Hi all,
At 5’2"
I have found that I am rather limited on choice of bikes, have been given conflicting advice by dealerships about the effect of lowering on a bikes handling. One told me the hornet could be lowered without compromising performance whilst another said warranty would be invalid as honda do not provide a lowering kit and that handling would be affected.
Does anyone have any experience on this subject matter or can suggest a particular bike around 600cc and not sports.:unsure:
have you thought of lowering the seat ? no change to suspension so no problems !http://londonbikers.com/forums/Topic470343-50-1.aspx
There are quite a few vertically challenged people here should be able to help.I’ve seen a brand new Fazer that had been lowered ,don’t see why it would affect anything providing its done properly.
Did explore that option, cant take the seat low enough for an oopa loompa like me, well not on the hornet anyway 
I think what compounds the issue is that I am only of very slight build and dont feel secure with the weight unless I can get more than tip toes down on both feet when stationary.
there’s a lot of jap ‘home market’ imports that cater for the shorter rider. might be worth looking into…the Suzuki Goose and Honda Spada are popular low seat height models
I find it hard to believe that just by swapping one linkage for another it will have any impact on the warranty. There are loads of lowered SV650’s about.
May be worth a call to Honda UK or whoever to get their views
There were some low-seated bikes on show for people to try out at NEC - BMWs unfortunately
short ass m8 of mine rides a bandit 600 with no probs, he’s about 5’0" all he done was get seat reprofiled by lee, viking vinyls who took most of the seat/padding out bu reshaping it etc.
on bike i have had i have found it is mainly the width of the seay that takes the leg room.
I know Mole had her Bandit seat reshaped by Lee @ Viking and was very pleased with the results.You’re right, however, it’s the width of the seat that is a big consideration:)
i had to lower my blade by about an inch due to my stumpy little legs 5’8
doesnt seem to have made any difference to the handling and at least i can hold the bugger upright on a off camber roundabout
I’ve had my ER6F lowered, and have a lowered seat, being just over 5’3, and I can also flat foot!
hi dunno about warrenties,but u can lower most bikes cutting the seat down and using the link BONES by up to 50mm at the back. as for handeling it slow the steering down most nebies to biking would never notice.if u do want you sharpen the front back up , pulling the forks through the stokes by 10-12mm will speed the steering back up if u have tha room,some bike have the handlebars over the top of the forks so u can not lift them.dont pull the forks to far up as this will cause instabilty at higher speed and head shakes underhard power.
BMW … :crying:I just couldn’t do it would have to get a tinted visor so nobody could identify me and I think I would also find myself single very quickly 
No offence to BMW owners just different people different tastes 
Car Eater hows your recovery coming along?
get an SV650S…loads around, seat height can be adjusted easily, or as said if you look around and enquire when calling up about any bike that catches your eye, ask if it has been lowered or how tall the current riders is.
i used to ride with someone that had a lowered SV, my SV was not lowered…yet the seat hieght was lower than the ‘lowered’ one!?
they actually have low seats anyway!
get one…you wont regret it…trust me…and…its not a sports bike!
not bad still on cruthes but im driving got a auto vectra diesel,left foot braking.trouble is every time i stop complete strangers keep jumping in the back and telling me to take them home.had a few problems with the police being stupid but i will put a rant post on later may make u smile did t me
thanks for asking
you can buy aftermarket rear shocks that are designed to lower the bike (think Hagan are one of the makes?) so if the standard adjustment on the OEM shock/the slimming down of the seat doesn’t work you still have options.
also bear in mind that you’ll be lighter than the previous owner/standard setup so the sag (starting position of the suspension when you’re sat on the bike) will need to be lower than it is in the showroom
if you make a big difference to the rear (which you might need to) then you’ll ideally need to adjust the front - the steering will seem relatively heavy. my mate did this to the 748 i sold him and i had to ride it for a couple of weeks after he’d done it - feels a bit like you’ve got a flat rear tyre til you get used to it
pretty sure you can drop the forks through the yoke on most bikes (may just take more effort).
you’re prob only at risk of warranty issues on the shock’s themselves and any mechanical parts that might get excessive wear and tear from the mods e.g. you could have an issue with the range of travel of the swing arm and ground clearance issues with extreme cornering (both unlikely to be a problem in reality)
Got on the 650 but dare I say I actually preferred the GSR 600 I think my problem is that I have become something of a Honda whore:D . You obviously know your Suzukis any comments on the GSR 600.
I am hoping to get my CBF500 lowered at some point after its first service, i got the same bullshit about invalidating the warranty from Chiswick Honda, yet Dobles say different, hence thats who i ended up buying the bike from
Ohhh and i am 5’2" also, can touch the ground fairly well after having the seat reshaped, but have been spoilt on my other bike cos i can flatfoot on it.
