Lowering bike

[guitarking135]

you may have longer legs?  I'm 5 10 and I could touch ok but I didn't have enough legs left to move the bike very easily. If i was on a little bit of a slop I was screwed. or a rock. or a lady bug lol.  PlUS, Im guesing by your name your a girl. You don't have a pee pee that gets in the way. you can get closer to the tank and the closer you are to that tank the lower it it. but mostly IM going to guess you just have longer legs most girls do

[gsJack]

I'm just under 6' tall and shrinking, was about 6' 2" back in 99 when I got my first GS (5th bike).  I've always been short in the limbs and long in the middle but with my former 30" inseam now down to 29" my heels are on the ground with knees bent a bit.  IT was/is getting harder to get my arthritic hip up and over so I lowered it an inch and it's much more convenient that way.  Can get back off at the end of a long day too.   

Like just mentioned those links are mostly always in tension and not heavily loaded, mild steel would work.  I wouldn't worry about any of the name brand aluminum links breaking, they're stronger than oem, could be a problem if you find some cheapo cast ones somewhere.  I'm just happy to get up another day and go riding again.   

[GI_JO_NATHAN]

How tall are you folks that are lowering your bike.

I'm 5'5" and lowered mine 2" in the back, and 1.75" in the front.  I definitely feel much more comfortable with my bike lowered, except when I'm in the twisties and scrape my exhaust on the ground.

[qwertydude]

Has anyone ever broken those links? It gets me worried because of all the stress those go through because of the leverage. They are originally steel and in engineering everyone knows never replace a steel unit directly with an aluminum one because the aluminum will be a third to half as strong as steel. Plus the amount of material between each hole makes me worry, these are after all what connects your swing arm to your shock.

the thing about the stress on them is they are getting pulled not pushed. they have little to no stress actually put on them. thats what the shock is for.

True 7075 is a strong grade of aluminum but still no direct replacement for steel it's not true they are stronger just stiffer, no grade of aluminum has the tensile strentgh that steel does even mild steel, they still take all the weight of the bike under tension multpilied by the length of the swingarm. And under those kinds of repeated stress aluminum breaks. It just has me worried, if they were steel I'd have no problem. It's just aluminum has practically no elastic range so, what this equates to is that under repeated stess cycles aluminum will just break with no warning. I doubt you could run with just one, like the guy said, sure it would hold but the torsional force will definitely break the aluminum in just a few miles or bumps.

[gsJack]

No grade?  Hot rolled steels can start at 26k yield and 47k tensile while 7075 T6 is 72k yield and 82k tensile.

http://www.engineershandbook.com/Tables/steelprop.htm

http://www.engineershandbook.com/Tables/aluminumprop.htm

I've got over 20k miles on my Pingel links and I weigh over 240#.   I'd stick with the name brand links from established makers and not shop for the cheapest available.

[mojonixon]

I lowered my bike last weekend, both front and rear, I picked up rear links and some clip ons on Ebay for 85 bucks and it was well spent! The bars work fine on my 07 and they really are more comfortable than the stock bars, and I have a bad back! The bike sits much lower now, not affected by cross winds as much(been blowin hard in So. Florida past couple of weeks) and seems to feel more "planted" also seems to track better thru corners, I guess it is the lower CG that makes it feel that way. Anyways it FEELS like a sportbike now only without the knees in ny chest, Suzuki should spec the GS this way from the get go.

[Teek]

I lowered my bike last weekend, both front and rear, I picked up rear links and some clip ons on Ebay for 85 bucks and it was well spent! The bars work fine on my 07 and they really are more comfortable than the stock bars, and I have a bad back! The bike sits much lower now, not affected by cross winds as much(been blowin hard in So. Florida past couple of weeks) and seems to feel more "planted" also seems to track better thru corners, I guess it is the lower CG that makes it feel that way. Anyways it FEELS like a sportbike now only without the knees in ny chest, Suzuki should spec the GS this way from the get go.

I agree, I'm 5'5 or a little less now (w a shorter inseam too, not the long willowy legs of a model  ), bad back, hip, knee, ankle on the right side. Now I can flat foot the left side and toe the right on a crowned road, plus I have more traction trying to move the bike with foot power (backing up, gas stations, parking, DIRT!) as I am able to have a little bend in my knees. I can't really push well with straight legs!

Cornering is great, I too also feel more stable in wind, as we get some good gusts near the ocean, and I was getting blown around a bit in a canyon Sunday but the bike handled it well. Also, I lowered mine because of the Katana 600 rear shock, which raised the seat an inch, and that was enough to make me uncomfortable. I rode a long legged girlfriend's Honda 599, and I could only tiptoe it, and that was fine for riding it around a flat parking lot and it's a super nimble and comfortable, stable bike, but I would NOT want to have been in a dirt pullout or on a steep crown with it (holding it up with just my left foot) as a little wobble too far to one side and I would not have the leverage to catch it, and it weighs more than the GS. Shorter is easier for me to leverage around with my legs. On PCH on windy days the wind shoves hard enough to push us a couple inches to the side sometimes while waiting at lights .

When I was younger toeing a 400+ pound moto was no big deal. Wait until you youngsters have a few more decades under your belts, you'll understand that Yes, we could ride it that way But we'd rather feel safer.

