Lol he only pretends he's confused, sharp as a rusty nail that one!!! Hee hee (teasing you!!)
Thanks Julie! Yep dukes aren't very friendly on the cash.......but oh so sexy lol. Street triple looks cool though and so that's a def possibilty
Will keep you all updated.......when I finally get my arse down to a few dealers
Have you found anything yet?
Everyone likes to recommend their bike, that's generally when we've got it so on that note, have you considered a CBR600? I''ve got a 2003 F and I think it's a fantastic bike.
I'm 5:4 so shorter than you and I can get both feet down. I do wear Ladystar boots that mean I get my heels down a lot of the time, without them I would just be balls of feet but as my experience and confidence grows, it's becoming less of an issue (apart from paddling where I just don't have enough leverage in my legs).
My bike isn't lowered as such but the forks have been dropped by a few mm and the suspension set on 2 for a slighter lower ride height than standard and I can get away with this weighing around 10st. A heavier rider might find it too soft when pushing on a bit.
I'm around five and a half foot and I've never lowered a bike.
About the only changes to geometry I've ever made is to drop the forks slightly and raise the rear, but this is simply to make the bike turn quicker.
Most production bikes benefit from the forks dropping a little as from standard they tend to be set with stability in mind more than speed of turning.
I've been riding for quite a while and I can tell the difference in how a bike steers when either end is dropped or raised by only a few millimetres. On my CB for example, when Maxton did the forks they put 5mm shorter springs in and dropped the forks by a further 5mm in order to speed the steering up.
The difference was huge. I dropped the forks a further few millimetres still after experimenting with them dropped a total of 10mm but found it too much.
Similarly, I can tell the difference straight away when I change the rear preload by a step in either way. My bikes set on 3 out of 5 as 2 wasn't enough. I have tried in on 4 but it feels too firm and feels as though it wants to drop into turns too quickly.
From an experienced rider's perspective therefore, I'd hate to think what a bike feels like when the back end is dropped by anything like 40mm!
If I ever were to consider getting a bike lowered I personally would look at the seat first. A good seat upholsterer will be able to remove your existing seat foam and replace it with new nice cosseting foam.
One thing that puts people off having their seat reprofiled is the worry that with less foam the seat won't be as comfortable.
However, standard seats are designed around the average bum, this is whether they are a seat as supplied with the new bike or an upgraded gel seat or similar from the manufacturer or indeed even a "standard" replacement seat from the likes of Corbin (although Corbin seats do tend to be better than standard, this is mainly because of the difference in manufacturing costs).
A good seat upholsterer will be able to profile a seat so that it offers more cradle, with more nose and a better pitch for your particular height, weight and riding style. Things like gel inserts can be added dependent on your shape etc.
For those not familiar with these terms, "cradle" is basically how the seat supports you. A standard seat may feel fine for one person but another with a different shape bum may find it uncomfortable.
"Nose" is a slightly raised area of the seat right at the front designed to keep you away from the tank slightly and also to help support you.
"Pitch" is literally how much the seat pitches you forward. Too much pitch and you may find too much weight on your wrists or you may feel that you are being pushed towards the tank. Too little and it could feel uncomfortable in the normal riding position because you will have too much pressure at the front of your groin.
I've come across many people who have had their seat "cut down" professionally and have found their "new" seat far more comfortable than the original.
So if you are considering having a bike lowered, I'd speak to a seat upholsterer first.
If you are still concerned about the height of the bike, the next stage for me would be to speak to someone like Maxton. Good suspension engineers can install shorter springs front and rear or even shorten the overall fork legs and fit shorter shocks ... and they will all recommend you do both ends and not just one. And they will be able to respring and revalve to suit you perfectly.
It will cost more than a simple change of tie bars, of this there is no doubt. A good fork respring and revalve is around £200 and a new shock (built to your spec) is around twice this.
But there is no doubt that the end result will be far superior than tie bars. Tie bars do have draw backs anyway. Lengthening the tie bars may lower the bike, but they also increase the progressive rate of the shock linkage; end result is a harder shock. Given that most people lower their bikes because they are smaller than average, it therefore follows that they tend to be lighter as well and so a firmer shock is the last thing they want.
So my advice to anyone considering lowering a bike is as follows; seat and/or suspension modifications. I'd even go as far as suggesting people buy a cheaper bike and putting the difference in pennies into the above than go for tie bars.
That's the first thing to do DR77, as you say, try them on.
A lot depends not just on seat height, but the width of the bike and how top heavy it feels. My CB for example has quite a low seat height (790mm) but feels higher than my old VTR which was more like 815mm because of it's width.
As such I can never have more than both balls of the feet down at once and usually have to put up with just the one foot and sometimes on tip toes. But because of how well balanced the bike is (and to be fair some half a million road miles under my belt), it feels fine to me.
A lot also depends on the reach to the bars and the position of the bars as well. A bike that you can get a foot firmly down on can feel precarious if you're stretching to reach the bars.
I'd put together a short list and as you suggest, have a sit on them. Sit on them whilst holding the bike up yourself and even try sitting on the bike as if you were riding it (a centre stand or a couple of experienced helpers here are required). If you've got bike gear already, wear this as well. I know it feels wrong driving in bike gear (try it in a one piece full spec race suit lol), but you don't want to try a bike on for size, decide that's the one, buy it and then find it's uncomfortable when you're wearing armoured trousers etc.
The guys in bikeshop in donny said dont matter how tall or short you are any bike can be lowered for £35 to suit you, im five foot two but got short legs so no matter what bike i get will prob have to be lower for me,good luck hun x
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