I can tell there are some serious riders here. What I am about to ask may seem like common sense but I will ask it anyways. I have been riding for a little less than a year now and I haven't gone long distances yet. I went out for an hour non stop last weekend and man did I start cramping up. My knees especially. Is this something that will go away with time the more and more I ride. Or do need to make adjustments to the bike. I am 6'2 235lbs....The bike is plenty big enough....but are there ergonomics on it that I can adjust?

Maybe adjust the footpegs?

You can lower the pegs or raise the seat.
There are several seat options that will give you about an inch or 2, air hawk seat cushion, Corbin or Rick Mayer custom seAts, or a sheepskin gel pad. There are many posts re the peg option use search.
The. X14 is a great road bike.

It will get easier the more you ride. I get the balls of my feet on the pegs once I'm at cruising speed to use my calves more. I'm 6'2", and about 280, and after the first 2-3 1 hour rides, my knees are fine with the stock pegs. YMMV

I got better with time. Still don't ride for commfort ever. I'd just hop in the cage if that was the most important thing.

I did get a cramp or two the first year. Seems like after a few years it feel more and more natural just to jump on and go even after a long winter storage. Only thing I notice now is that it is a trifle cool to be out in 40 degree pitch black mornings here. The bike can actually make that a little better. Also, the neck gets sore from laying in a tuck but if its cold and I'm doing 70 I am not going to be up for long.

sounds like you could benefit from some of the bolt on gadgets ,like seats and bar risers etc to help with your height

I do a lot of long distance riding, 6 to 10 hour a day, rider fitness is a big part.

My 2cents worth would be to do an hour have a short brake, do an hour have a short brake and so on, build up your fitness and skills of how to endure the time you spend riding ,over a period of weeks months what ever, you will be amazed how quick you adapt and how just having that little brake lets you keep going for far longer that you thought you could.

Sometime I ride a full tank out without stoping , sometimes 1 hour and then coffee,

when time to pee it time to stop

Miles,

As stated above, the bar risers and peg lowering kits would probably help you a great deal. Theyre usually not too expensive.

If you combine bar risers or a bar adapter kit, a gel seat pad and some sort of peg-lowering scheme, the ergos of a ZX-14 go from Sport to Sport-Touring in a heartbeat. To me, a 1400cc sportbike is a bit like a 3-lb tack hammer.

* Last updated by: Danno on 3/28/2012 @ 6:02 AM *

Thanks everyone....I read about lower the pegs, I think I may try that for sure. I appreciate the advice. It is a shame that I will have to just ride more to build up endurance....just a darn shame...lol...I am glad to know it isn't that the bike is just wrong for me. I will make some adjustments and let you all know how it works out.

Some folks have injuries that make advice to "work out, and adapt" irrelevant. I am such a person.

I modified my ZX14 to be virtually as comfortable as a Concours 14. Just a lot faster and better handling.

I put Ulysses (Buell) pegs on, which is a 2" drop, and an LSL triple tree top clamp with normal bar clamps. On that I put a LSL/Spiegler riser blocks and then a Superbike High bar. Of course, I had to buy +7" hydraulics, throttle cables (push pull), and patch the wiring bundles going up on each side to the switch pods. So not a weekend project, for me at least.

The addition of Givi v35 side cases and a Givi top case gave me the luggage capacity I needed when going on multiday trips. Plus the hard side cases and top case cut through the air really well. I never noticed much air turbulence or resistance at all.

So you can turn your ZX14 into a true sport-touring machine, the question is, why? If you can answer that, do it.

I finally threw in the towel and switched to a Concours 14 because I have no interest in going fast in a straight line or on gentle sweepers any more. And the Connie will handle my mountain roads quite well. Tight stuff is more skill than bike, anyway.

privateer; I'm one of "those people" too. I still get leg cramps, and back problems the first couple rides of the season, so my first couple rides are only 20 min. They get longer each time till I can make it an hour straight, and that's my max. No matter how much, and how I work out through the winter, I still have problems in the spring.

I try to put a couple short rides first on my schedule each season. But I don't always make them. So some seasons start with a 5-6 hour ride and don't let up until October.

If Twisted Throttle had better warranty policies, my Connie would be buttoned up now, and I'd be riding it whenever the weather allowed. But it will probably be a week or more before I get my Denali D2 LED lights replaced (the controller was defective) because they made me uninstall the wiring harness and send it back first.

So I might miss one or two of the early, short rides this season, like I did 3 seasons ago when I didn't get my ZX14 buttoned up until May.

alg8er same here first few rides after the long winter my legs cramp up also. its just a position your not used to after 6 months of not riding lol

* Last updated by: scottjkyl on 3/29/2012 @ 5:12 AM *

A throttle lock, like the Throttlemeister, can be a big help. An important consideration in long distance riding is not sitting in the same position too long. A throttle lock makes it possible to move your body around more, because it relieves your right hand and arm.

