GS suspension lowering

[Howie85]

Hi everyone,

My wife has a GS 500e and would like me to lower the suspension so she can get her feet flat on the ground.  How do I change the suspension??

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Do a search for "dogbones" or "lowering links" (I would do it for ya, but I gotta get back to work)... Quite honestly though, you'll read in all those posts that messing with the suspension is recommended as a last resort, as it can potentially be quite dangerous to the rider. The bike's suspension geometry is setup the way it is for a reason. By engineers. Who get paid to do this kinda stuff. Then you, I, or Joe Blow come along and mess with it. It can have bad effects. How tall is your wife? If she's only like an inch too short, I'd recommend going with nice thick soled motorcycle boots, and shaving the foam out of her seat a little bit. I'm only 5'3, with about a 29" inseam, and while I'm nowhere near flatfooting the bike, I'm more than comfortable on the stock bike with only being able to put one foot down at a time. I actually feel better having only one foot on the ground than when I have both feet partially on the ground. Also, if she hasn't taken it already, sign her up for the MSF course, as that's where I gained my confidence in my ability to hold the bike upright with only one foot. If she practices it, it will very quickly become second nature.

Just my thoughts on the matter... YMMV..

[runsilent]

The ZX6R links will fit the GS500.  The shortest of the three holes on the Muzzys links is about the same as the GS500 links, approx 7 1/16 long.  Next hole is 1/2" longer which would lower the bike about 2 1/2 inches in the rear, it's about a 5:1 ratio.

I was looking for about 1-2" lower so I went with the Pingel #62018 links which have the first hole at about 7 5/16" long.  They lowered the bike about 1 1/4" in the rear.  Other 2 holes are 9/16" apart each so 2nd hole would lower it another 2 3/4 inches approx.  I dropped the front about 1/2" by sliding the fork tubes up in the tripple clamps.  I have the GenMar bar risers which allow sliding the tubes up further than they will go with the bars in the standard position.

I'm running 110/80 and 150/70 Lasertec tires which are about 1/2" taller than OE tires so my net lowering is only about 3/4" rear, but it's still 1 1/4" lower than before I added the links.      Bike sits OK on sidestand, but further lowering would probably require altering the sidestand.

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=7304.msg61113#msg61113

http://www.muzzys.com/catalog/

http://www.pingelonline.com/index.htm

Bought the Pingel links from Dennis Kirk, their #588358.

http://www.denniskirk.com/

(copied and pasted from previous post I made on subject)