to ride.

HDGuy

· #10 · Jul 25, 2014

at least it will be fun with straight line runs, but of course that can only get so fun.

harleyhoonigan

· #11 · Jul 27, 2014

Can't wait to test ride one myself.

StoneFree

· #12 · Jul 28, 2014

Testiphony said:
Good to hear about the handling. I wan't expecting it to have poor handling, but I also wasn't expecting excellent handling. It makes the Street 750 sound like a lot of fun to ride.

I was talking about the handling with another Harley owner and, as I told him, with the 750 you could "toss it into a turn" and you can't do that on other Harley's including my Sportster. It's not like a 125cc but it is certainly a motorcycle that really responds to the rider in the turns.

Yesterday I took a ride up Hwy 9 (WA) to BC Canada and back. It was about a 200 mile roundtrip of wonderful widing highway and it was about the limit on the daily distance riding I'd place on the 750. I'd say never plan on more than 200-300 miles in a day and 300 miles would be a long day. It's not a "cruiser" and shouldn't be expected to be. I've done 750 miles on my Sportster in a day but wouldn't even consider 400 on the Street 750 or 500.

Of note yesterday I also met a rider on a year old Triumph Daytona which is about a 600-something cc cafe racer. He uses it for daily commutes of about 20 miles and some local riding but even he stated he was thinking about getting a cruiser for road trips because a cafe racer isn't designed for road trips.

The Street is somewhere between a cruiser and a cafe racer and it is excellent in that capacity.

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MtnMustang

Discussion Starter · #13 · Aug 2, 2014

Moving foot pegs.....

Yusef said:
Are you going to move the pegs as well? Is that easy to do with the Street 500/750?

Would if I could....lower that is....but doesn't appear to be feasible.

MtnMustang

Discussion Starter · #14 · Aug 2, 2014

These pictures don't appear to reflect how I was fitting on mine. Although I'm only 5'6" and have extremely short legs, my knees were higher than the gas tank, I really had to lift my feet to get on the foot pegs, the shift leg was level with the left foot peg, and the brake pedal was at least an inch below the right foot peg.
It wasn't feasible to lower the foot pegs, so raising my body position and moving it backward appeared to be the most logical options. Coincidentally, some of the few optional parts available for the Street are:
Tall Boy Seat which raises you up about 1 1/2 inches and back about 2 1/2 inches;
and Reduced Reach Handlebar that moves hand grips back about 2 inches.
I adjusted the gear shift peg upward by adjusting rod attached to gear shift peg. There was no apparent way to raise brake pedal, so attached wedged shaped door stop with a screw through the existing brake pedal (by the way, there is already a hole thru the center of the brake pedal inside of the rubber cover). I'm now working on the mirrors via mirror extenders and I'm going to try the elongated Tribal mirrors to see if either or both of these allow me to see what's behind me.

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Testiphony

· #15 · Aug 2, 2014

StoneFree said:
I was talking about the handling with another Harley owner and, as I told him, with the 750 you could "toss it into a turn" and you can't do that on other Harley's including my Sportster. It's not like a 125cc but it is certainly a motorcycle that really responds to the rider in the turns.

Yesterday I took a ride up Hwy 9 (WA) to BC Canada and back. It was about a 200 mile roundtrip of wonderful widing highway and it was about the limit on the daily distance riding I'd place on the 750. I'd say never plan on more than 200-300 miles in a day and 300 miles would be a long day. It's not a "cruiser" and shouldn't be expected to be. I've done 750 miles on my Sportster in a day but wouldn't even consider 400 on the Street 750 or 500.

Of note yesterday I also met a rider on a year old Triumph Daytona which is about a 600-something cc cafe racer. He uses it for daily commutes of about 20 miles and some local riding but even he stated he was thinking about getting a cruiser for road trips because a cafe racer isn't designed for road trips.

The Street is somewhere between a cruiser and a cafe racer and it is excellent in that capacity.

That sounds pretty comfortable as far as the seating position. Still haven't been able to sit on one yet. I'll have to make plans to do that in the near future.

Reactions: 1

StoneFree

· #16 · Aug 3, 2014 (Edited)

Testiphony said:
That sounds pretty comfortable as far as the seating position. Still haven't been able to sit on one yet. I'll have to make plans to do that in the near future.

I don't know where you live but believe that all US Harley dealers received at least one Street 500 and one Street 750 by now.

As I've mentioned on another thread while I'm predominately interested in making a rigid chopper out of my Street 750 I'm also considering if it's possible to convert a stock Street 500/750 into a (swing-arm) cruising bobber with a change of seat, rear fender (lights), perhaps handle bars, and adding front controls. I think it's possible and will see what I can do using my Street 750 as a test bed.

That's the nice thing about having a motorcycle to play with for different concepts while having another Harley to ride for fun.

john3347

· #17 · Sep 5, 2014

I am 73 and getting a bit uncomfortable in low speed manuevers, particularly in heavy traffic, with my Harley-Davidson Sportster and also with my Honda Magna. I am eyeing a Harley Street as a replacement but afraid that may be too close to the same problems I am experiencing with the two rides I currently have.

HDGuy

· #18 · Sep 5, 2014

john3347 said:
I am 73 and getting a bit uncomfortable in low speed manuevers, particularly in heavy traffic, with my Harley-Davidson Sportster and also with my Honda Magna. I am eyeing a Harley Street as a replacement but afraid that may be too close to the same problems I am experiencing with the two rides I currently have.

With that being your concern, you just may want to stop buy a HD dealer to see if they could let you test ride one. It's really the best way to go about this.

StoneFree

· #19 · Sep 6, 2014

john3347 said:
I am 73 and getting a bit uncomfortable in low speed manuevers, particularly in heavy traffic, with my Harley-Davidson Sportster and also with my Honda Magna. I am eyeing a Harley Street as a replacement but afraid that may be too close to the same problems I am experiencing with the two rides I currently have.

While the Street is far more nimble that even the Sportster at your age you might be better off considering a trike. A new H-D trike is expensive (over $30K) but they are very stable to ride and I know a couple of older H-D riders that eventually gave up two wheels for three for the very reason you state.

harleyhoonigan

· #20 · Sep 6, 2014

Trikes are definitely good to look into.
Not having to worry about balancing and having a more worry-free ride while still out in the open as you would with bike sure is nice.

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