Move before you think you need to. Change your body position often. Stretch out your legs, back, arms, neck, etc. if you get to where something feels sore, you may be waiting to long to shift your body position.

Best of luck.

Miles, what have you owned before? Or is this your first bike? This might not be the bike for you.

Maybe try doing some leg stretches before you take off.Work your legs a bit...get some blood flowing in there.Stop after a half hour or so.Restretch.Pump em some.Then go again.No prob....it'll work it's way out as you get more used to relaxing on your bike.That's the key right there...relaxing...letting the blood flow easily...not through tense muscles.Concentrate on relaxing.Each body part while riding.You'll be amazed how good you feel even after several hours riding.You're not too long legged for this bike.The footpeg lowering mod(s) is very good at giving you an extra 1" or so.You'll get used to it...just keep riding and stretching and relaxing.If you feel your hamstrings tightening up....stop...take a breather...stretch em out.You don't want something like this to discourage you wanting to ride,especially since it's NOT going to keep happening as your body gets used to the riding position.Take a tylenol....that'll help.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 4/1/2012 @ 12:06 AM *

miles; Are you on the stock seat? I'm using a Sargent seat that has a little more room, and can slide a little farther back or forward for a slight angle change on arms and legs. Plus just about any aftermarket seat will be all around more comfortable even on short rides.

Interestingly, if they don't upset your stomach, Aspirin Advanced really helps with the pains until you ride enough to get used to it.

For me, no amount of exercise or riding will make my bad parts become good, so I know all about what drugs work and what don't. Aspirin does a better job of finding the pain than Tylenol.

I use Tylenol to supplement the maxiumum dose pain medication I take. So I like that too, but its hard on your liver.

Get a below the waist nerve block injection, then take a couple of Tylenol #3 and a couple of muscle relaxers--that should make you more comfortable.

Runner, I have had a Shadow 750, Intruder 600, and a FZ6. This actually the most comfortable I have felt on a bike. It is just the long rides and I think I am starting to get used to it. I spent the weekend going from half hour rides to hour long rides and seem to be building up some riding stamina. The one thing I noticed I was doing was tensing up and pushing down on the foot pegs when I was getting nervous on some winding roads. I am still getting used to leaning this thing. Once I started relaxing and letting the bike work, things started getting better. This really my first performance bike, and the good thing is, I respect the hell out of it. As my dad always said, once you lose respect for the vehicle is when your going to get hurt. The seat and the foot pegs I am going to look into, This stock seat starts feeling like a brick after a while. GRN14 that is some good advice, I was moving a lot more in the seat this weekend and it seemed to help a lot...

I have a Corbin seat on my '09 and it makes a HUGE difference for me. Highly recommended for improving ride comfort.

Forgot to mention that my throttle locks are also just amazing for long rides. I never use them around town, so they're easy to forget about, but man on the road they are just awesome. Being able to switch hands on the handle bars and not having to grip that throttle 100% of the time really changes those long rides.

* Last updated by: Caroobs on 4/2/2012 @ 12:36 PM *

before you make any ergonomic changes to any bike, id make sure you are riding as relaxed as possible.
the likelihood is if this is your first big bike and your nervous about the power etc, your going to be a little tense, maybe without realising it even?!
no amount of gel seats and high bars will make up for the aches that tense muscles will lead to!
stay safe all!

Thanks Jafo...I am not ashamed to say, I respect the heck out of this bike. And I did notice riding tense, especially on a country road with someone in a car behind me. I don't like that, so I try to speed up, but I am not to comfortable with leaning deep into turns yet...That will come... I have been relaxing a lot more and things seem to working themselves out...A seat does sound nice, because the stock one starts to feel like a brick. What do you guys think about the tank grips for your legs, that is supposed to keep you from sliding up. That is another problem....The junk falls a sleep....and that is way uncomfortable!!!

With a Corbin seat you don't ride up on the tank at all. It's wide and flat and firm, unlike the stock seat. I didn't think the firm would be good over time, but I've found that to be way better than any soft or gel seats on longer rides. I still keep my stock seat for more spirited riding, because the Corbin puts me into a more relaxed posture; good for long rides, not as good when I wanna be all up in it...

I got a corbin 37k miles ago on my 14 and it still is very comfortable. You can get them to make it an inch or 2 higher and that will give a bit more leg room as well. It is a much better seat than stock. I have put them on 6 or 7 bikes. That being said their customer service is worse than the V.A.