Lowering new GSX-R600

[rie]

I change my post! holy CRAP 5'7" is NOT short. especially on a gsxr, which has a comparably lower seat anyway...!

[breakaway]

5'7" and you want a bike lowered? I thought you might be genuinely vertically challenged. Don't do it.

[imdying]

The Pedobot manages ok!

[ital916]

I'm about 5'7 and have not found a bike I cannot flat foot on, even if I have to move my arse off the seat to do it. Meh, even toes on the ground is good enough. I have no trouble flat footing on my partners gsxr600. I'm sure your footing is fine mate.

[jamjam]

Thanks for the advice everyone. i think i got shorter legs for my height so haven't found any mid-size bike i can flat foot in my riding boots on both sides simultaneously... but i did take a gsx-r600 demo for a spin and found it was quite easy to control and it balances quite well so didn't find any issue with stopping at intersections. sooooooooo i bought one :-) the dealer let me keep the demo till my new one is ready so gives me a chance to get used to it's handling and throttle before scrubbing in new tyres. only problem was i couldn't back it into the garage over the half inch raised concrete lip when i got home due to a steep driveway so have to ride in forwards and back out while turning sharp to leave... same as i been doing on the little zxr.

The dealer is dropping the front 10mm and i will consider dropping the back the same in the near future as i am mostly commuting and really don't need sharp cornering so a compromise seems acceptable to me... i don't think the chicken strips will ever go :-) damn self preservation is like a handbrake at times.

So cheers, your opinions were acknowledged in my decision... but i did like the little suzuki intruder 250 hahaha which was option 2 on my list

[Latte]

I'm 5'8 with short legs, so am in a similar boat. I borrowed Devil's TTR600 (tall offroader - and it was a #$%#@% kick start too!) for a few days (couldnt even tippy toe both feet) and it wasn't an issue , apart from people watching me do "the dance" from one foot to the other at the lights putting it into gear then back on the brake for hill starts.

As long as you are a confident rider you'll be fine - I imagine if you bought a SuperSport you'll be planning to ride "enthusiastically " so it seems a shame to compromise the handling for a non issue.

[slofox]

Thanks for the advice everyone. i think i got shorter legs for my height so haven't found any mid-size bike i can flat foot in my riding boots on both sides simultaneously... but i did take a gsx-r600 demo for a spin and found it was quite easy to control and it balances quite well so didn't find any issue with stopping at intersections. sooooooooo i bought one :-) the dealer let me keep the demo till my new one is ready so gives me a chance to get used to it's handling and throttle before scrubbing in new tyres. only problem was i couldn't back it into the garage over the half inch raised concrete lip when i got home due to a steep driveway so have to ride in forwards and back out while turning sharp to leave... same as i been doing on the little zxr.

The dealer is dropping the front 10mm and i will consider dropping the back the same in the near future as i am mostly commuting and really don't need sharp cornering so a compromise seems acceptable to me... i don't think the chicken strips will ever go :-) damn self preservation is like a handbrake at times.

So cheers, your opinions were acknowledged in my decision... but i did like the little suzuki intruder 250 hahaha which was option 2 on my list

Well done! You'll love it to bits I'm sure...

[Pussy]

Definitely modify the seat to get a lower seating position.... much better than modded dog-bones etc.
$14k is a good price for a brand new K9... go for it!
May have been mentioned.... Suzuki warranty for road bikes is 24 months, unlimited km.
SNZ are pretty good, warranty-wise, too

[bittertwistedcute]

sooooooooo i bought one :-)

Congrats!!!

[SVboy]

Thanks for the advice everyone. i think i got shorter legs for my height so haven't found any mid-size bike i can flat foot in my riding boots on both sides simultaneously... but i did take a gsx-r600 demo for a spin and found it was quite easy to control and it balances quite well so didn't find any issue with stopping at intersections. sooooooooo i bought one :-) the dealer let me keep the demo till my new one is ready so gives me a chance to get used to it's handling and throttle before scrubbing in new tyres. only problem was i couldn't back it into the garage over the half inch raised concrete lip when i got home due to a steep driveway so have to ride in forwards and back out while turning sharp to leave... same as i been doing on the little zxr.

The dealer is dropping the front 10mm and i will consider dropping the back the same in the near future as i am mostly commuting and really don't need sharp cornering so a compromise seems acceptable to me... i don't think the chicken strips will ever go :-) damn self preservation is like a handbrake at times.

So cheers, your opinions were acknowledged in my decision... but i did like the little suzuki intruder 250 hahaha which was option 2 on my list

Be very careful re letting the dealer drop the front 10mm. I assume they will drop the triple clamps down. This will decrease your steering head angle and make the bike tip in to corners much more readily, perhaps to the point of being a bit unstable? Is that what you want? On my K9 750 I had mine dropped 5mm to speed turn-in. I certainly dont use it for commuting. I back up those who say modify your seat and leave the suspension geometry as Suzuki intended. Dont forget the suzuki 3 position footpegs to aid rider comfort. Re warranty I got the deaqler to do the 1000km check and I do the rest-get them to stamp the book at each service for piece of mind. Oh, and I dream of being 5'7"!!! and I cope just fine!

