5' 0" Rider...

[F=ma]

Hey any 5 foot riders out there? 

Male, 5 flat, and 125 lbs.  Should I be able to toe it?  or am I going to have to lower it right off the bat?

I'm considering a GS500 but I will make my decision after I take the safety class and earn my license next weekend.

[96gs]

Well you really might want to think about lowering it. You might be able to toe it but its hard to tell. I'm 5'4" and i can flat foot with a little bit of trouble. Good luck!!

[chimivee]

I think it would be a stretch.  What's your inseam?  If it's at least ~27", I'd guess that you'd be able to just toe it.

Good luck w/ the MSF.

[Cal Price]

I think it will be difficult to get your toes on the deck, try a few bikes and see. There are a few threads in the past about lowering the GS and changing the seat etc, try searching. The Honda CB500 is broadly similar and can be lowered but you find yourself faced with a choice between "cruisers" or some of the smaller sport bikes, I was looking at a Honda 400 sports recently and that was low as well as short on the wheelbase, comfort of the ride position may be a concern on the sporty options. Good luck with the class and license.

[john]

at 5' tall you really are pushing it.  You may not find anything that will fit you except for a cruiser style.  If so, get a Honda Magna.  Freaking fast little bike.

[Cal Price]

If you are not a great fan of the cruiser style, there is a 525cc shaft drive that was available new until '02 or '03, can't recall if it is a Yamaha or a Kawasaki, the latter I think, someone will know. It is styled somewhere between out-and-out cruiser and "traditional" and here in UK is greatly favoured by the shorter-of-stature and the ladies without being in any way "girlie". I think this, or cruiser may be your only option much as I hate to put anyone off the GS. Some of the scooters may interest you, I don't know what range you have available but here there are hundreds and some in the 250-650cc range are pretty sporty movers.

[Cal Price]

Yamaha XV535, that the one...

[F=ma]

I will definitely sit on one first before I make any semblance of a decision, but from the sounds of it I should juuust barely be able to toe it, or be very close.  

So if I lowered it I should be ok, right?

Are there many lowered used GS's on the market?  I've tried to do a search, but not sure what to use as a query.  "lowered" turns up a lot of crap.

[Kerry]

Do a search for "dogbones".  You should only get one page of hits back, and the ones you REALLY want to read are fairly obvious.

[Pam G]

It depends on how much lower the bike is, whether or not it will be OK.  I would guess if it's lowered more than 1/2" in the rear, the bike will be a little more difficult to corner.
If you lower the rear, you should also lower the front probably about the same amount, but I'm not sure if that's possible with the stock triple tree/handlebar setup.
Have you found this webiste?:

http://www.nebcom.com/noemi/moto/sbl.sbl.html

[F=ma]

That short bike list is invaluable to me, thank you very much.

[Flash]

I'm 5'2" tall and I can put my toes on the ground. Being 5 feet tall would be pushing it. You could always lean to one side so you can put one foot down flat at stoplights.

Check out these links for lists of bikes for short people:
http://www.nebcom.com/noemi/moto/sbl.sbl.html#bikes
http://www.pkriders.org/shortbikerlist.htm

If worse comes to worse you could always get a Yamaha V-Max (30.1 inch seat)

I wouldn't mind having one of these if I had the money

[girlracer]

What about a Buell Blast? I know they have a short seat height, you can get a 25 or 27 version I believe.

[Pam G]

What about a Buell Blast? I know they have a short seat height, you can get a 25 or 27 version I believe.

Yeah, I don't know how old that short biker's list is, but I don't see the Blast on it.  It should probably be added to it.
A couple other manufacturers to search for:  Kymco, Hyosung
Also possibly a few things at www.cosmotor.com

Don't rule out scooters also.  Scooters are cool too.