Is there a proper way to lower a bike and not have to compromis safety.

 

You can lower them to an extend without affecting much but if your talking droping it like 3 inchs than thats another thing... You WILL comprimise handling though. If you drop it a considerable amount you won't be able to lean as much without having something hit the pavement. I guess it is ok if you'r planning on only going straight with slow turns. But if you plan on doing real riding and hit the twisties and such than I don't think its a good idea. You will also affect stuff like weight transfer while braking and suspension travel... To each his own.

Why do you want to lower it?

 

what bike, rider dimensions. I can give you an idea of how much and where you can go

 

i was thinking about getting the 02 or 03 yamaha r6. im about 5'4 or 5'5 and weigh at 145 lbs.

 

So do you want to DROP it or just lower it a bit more to fit your height?

 

since you're in SJ....go to City Cycles and talk to Vaughn. He knows his stuff

 

You should not have to lower your bike to fit properly.I would leave it alone unless you plan on doing nothing but squiding it out in a straight line.If that is what you plan on doing why dont you just go ahead and extend the swingarm, chrome everything out, get a beenie helmet, and a brand new pack of wife beaters to wear when you ride.But I give you props if you would rather hit the twisties than cruise the town.

 

if you're doing it because you're short, DON'T.

there are other ways. you can shave the seat which is the most popular method. lowering the bike, like others said compromise the handling and you're just screwing with the geometry of the bike.

 

You're not that short. Adjust the preload, get some decent boots, and you could even shave the seat a little.

 

what do you guys mean by shaving the seat???... do you cut a portion off or what?

 

yes there is a proper way did you know that animals sometims grunt while having intercourse.

but back to the lowering
depending on what bike oyu have there are different ways

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ShiftStain &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yes there is a proper way did you know that animals sometims grunt while having intercourse.

but back to the lowering
depending on what bike oyu have there are different ways</TD></TR></TABLE> what the hell?

 

hey shiftstain i dont get how there are many ways to lower a bike depending on what bike it is. please explain.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gsR*sonic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hey shiftstain i dont get how there are many ways to lower a bike depending on what bike it is. please explain.</TD></TR></TABLE>

ya i need to know this too

 

Shaving the seat is done by removing the seat cover, and cutting the foam down a bit.

 

It is potentoialy fatal to lower a modern sports bike. The forks and shock are set up to absorb bumps in the road and maintain a level of clearance between the road and chassis/bodywork. It is very, very unwise to lower a bike as you will ground out the thing all over the place. More than ~30 mm at the front my bet is that the radiator will be kissing the wheel unber braking.

Also the steering will quicken up if you drop the front and you run the risk of de-stablising the bike completely, making it useless for fast road work. Either cut the seat of if you don;t fit it then consider a different bike. There are a number of bikes that are lower like the Firestorm etc that can be sorted.

Cliff notes: don't

 

does anyone else have any suggestions?

 

You should be fine with a stock height bike. Just shave the seat down a little bit. I'm 5'6 and I can touch the ground with both feet

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by luckyjun127 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">does anyone else have any suggestions?</TD></TR></TABLE>

You ask us if it is safe to do so and we all tell you its not and your STILL looking for someone to say go for it do it its 100% safe.... NO one will do that... sorry that your not hearing what you want to hear, but all of this is the cold hard fact. Do not do it...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by luckyjun127 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">does anyone else have any suggestions?</TD></TR></TABLE>

yes. the proper way to lower your bike, and still handle well, is to send your forks and rear damper to RaceTech and have them replace the springs and revalve to match the new ride height and spring rates.

 

For street riding, if it is an issue of you not reaching the ground, by all means lower it.

You can correctly lower a bike by lowering the steering head in the triple clamps and by changing the dogbones on the rear suspension. It is safe, and completely legit. It will change the handling characteristics of the bike, but on the street it won't make much of a difference, any decent rider should be able to adjust his/her riding accordingly.

The chances of you scraping the footpegs sooner in a corner is a bit higher, but in 99.9% of the riding I do, I don't scrape my pegs and I don't ride like an old lady.

Cheers,
Roy

 

get a dog bone(drop fork) you can lower you bike up to 3 inches..

 

It's not a civic, you don't need to lower the bike. I'm the same height as you and actually lighter, andI didn't lower my bike at all. Lowering it can cause some funky changes in geometry and affect wheel travel.

Danny

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TuRbO_CrX_7o2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">get a dog bone(drop fork) you can lower you bike up to 3 inches..</TD></TR></TABLE>

Don't do that.

 

why? all the bikes i rode w/ dogbones ride fine??