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QUESTION:
Never had back pain in my life. But two months ago, I started riding a
Yamaha Radian. I'm over six feet tall and the bike is too small for me,
but I like it because it's light and manageable and no thief in New York
City would give it a second look.
I sit pretty much straight up on the bike, and I've taken some pretty hard
hits when I've gone over NYC potholes and road seams, so my lower back is
in some pain. I'm thinking about lowering my handlebars so that I'm
hunched over the gas tank, sport-bike style. Any suggestions?
ANSWER:
I'm 6'2" and used to ride an '83 CX650C (shaft drive cruiser). I also had
terrible back pains due to the riding position.
Some of the worst pain I felt was due to high air pressure in my rear tire.
The shop that mounted my fresh set of rubber told me to run them high - like
45psi. My back was killing me, so I set them to Honda's specs @ 32psi or
so. Instantly much of my back pain was gone.
Having moved on to a cafe racer CB750, I can say that a more sporty riding
position DEFINITELY helps my back. The most comfortable compromise I've
reached are plain drag bars (flat with a slight rearward bend). Not so low
as to cause neck pain, but plenty low enough to have an aggressive, forward
stance.
if they'd word well on a Radian, though. Aren't they rather cruiser-
oriented? That is, raised tank and headstock relative to the seat.
I rode a Radian in Baltimore for a couple of years. Like New York it is FULL
of potholes and has the added benefit of cobble-stone streets near the
waterfront. Try lifting your butt off the seat for the larger potholes. Your
legs act as additional shock absorbers. Some streets in Baltimore, I just
stood on the pegs for a couple of blocks. Lowering the handlebars would
actually make your back hurt worse.
I've had a history of problems with the back, surgery and so on. I'm
not familiar with the Radian, but I started riding a Suzuki Katana a
ways back and was surprised that it doesn't bother my back in the
least. I have problems sitting in a cage driving. The Katana is a
mildly aggressive riding posture - not a racing posture but definitely
forward on the bars, and you can go as far forward as you want, but
not sitting upright. It seems that getting the weight off your spine
and onto your hands has a stabilizing effect on the body. Just don't
lock yer elbows and you're fine...
It really feels as if it needs a sixth gear because things get a
little buzzy at speed. It is pretty fast - I had mine up to an
indicated 125 once, but the redline is at 119MPH. While I mostly used
mine for commuting, I did take a couple of long trips on it and found
that it was pretty happy doing 80 or so for days at a time. The
seating position can get a little cramped, but the passenger pegs are
solid and low enough that you can put your feet back there for a rest,
and the seat has a very small step in it so moving back is not much of
an issue either. The flat tank makes a perfect mount for a tank bag,
the brakes are quite effective and the motor is perky, if a little
peaky.
When Yamaha built the Radian, they simply stuffed the FJ600 motor into
a UJM-type frame. Since the FJ was a kind of hyperbike, the Radian
doesn't really like to lug and feels pretty weak at low RPM, but it
will do a 1/4 mile in about 12 sec and 0-60 in 4 or 5 seconds if you
have it tuned up right. The only things I didn't like were the
exceptionally tacky chromed-plastic bits and the rather cheap black
paint on the motor. Whatever the motor was painted with started to
come off quickly and in spots as if it were being slowly sandblasted.
It also had self-canceling turn signals, got 50MPG with a crazy squid
thrashing it to death and did two-up in a pinch without too much
complaining. It would be OK for a newbe I suppose, but only because it
takes a lot of RPM and shifting to get it to perform well. ISTR that
the bike really didn't start to scream until about 6 or 7K
I am thinking about looking for one of these and don't want
the prices to go up too high...
Forget all that above, the bike is an ill handling steaming pile of
doo doo. If you got suckered into buying one, I'll do you the favor of
hauling it off to the breaker's for you out of the goodness of my
heart.
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