As a beginner rider, and only having only ridden my TTR125LE a handful of times, I was a little nervous when I first swung my short legs over the KTM Freeride. I think it’s safe to call the Freeride a “big” bike for me, since I am only 5’1”. My biggest concern was getting on and starting the bike because of my height. With some practice and A LOT of balance, I was eventually able to get pretty good at starting and stopping without falling (too much, definitely less than 100 times). I also had to get used to the massive increase in torque over my bike, the upside of all that low end power meant that I hardly ever had to use the clutch. I found myself riding the bike a gear or two higher to cut down on the snappy throttle response (for me) while I was cruising around at slower speeds. I’ve never ridden a 2-stroke before, so it took a bit getting used to the sound and knowing when to shift, but eventually got the hang of it. The one thing I loved was the suspension, especially cause the only suspension I know is on my 125 playbike. It was great to go through whoops at what felt like top speed and not worry about bottoming out. Considering my smaller frame I was surprised at how comfortable the riding position was, but being so far off the ground made it hard to get confident leaning the bike over in slower corners, and would sometimes result in a tip-over. Overall, from a short, female, beginner rider, the seat height was a bit too tall for me and I prefer the smoother power delivery of the four-stroke, but if I were a little more experienced and had an extra inch or two of leg length I could really enjoy this bike.