[SVboy]

Thanks for the advice everyone. i think i got shorter legs for my height so haven't found any mid-size bike i can flat foot in my riding boots on both sides simultaneously... but i did take a gsx-r600 demo for a spin and found it was quite easy to control and it balances quite well so didn't find any issue with stopping at intersections. sooooooooo i bought one :-) the dealer let me keep the demo till my new one is ready so gives me a chance to get used to it's handling and throttle before scrubbing in new tyres. only problem was i couldn't back it into the garage over the half inch raised concrete lip when i got home due to a steep driveway so have to ride in forwards and back out while turning sharp to leave... same as i been doing on the little zxr.

The dealer is dropping the front 10mm and i will consider dropping the back the same in the near future as i am mostly commuting and really don't need sharp cornering so a compromise seems acceptable to me... i don't think the chicken strips will ever go :-) damn self preservation is like a handbrake at times.

So cheers, your opinions were acknowledged in my decision... but i did like the little suzuki intruder 250 hahaha which was option 2 on my list

Be very careful re letting the dealer drop the front 10mm. I assume they will drop the triple clamps down. This will decrease your steering head angle and make the bike tip in to corners much more readily, perhaps to the point of being a bit unstable? Is that what you want? On my K9 750 I had mine dropped 5mm to speed turn-in. I certainly dont use it for commuting. I back up those who say modify your seat and leave the suspension geometry as Suzuki intended. Dont forget the suzuki 3 position footpegs to aid rider comfort. Re warranty I got the deaqler to do the 1000km check and I do the rest-get them to stamp the book at each service for piece of mind. Oh, and I dream of being 5'7"!!! and I cope just fine!

[jamjam]

Thanks for your comment and oh to be 6ft !!... struggling to get the bike in and out of the garage at home so i really gotta lower it. i'd rather compromise some handling than tip it over onto the misses car and hurt my poor bike. I have seen a forum where a guy cut out a bit of foam where the seat meets the plastic seat pan. so from the outside it looked stock, but when he sits on it it sinks down an extra half inch.

Even though i got a sports bike it is really gonna be used on the city streets and the odd bit of open road over summer so sharp handling is not a priority. i have read that dropping the front increases the turn in and i found the test ride of the demo already has a lot of turn in when going around intersections anyway, compared to the old school bikes i used to ride. so for now i've told them to hold off on the front and i've ordered a lowering link for the back. i figure if i drop the back 1 inch and then the front 10mm then this should also decrease the turn in angle which i think will be better for the street riding anyway. just not as good for the open road 35km toe scraping corners.... which i don't do.

But to have an inch or 2 of additional foot down will make a huge difference in the control of the bike over stupid things like having to stop half way over a drain exiting a gas station when some ass pulls out in front or something and having no where to put my feet down. Hey i'm even going to change from the Bridgestone BT016 to Michellin Pilot Road 2 tyres when these ones wear out because people say i will go from 5,000km to 10,000km tyre life and i'm sure the tyres won't quite be as sticky either but once again i don't need very sticky tyres at such a huge cost difference.

Though i may sound stubborn you gotta remember that if i tip my bike over because of some bad footing at some point then you really don't want to hear me swear moan and throw my toys out the cot on this forum cause i scratched up a nice new bike. i am happy to keep this running for a bit and give an opinion of how i've found the difference in lowering the bike v's stock. the lowering link will probably take a couple of weeks to arrive. and if it really is crap i can always swap it back out again anyway.

[jamjam]

Actually i wanna throw a question out there to consider. I've read where lots of people say don't lower the bike, it affects the handling but none of them have said they lowered it then found it unstable and raised it back again... and others say lowering it was fine for them and didn't have any problems. i guess the question is does lowering the bike change it's handling in such a way that it becomes dangerous and can't stick on a corner and will break out and throw you?.... or does it simply change the handling characteristics of what it was like, the same as going from bike A to bike B and noticing the change in handling... cause if it still rides safe but just different then a few rides to learn the new characteristics is all it takes to adjust to it in which case what's the big deal? anyone got actual experience with this kind of stuff?

[Devil]

Thanks for your comment and oh to be 6ft !!... struggling to get the bike in and out of the garage at home so i really gotta lower it.

Get off and push.
I'm 5'9" and ride what you'd probably consider to be a gigantic bike. I dont have a hope in hell in paddling the thing around forwards or backwards on anything other than a dead flat surface. It's just a fact of life.

[jamjam]

if only it were that easy and trust me i have looked at ways to do it and expierimented. Problem is i have to back it out with a sharp left lock so the best posiition is to walk on the left of the bike. problem is the drivway rises steeply and the bike is already part way up so it's higher and i can't swing my right leg over it to get on anymore. i can't walk it from the right hand side, too awkward with a left lock on and rising up hill. i tried backing it in so i can ride straight out forward but with the front wheel part way up drive and rear wheel struggling to reverse up a 1 inch concrete lift i ended up with my legs dangling over a drain and could barely get 1 toe down... that was a more butt clinching experience than flying into a van at 100kph!!!