I live in a place with some of the best biking roads, but one of my major frustrations is not having a motorcycle.
Why? It’s simply because even the biggest motorcycles available just don’t fit my long back. The result is that when I sit on one, my head is way above the tank, leaving my chest right in the path of the oncoming airflow. That’s not the real problem of course, since I can easily hold on at my maximum speed of 80mph (on a dry private road, in a straight line). The real issue is that I look ridiculous sitting on a machine designed for a normal-sized adult.
Anything that’s supposed to have been derived from a racing machine is out of the question, since it’s designed with the physique of an undernourished homunculus/jockey in mind. Some of the bigger bikes come close to acceptable, but I’m not prepared to fork out £12,000 for ‘close’ (to say nothing of all that ugly chromium).
Today’s invention is an optional, factory-fitted tall tank+big screen+high bars kit, for people over 6′. If a single manufacturer went to town and designed these parts to be both compatible with the rest of the machine and also aesthetically right, for a couple of appropriate bikes, I’m sure they would reopen motorcycling to a large section of customers.
The normal tank could be fitted to a high fibreglass shell integrated into the screen and (lowered) seat, so that the fuel mass would remain low and not affect the handling/dynamics.