Lowering new GSX-R600

[Devil]

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

Lowering it properly isn't an issue really. That means taking the bikes natural geometry into account. Very generally, if you drop the front 10mm, then drop the rear 10mm. This should keep the steering geometry the same. If you just drop the front (and 10mm is significant amount for a sports bike) you can make it quite unstable.
Other trade-offs are things like the loss of ground clearance. You also lose cornering clearance.

[bikerboy011]

I am probably same height as you, and i always just use one leg when i stop on my blade. I guess its just confidence and you get use to it, i had the same worry when i upgraded from cbr250 which was fairly low and then went to new cbr600 but then i just got use to it, and now even the blade is a bit higher than my old bike.

[SPP]

5'7" is plenty to work with even if you have stumpy legs. Tippy toes will get you by easy. If you were 4'7" on the other hand...

I went for a ride with a mate who has a ZX6R lowered by the previous owner. Beside it looking kooky he was scraping his lower fairing on the twisty bits with an inch of chicken strip left on the rear. I'm not sure how much was taken out of it though.

IMO you should just ride it for a month or two (min) and if you still feel the need to dump it then go ahead. I’m picking by the second week you’d have gotten used to it.

Nice bike BTW

[Shaun]

jamjam-- NO DRAMA lowering the bike by pulling the forks through. Ask the dealer to set them so, the split line to the fork cap is 12mm away from the tripple clamp

And ignore comments about lowering the rear also, as the rear is NON adjustable in this way in Standard form, and please DO NOT get any lowering suspension links, this WILL F Up the geometery as well as alter how the shock is designed to operate


This is the fork protrusion that I use on those model bikes for racing, and will be A OK for street use, like Wanganui is!

Shaun Harris X Racer

[jamjam]

Thanks shaun, sounds like you know what you're talking about. so are you saying not to use those links that are available over the internet that slightly shorten the dogbone and hence slightly lowers the rear? i got the bike today and had a look underneath and did wonder if the shorter dogbone would change the angle that pushes up on the shock so not sure if this is good or not.
I don't want to lower the front without doing anything to the rear as the turn in is quite good already and don't want to make it any sharper for the street. what is the "fork protrusion" that you are talking about that would be ok? and wanganui? or should that be wHanganui? i don't know what you are referring to there.

Is there anyway to lower the back 1 inch safely if the shorter dog bone is not an option?

[Shaun]

Thanks shaun, sounds like you know what you're talking about. so are you saying not to use those links that are available over the internet that slightly shorten the dogbone and hence slightly lowers the rear? i got the bike today and had a look underneath and did wonder if the shorter dogbone would change the angle that pushes up on the shock so not sure if this is good or not.
I don't want to lower the front without doing anything to the rear as the turn in is quite good already and don't want to make it any sharper for the street. what is the "fork protrusion" that you are talking about that would be ok? and wanganui? or should that be wHanganui? i don't know what you are referring to there.

Is there anyway to lower the back 1 inch safely if the shorter dog bone is not an option?

RING ME on 06-7567744 when you can mate, evening is ok> Bugger typing my life away mate, talking direct is best--- And NO to Purchasing the Dog Bone lowering link!

[ckai]

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?

Mate, you are missing the most obvious solution to them all...get a new house! Obviously the one you have isn't suited to you love of the motorbicycle so get rid of it! Let some cage have it I levelled off part of our drive way (steep hill) so we could stop the bikes half way down to open our gate. It's all about your level of commitment. haha

Anyway, as to the handling difference of a lowered bike, from my experience of the wifes bike, I noticed a slight difference in the handling but nothing to write home about. It's not lowered to extremes , in fact stuff all, so it would have never been dangerous like ramming the rear shock through your ass! From my view point, the more you lower a bike the more your asking for trouble. Sooner or later something is gonna bite ya'.

If you can, after you talk to Shaun, post up what the deal is with dropping the forks. I'm keen to know. Might be an option for the Daytona vs Wife.

[jamjam]

oh duh !!!! of course, good point... move house hahaha i was actually waiting for someone to suggest that.
well i did the little seat carve thing like this guys suggests:
http://www.gixxer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=223293

it did make the seat more comfy and probably gained half an inch. scalloping out the seat would probably yield a better drop in height as the sides still hold up but i don't think it would be as comfy. something i may still get done although with the foam cut out from underneath i would probably have to get a new seat and start from scratch... and get it professionally done.
Good advice from Shaun over the phone thanks. The links are already on there way but i'll probably not put them in now and just be careful with positioning the bike. i rode to work today and it was ok except i did sit up for a stretch at a set of lights and my right foot was on a moist white line and did slight little slip but the bike was vertical so didn't budge. still tricky backing out of the garage though. both heals are about 10mm off the ground now if anyone cares.

[jamjam]

I don't know if anyone is still following this forum but i'm gonna chuck up some more info on my experience just in case it helps someone else out in the future having the same problem with height as me.
Well the lowering link has arrived... however i have decided firmly that i won't install them. I have been tweaking with the suspension and also by cutting out a chunk of underneath the seat have managed to get my heals just on the ground and now that i am getting customed to the bike feel (and the fact it's a well balanced bike) i don't feel the need or want anymore to lower it.... clap clap from everyone anti lowering :-)
Here's my experience with the suspension tweaking so far.... I asked the bike shop to pre-set it for a light weight rider. I hover around the 75kg mark and carry minimal gear. They had set the rebound and compression settings low but had only turned the front shock preload down 1 turn from factory setting. My preload was too high! i was only getting about 15mm drop when sitting on the bike. However the bike did handle good.
So i dialed the preload on the front right down to the lowest and the rear to about 3 turns short of the lowest. This got me to about 25mm rear and 35mm front. According to research this is about racing preload, a bit more lower would be street riding. Next i set all compression and rebound back to factory settings. This was a noticeably bad ride into work, a bit harsh and a noticeable slow down in turning in. I watched numerous videos of "on the throttle" that showed how to set all these things and how the bike should respond on a stand when pushing on the suspension etc... so for me i dialled everything back to softest and turned them all 1 turn towards hard (1 turn clockwisie).... which is back around somewhere where the bike shop had it. My initial bouncing on the bike like "on the throttle" showed it to respond quite good. The compression and rate of rebound and settle seems to match closely to what that guy does. I suspect the rear compression may be slightly low but will see when i ride it home and i believe wallowing out of a corner would mean it needs more rear compression. I also dialled the high speed rebound right off (counter clockwise) as Shaun and others had posted in other forums that this seems to make it better for people.
Anyway i am no expert by far but also not a beginner since this is my 6th sport bike so do kinda know how a bike should feel. But this info (or my opinion) could help future readers like me who just pick up a new gixxer. I also suspect since the bike is new the shocks may soften a little over time so periodic checks could see me tweaking settings anyway. I am still open to listening to what others have to say so feel free to throw in any more ideas.

[ckai]

Good to hear your getting comfy with it. I had a look at the site you posted about taking a bit out of the seat. Was an interesting way of doing things and I'm thinking of having a look at doing it for the wife. I liked it how you could put it back to stock if you wanted.

[jamjam]

yeh but you gotta use a razor sharp blade if you want the pieces intact. my blade was semi sharp and it butchered the pieces but i don't intend putting them back.
also i did a typo above, i dialled off the high speed compression, not high speed rebound on the rear.