Should I lower her?

[MikesGSX1300RK9]

As mentioned in another post, I dropped my five day old Busa in the garage on Thursday. In the post-drop aftermath, I am having frame sliders put on once the new body work goes on, as well as a magneto cover. Thinking about lowering the bike, just to give a little extra room, even though I can already put both feet on the ground standing over the bike.

Does this sound reasonable? Coming from a Ninja 250 which is easy to muscle around, to a point, mainly because of its lower stance. What kind of risks are associated with lowering a bike?


Thanks,

Mike

 

[DEMMYM]

No risks I can think of, and it looks really good.


People will tell you, you will loose some cornering ability, and you may loose a little so if your into hard Twisties it might not be a good idea, If your not into Hard Twisties go for it.

 

[Djxtrodinaire]

yeah it depends on your riding habit.

I like the looks of the bike lowered.
I did scrape my kickstand, i guess i was leaned over very well... lease:

 

[cipher5791]

Slam it

 

[mr8ball]

I lowered mine and love it. Did not slam it though, I tried it and it was just to looooow for me. It felt funny and I am only 5'8. I put the no cut sliders on mine and they really look good. I did not want to cut mu plastic's. Don't forget to change the kick stand if you slam it. Good luck

 

[vacivus]

All depends on your riding style.

Mostly straight - slam her to the weeds.
Urban asphalt carving - leave her as it is.

 

[Fastfrog007]

No risks I can think of, and it looks really good.


People will tell you, you will loose some cornering ability, and you may loose a little so if your into hard Twisties it might not be a good idea, If your not into Hard Twisties go for it.

+1 and depending how low ya go you may need a new kickstand so she'll lean over enough to be steady. Make sure you lower the front and rear equaly or the front lower than the rear for cornering ability

 

[Zoinks!]

As mentioned in another post, I dropped my five day old Busa in the garage on Thursday. In the post-drop aftermath, I am having frame sliders put on once the new body work goes on, as well as a magneto cover. Thinking about lowering the bike, just to give a little extra room, even though I can already put both feet on the ground standing over the bike.

Does this sound reasonable? Coming from a Ninja 250 which is easy to muscle around, to a point, mainly because of its lower stance. What kind of risks are associated with lowering a bike?


Thanks,

Mike

Go ahead and lower it for a little while till you get used to the extra weight. It really will help with ease of moving it around. It doesn't have to be much at all, either. I had mine lowered 2" in the rear for about a year. I really liked the stance it gave it and it did help a lot in moving it around (I can barely flat foot it at stock height). Now that I've gotten used to it, it's not a problem anymore and I raised it back up a few months ago. Mainly just because I got tired of dragging pegs in deep corners.

 

[Zoinks!]

Oh, and on the risks question. . . . You could wind up dragging hard parts if you're a corner carver and you may have issues going over speed bumps (depending on how much you lower it). Other than that I can't really think of anything. Mechanically it won't hurt anything. Just make sure you adjust your chain.

 

[Strife]

As mentioned in another post, I dropped my five day old Busa in the garage on Thursday. In the post-drop aftermath, I am having frame sliders put on once the new body work goes on, as well as a magneto cover. Thinking about lowering the bike, just to give a little extra room, even though I can already put both feet on the ground standing over the bike.

Does this sound reasonable? Coming from a Ninja 250 which is easy to muscle around, to a point, mainly because of its lower stance. What kind of risks are associated with lowering a bike?


Thanks,

Mike

If you can flat foot your motorcycle sitting on it,then lowering it isn't going to help any in that department. If you can't flat foot it then yes it will help.

You lose some ability in turning. Nothing that you won't be able to adept to though. Unless you are a serious corner carver.

It give the motorcycle a meaner look so to speak.

It can be reversed if you go with something like Soupy's or Brock's "Adjustable" links in the back. They cost a bit more,but you can adjust the height of the rear "Exactly" to the height you want. Fixed hole link are just what you get Fixed. You can always raise her back up with the "Adjustable" links too. The front you can buy a new top plate or some type of space/plate. Buy the right stuff and you won't have to take it back to a shop to have the height altered.

When you lower the motorcycle you will have to watch out for things like coming off steep driveways on roads. Speed bumps. Stuff like that.