[Cams500]

I'm 5'2" on a good day (when I get up in the Morning  )

I love my bike a bit lowered.  Like I mentioned though it's only 1 1/4 " lower and I didn't even have to modify the kickstand THOUGH in hindsight I should have gone 2" since the cobbler is charging me 100$ !!!!  to put thicker soles on my boots!!!! Highway robbery.


Cams

[qwertydude]

I see that the ultimate yield and tensile strength is comparable, but like I said take a look at the chart again, aluminum has to have fatigue stress factored in, which all the stress must stay under in it's service life. Even the strongest 7075 has a fatigue strength of only 24 kpsi which is what ultimately engineers will consider when repeated stress is applied to aluminum. This is still lower than the yield strength of hot rolled which is the weakest steel, I doubt suzuki would use hot rolled steel for these links, I'm pretty sure the links look cold rolled to me and the stamping out of the design ought to have work hardened it some. Again I didn't design the bike and don't know how much of a safety margin is built in but just as we were taught in material sciences steel should never be directly replaced by aluminum.

[Toogoofy317]

Guess it is my long legs. Even though I'm 5'8" I have a 34" inseam. Thanks all for the info.


Mary S.

[Teek]

You could ride one of those KTM Super Dukes! They are monstrously big. You might have to toe it though.   

http://www.990superduke.com/

[mojonixon]

I am 5' 11", had no problem with being able to hold the bike up, I bought the links and clip ons just to try out, but after riding with it lowered for over a week now they are staying on! Ok this whole steel vs. aluminum thing, I replaced my steel wheels with Sportmax aluminum wheels  on my Xb, does that mean my wheels will crumble and fail unexpectedly?! I think not. Remember this is a multi link system we are talking about here, not as much stress as you think. Just my thoughts.

[newbie08]

I'm 5'5" and I just ordered the 2" lowering links for the rear. I have 2 questions :

1) should I also buy front lowering links? and if so, at what length - 1 inch for the front to offset the 2 inches in the back?

2) for the people that have lowered their bikes 2" or more, did you have to buy a shorter kickstand?
I'd hate to lower it and then a minute later damage the frame cause it tips over...

[GI_JO_NATHAN]

Sorry but there aren't lowering links for the front. You have to either switch to clip-ons, or use spacers to get enough clearance to lower your triple trees down on the fork tubes.
Edit: you will eventually want to adjust your kickstand, but you don't have to immediately. 

[guitarking135]

you can cut and reweld your stock kick stand thats what i did and the front is lowred with straps on more sports bikes. honestly i droped mine two inches in the rear and didnt even mess with the front

[SkiMad]

I too was concerned about replacing a steel component with aluminium.  Fortunately I found that steel lowering links for the GS500 and GS500F are on sale on UK ebay.   I opted for a fairly modest reduction in height choosing the 25cm (1inch) lowering link (they also do a 45cm drop) which went straight on and has not had any harmful affect on the handling at highway speeds, but makes low speed handling/parking up so much easier.  By staying close to the standard spec height I have not had to alter the forks, sidestand or centre stand on my GS500F.  So far I have not managed to scrape anything despite occasionally throwing it enthusiastically into corners.

If your think you would like a lowered bike then go for it.

[qwertydude]

I am 5' 11", had no problem with being able to hold the bike up, I bought the links and clip ons just to try out, but after riding with it lowered for over a week now they are staying on! Ok this whole steel vs. aluminum thing, I replaced my steel wheels with Sportmax aluminum wheels  on my Xb, does that mean my wheels will crumble and fail unexpectedly?! I think not. Remember this is a multi link system we are talking about here, not as much stress as you think. Just my thoughts.

Those aluminum wheels are different, please read my posts carefully as I've worded them very specifically (like an engineer ought to do). I said direct replacements, as in no dimensions have changed, which is what the aluminum links do and even worse the multi-hole ones have very thin walls between each hole. You're Sportmax aluminum wheels are either of the cast or forged type, but they will have been designed to handle the stresses of supporting a car. Ever notice aluminum wheels have much thicker spokes and hubs than their steel counterparts? It's to offeset aluminum's weakness compared to steel's. You need more aluminum to get the job done and prevent failure. Why do you think you don't see 7075 aluminum stamped wheels like you see stamped steel wheels? They would be 2/3 lighter than the weight of steel, weak as hell and no fatigue resistance to speak of. When replacing aluminum with steel in a properly engineered object you must use aproximately twice as much aluminum making the weight savings only about 1/3.

And the whole reason for the multi link setup is not to distribute the loads and reduce stress, a twin shock setup does that much more effectively. It's to provide less unsprung mass and a progressive suspension action. If you think all the loads don't go through those links just remove them and watch your suspension just fall to the ground. I wish I could setup a strain guage on these parts to show that there is probably close to 600 pounds of tensile force going through those links just standing still, yes more than the weight of the bike because of the mechanical advantage of the lever arm design. This could skyrocket to well over a ton of force on impacts with bumps.

[nopi08]

I just put the links on my wifes bike.  Now can someone show me or explain to me what I need to loosen to slide the tubes up for the front.  And i still dont understand what will hit the handlebars 

[GI_JO_NATHAN]

If you have stock handlebars, the fork tubes will hit when you drop the triple tree's.

[nopi08]

If you have stock handlebars, the fork tubes will hit when you drop the triple tree's.

Ehh...I still dont get it.  Can someone show me what to loosen to drop the triple trees.  I think ive read there is room for about .5 inch?