Thoughts On Height And Trailing Riding
I’ve got comments from a few people about my “Himalayan Hill Climb” video stating that the Himalayan is not meant for short people. According to them you can do serious off-roading with the Himalayan, or any tall motorcycle for that matter, if you are not tall yourself.
As usual, I have an opinion on this. It’s not about how well your feet touch the ground. Rather it’s about whether your feet can rest properly the foot pegs or not. It’s about whether you can stand comfortably on the foot pegs and move your body weight around to keep the motorcycle upright, no matter what the terrain is. In my opinion if you can do both these things then you are tall enough for the motorcycle. Or the motorcycle is short enough for you, whichever way you look at it.
Every time you put your feet on the ground and waddle through a tough section on a trail, you have actually failed to “ride” the motorcycle. It doesn’t matter if you are five feet tall or seven. The goal is to ride the motorcycle with your feet on the foot pegs and not on the ground.
Nothing is wrong in failing though. It’s a learning process and that’s why I like riding trails. You don’t learn anything new by riding on a smooth winding tarmac road all day. But when you ride a trail you are constantly learning from your mistakes. That’s what makes trail riding far more interesting to me.
People have watched my videos of us pushing each others bikes up steep and slippery slopes on trails and have asked me what’s the point of doing that when there are nice roads to ride on. Yes, motorcycles are meant to be ridden, not pushed. My ultimate aim is to be able to ride my motorcycle on any terrain without any assistance. This is an important goal for me personally because I’m a solo rider and I can’t depend on people to help me out every time I’m stuck. I need to be independent no matter where in the world I ride.
My first trail ride was to Pargadh in the jungles on the Goa-Maharashtra border. It was a tough ride and I needed to be helped a few times. That day I learned many things about my motorcycle and myself as well. The next week, I rode up and down Pargadh alone. With nobody there to help me, I had to figure things out myself, and I did. It was a very fulfilling experience and my confidence got a huge boost.
In my opinion, it’s doesn’t matter how tall you or your motorcycle are. If you can stand on the foot pegs but still find yourself waddling then the problem lies with your skill level, not your height.