I'm 6'3" and lowered mine for the look. Not many twisties here in Florida where I live. Took me a day to adjust to it.

 

[Zoinks!]

If you can flat foot your motorcycle sitting on it,then lowering it isn't going to help any in that department. If you can't flat foot it then yes it will help.

You lose some ability in turning. Nothing that you won't be able to adept to though. Unless you are a serious corner carver.

It give the motorcycle a meaner look so to speak.

It can be reversed if you go with something like Soupy's or Brock's "Adjustable" links in the back. They cost a bit more,but you can adjust the height of the rear "Exactly" to the height you want. Fixed hole link are just what you get Fixed. You can always raise her back up with the "Adjustable" links too. The front you can buy a new top plate or some type of space/plate. Buy the right stuff and you won't have to take it back to a shop to have the height altered.

When you lower the motorcycle you will have to watch out for things like coming off steep driveways on roads. Speed bumps. Stuff like that.

I'm 6'3" and lowered mine for the look. Not many twisties here in Florida where I live. Took me a day to adjust to it.

Even if he can flat foot it, it will still help. If his legs are fully extended when he's flat footed, then lowering will still help because it gives you more leverage.

When you say it took you a day to adjust them, did it really take all day? Although, I guess I could see it taking that long if you have the fully adjustable ones and moved them some and went for a ride to try it out and then moved them again and so on till you got it where you wanted. That just surprised me when I first read it cause I got he 3 hole adjustable ones and it only took about 20-30 minutes to get them installed and get the chain adjusted.

 

[Tony Nitrous]

Lower it if it makes you safer.

I've lowered several bikes, for shortie's, new riders, and for the drags.
Every single one was a worse road bike if you used it as it should be used.

Busa makes a fun bike if you keep the chain short and raise the rear a fraction.
Gets rid of the lazy touring steering. Bikes laid back geometry copes.

 

[sleepless_red]

I lowered mine 2 inches f/r and lovin' it. Traxxion Dynamics did the forks according to my weight and riding style and we used Brock's adjustable link for the rear. I love the feel and the looks of it. One thing I can tell you, I would never go back to stock height.

You can see the forks better in this pic.

 

[fastblackblur]

Lowered bikes look pretty hot, but I there is no way that would work for me, I like corners too much.

 

[surt]

I lowered mine 2 inches f/r and lovin' it. Traxxion Dynamics did the forks according to my weight and riding style and we used Brock's adjustable link for the rear. I love the feel and the looks of it. One thing I can tell you, I would never go back to stock height.

So you went down exactly 2" on both? What did you use for the front if the read was brocks?
Ever scraped anything? Do you do much twisty riding?

 

[Strife]

Gemmech07,

Sorry if I might not of been very clear. I meant that it took me a day to get the feel to the new height. Only took me an hour or so to install then with a little assistance of my brother.

 

[sleepless_red]

So you went down exactly 2" on both? What did you use for the front if the read was brocks?
Ever scraped anything? Do you do much twisty riding?

I sent my forks to Traxxion Dynamics. They cut the springs, did all the internals, and dyno tuned it according to my weight and riding style.

I've scraped it once going over a speed bump going a little too fast but learned after that one incident.

I do mostly highway since we don't really have that many twisties around here.

 

[Tufbusa]

Lowering your bike creates numerous performance issues and has absolutely no benifit other than visual appeal.

If you want to look cool at starbucks on Sunday morning or head for the local drag strip on Saturday night then lowering may be justified. If you want to improve your riding skills then I'd suggest improving your suspension vs gutting it. A lowered bike will certainly limit your ability to improve your skills as well as create safety issues.

 

[sleepless_red]

Even if he can flat foot it, it will still help. If his legs are fully extended when he's flat footed, then lowering will still help because it gives you more leverage.

True. I'm 5'10" and can flat foot it before lowering but after lowering, it really helped a lot like when you're backing out of a parking space.

 

[Tony Nitrous]

Lowering your bike creates numerous performance issues and has absolutely no benifit other than visual appeal.

If you want to look cool at starbucks on Sunday morning or head for the local drag strip on Saturday night then lowering may be justified. If you want to improve your riding skills then I'd suggest improving your suspension vs gutting it. A lowered bike will certainly limit your ability to improve your skills as well as create safety issues.

Well said.
Best post in this thread.