Lowering bikes (non Ducati)

[filter]

So, my wife just passed the MSF course and went out and bought a Hyosung GT 250.

It was too tall for her, so we got a lowering kit installed at the dealer, and it still isn't low enough.  If it was another 1 or 2 inches lower it would be close to perfect.

On her first ride, she ended up dropping the bike because she killed the engine and couldn't keep the bike upright.

No damage (to the wife or to the bike) but now she's very scared of riding it.

Do you have any suggestions?  It looks like there are two sizes of lowering links and we can probably get the shorter one installed.   If we do that, we probably need to replace the kickstand... would we also need to adjust or replace any other part of the suspension?

Any experience or advice with lowering a bike would be helpful.

[Popeye the Sailor]

The kickstand would have to be swapped, as well as the forks raised up through the triples.

An easier option may be to have the seat shaved, as well as narrowed. This will make it far easier on her to reach the ground.

What's she got for footwear? The ladies forum (I believe) has some options listed for the height impaired.

How tall is she?

[filter]

The kickstand would have to be swapped, as well as the forks raised up through the triples.

An easier option may be to have the seat shaved, as well as narrowed. This will make it far easier on her to reach the ground.

What's she got for footwear? The ladies forum (I believe) has some options listed for the height impaired.

How tall is she?

She is 5'5".  As far as footwear, she is wearing some brand-new Sidi Jasmine boots.

How does one "shave" a seat?  Would the dealer be a good resource on that or is it a custom thing?

Thanks for the advice.

[somegirl]

I started a FAQ for Short Riders here: http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=1853.0

Here is a nice tutorial on how to shave the seat yourself:
http://ducatimonsterworldwide.org/index.php?topic=2513.0

[somegirl]

Just looked up the specs on the 2009 Hyosung, seat height is 30.7 inches and dry weight is 377 lbs.

That's pretty challenging for a short rider, I'm not surprised she's lost her confidence.

Do you have any access to any small dirt bikes that she could borrow?  She'd have better luck on the taller/heavier bike once she builds up some confidence and has a bit more experience.

[filter]

Just looked up the specs on the 2009 Hyosung, seat height is 30.7 inches and dry weight is 377 lbs.

That's pretty challenging for a short rider, I'm not surprised she's lost her confidence.

Do you have any access to any small dirt bikes that she could borrow?  She'd have better luck on the taller/heavier bike once she builds up some confidence and has a bit more experience.

Unfortunately, no, we don't have access to any dirtbikes.  Good advice, again, though.  We bought the bike because there was a great deal and she loved the style.

I think we'll check with the dealer to see if they can lower it further for a low price; if not, we will probably try the seat shaving and/or the boots.   We're so close that we can probably get to where it needs to be.

[rmcobb]

Just looked up the specs on the 2009 Hyosung, seat height is 30.7 inches and dry weight is 377 lbs.

That's pretty challenging for a short rider, I'm not surprised she's lost her confidence.

Do you have any access to any small dirt bikes that she could borrow?  She'd have better luck on the taller/heavier bike once she builds up some confidence and has a bit more experience.

Actually, I think those numbers are pretty reasonable. My wife is only 5'2" and I've lowered a couple EX 500's and now her 620.  A seat height of 30.7 is prettly low already by sportbike, or even the newer "standards" perspective.  The magic number for my wife was a seat height of 29".  With your wife being 3" taller, I can't see where what you've already done being enough.  How low did the lowering link you already installed get the seat height?

From my experiences, its always a combination of things that you must do. Most of the things brought up here mention them, but to repeat:

Consider shaving the foam in the seat, or purchasing a replacement seat (corbin, sargent, etc.) that you can have custom made lower than the stock seat. Shaving the foam isn't all that hard as was previously shown here. Any local upholstery shop can do it if you provide them good directions on what you want.

Boots. There is an excellent boot that my wife has used for 5 years now.  The Daytona LadyStar is a womens boot, specially made to provide extra height, but they do it via building up the "inside" of the boot, as opposed to just providing Herman Munster platform soles. Very good boot. Expensive, but if it means providing the extra bit your wife needs to feel confident on the bike, its well worth it.

As folks have stated, you need to adjust the front end the same amount you lower the rear end. Make sure you do this.

The sidestand most definetely always needs to be shortened. I've done this by taking it to a local weld shop, providing them a tracing of what I want. This requires you estimate how short you need it to be as the tracing is the shortened version that the weld shop will use to put the final product together. They cut the original side stand, take however much out they need to to match up to the tracing, then weld it back together. Grind it down, paint it, and you can't even tell it was modified.

Together will all these things, its doable, and I would be that at 5'5" your wife would not need a further lowering link to get her comfortable.

Its a long process, one that requires patience and trial and error.

good luck, hopefully everything will get figured out and the wife will become a life long rider