Have short wife who rides

[grandpa nate]

Howdy y'all

I was directed here from another spot on the forum because I was told someone here might be able to help.  Here goes.

My wife is vertically challenged and loves to ride.  She is not a new rider so a Monster would be perfect except for the height.  I have an old 900 Monster just sitting in my storage shed and was wondering if it would be a good choice for lowering.  The height that I am looking for is about the same as the buell lack o blast she used to have.  I believe those sit around 27".  If my old 9 won't do it any suggestions would really help.  Mostly I worry about adverse handling and ground clearance.

Thank You Very Much

[somegirl]

Hi there,

Indeed we have lots of height-challenged ladies around here.

My first suggestion would be to try shaving the seat (both top and sides).  That will give you lowering without affecting handling at all.

Here is a FAQ for short riders that I put together:
http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=1853.0

and here is a nice tutorial on modifying the seat that mangeldbug wrote up:
http://ducatimonsterworldwide.org/index.php?topic=2513.0

good luck!

[grandpa nate]

Thank You Very much!!!!

[TiNi]

if you do get her on the 900...

be sure to point her to the forum

we need to up our M/F ratio 

[grandpa nate]

Will do

[Fresh Pants]

I'm not a woman (some might argue...), but I do have a 900.
The 900's have the hoop style rear, which can be lowered (I know, affects handling/geometry/clearance) along with the forks to help accomodate for her height. So maybe after seat shaving, if it still feels too tall this could be another option. And if you're feeling a bit more spendy/special, you could have the bike re-sprung for her weight, which would help with the proper amount of sag once the suspension settles to her weight.

[Grrrly]

grandpa nate,

what year is the 900?

[grandpa nate]

1999

[Grrrly]

1999

If it was a '00 - '02 M900 you could use a M620 dark seat which is lower than your stock seat. 
But unfortunately it wouldn't fit a '99 perfectly.  With slight modification you could make it work.

[DuckDuckGoose]

Looking at a Ducati 900 Monster ~ need to lower it a bit for the wifey, plus deal with the spring loaded kickstand as she cannot really reach it properly.

What's the hoop style rear you are referring to ?

[Slide Panda]

Holy resurrection...

Nichols makes a replacement bolt that stops the suicide stand from flipping up automatically
http://nicholsmfg.com/motorcycle/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=11&category_id=28&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=53

Monsters made in 2000 or before used a rocker and hoop to connect the shock to the rear swing arm, as opposed to the direct connection seen in later models.

[Niksephton]

I had my side stand modified because I couldn't reach it being a shorty. I've dropped the bike twice because of the side stand flipping up.  Mines a M600. :-)

Nicola :-)