Why such a high seat height / riding position?

The Tman · May 14, 2017

I am a 1st time 1299 owner, and love the bike, it is truly incredible.

But the more I ride it, I find myself feeling "perched on top" like monkey riding a rocket instead of sitting "in" the bike like several other albeit older sportbikes I've owned.
With engineers trying for lower center of gravity, underhung exhaust, engine mounting,etc why the ... high riding position?
It would seem to throw off stability and raise the center of gravity.
On the track at triple digits it makes sense or?
any thoughts while I tear my seat apart to shave it down and lower my ride height...?

Nathanhu · May 14, 2017

Don't get the race seat, as it's a good 10mm higher

youngR · May 14, 2017

The Tman said:
I am a 1st time 1299 owner, and love the bike, it is truly incredible.

But the more I ride it, I find myself feeling "perched on top" like monkey riding a rocket instead of sitting "in" the bike like several other albeit older sportbikes I've owned.
With engineers trying for lower center of gravity, underhung exhaust, engine mounting,etc why the ... high riding position?
It would seem to throw off stability and raise the center of gravity.
On the track at triple digits it makes sense or?
any thoughts while I tear my seat apart to shave it down and lower my ride height...?

Go look at the tread What did you do for your Panigale

Twistedracer · May 14, 2017

I'm short but I prefer the higher seat height of the race seat coupled with higher pegs.

Macattack · May 15, 2017

The 2009- 2017 yamaha R6 is 21mm taller - the 2017 R1 is 26mm higher seat height I'd guess the average bike on the market is 10mm taller or at least as tall as the Panigale.

If the bike you came off of was a KTM Rc8 good luck getting your brain back to reality that bike is an enigma wrapped in orange plastic .

IMO the panigale has as good or better ergonomics of any bike on the market.

One thing you might notice is the pani is narrow which makes the rider feel like something is missing until they adjust .

jjsC6 · May 15, 2017

Macattack said:
The 2009- 2017 yamaha R6 is 21mm taller - the 2017 R1 is 26mm higher seat height I'd guess the average bike on the market is 10mm taller or at least as tall as the Panigale.

If the bike you came off of was a KTM Rc8 good luck getting your brain back to reality that bike is an enigma wrapped in orange plastic .

IMO the panigale has as good or better ergonomics of any bike on the market.

One thing you might notice is the pani is narrow which makes the rider feel like something is missing until they adjust .

I agree. I told my wife yesterday that I'm still amazed at how comfortable I am on the bike....I'm 64 years old. And let's get the obvious out of the way. Yes, "supersports" sit high. It's all about getting the foot pegs up for max ground clearance.

Phil · May 15, 2017

I'm 5'11 and i don't feel good on the bike without the comfort seat, i even feel like the bike is too low... I think the feeling "on the bike" instead of "in" comes from the small tank and narrow overall shape of the bike, the seat really is tight.

royal · May 15, 2017

I find the Panigale more comfortable for long journeys than any of my other bikes including the BMW which is supposed to be my practical road bike. It's the seat to peg distance that makes the difference. All the other bikes hurt the news after a while whereas the Pani has loads of leg room despite it being practically impossible to ground out the pegs.

SingleSided · May 15, 2017

I found the Panigale way more comfortable than my ZX10R. Going from my panigale to the ZX10R, my legs felt cramped.
I just bought a 2017 Hypermotard 939 sp and that is on the opposite end of the spectrum.
Too tall and lots of leg room.

pete keys · May 15, 2017

You can adjust the seat bought quite a bit on the standard model by adjusting the shock length. I'm 5 7' and reduced the higher for a while but put it back up once I got used to it as it puts more weight on the front wheel.

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SuperDuc29 · May 15, 2017

Cornering clearance - gotta get that bike leaned over to hit the corners hard!

Johnnyflies · May 16, 2017

Weight over the front !!

To illustrate ride a monster 1200. Ride hard with the seat in its low and high position and the bike handles very markedly differently being much less 'loose' with the seat higher , giving more confidence and feel/ stability from the front end.

Same applies to any sports orientated machine.
Just my tuppence worth

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Fragile · May 17, 2017

short rider here but using the race seat which is taller than stock. I like the tall seat for less heat and better outright control of the bike, including leaning. YMMV

Ryfly05 · May 17, 2017

Coming from a GSX-R, the Panigale is definitely less comfortable on the upper body with a pretty long reach to the bars. There probably is more leg room though, so for taller riders that may make it more comfortable on the lower body.

Mutt1979 · May 17, 2017

You didn't test ride it before buying?

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Why such a high seat height / riding position?

The Tman

Nathanhu

youngR

Twistedracer

Macattack

jjsC6

Phil

royal

SingleSided

pete keys

SuperDuc29

Johnnyflies

Fragile

Ryfly05

Mutt1979

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