Lowering for the girlfriend

[jeepee27]

Hi guys and gals. I want to lower the GS for my wife, and I saw these ajustable bones on e-bay...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/160537426509?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

What do you think about these?

And for the front section......

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/2016/217/

If you have any other suggestions, welcome. Thanks for your time.

[adidasguy]

You might find the fixed lowering links for half the price would be easier to install. No having to adjust each side and tighten all the locking nuts. And half the price.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p3984.m570.l1313&_nkw=gs500+lowering&_sacat=0

Specifically:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Suzuki-GS-500-lowering-links-95-96-97-98-99-00-01-02-03-04-05-06-07-08-09-NEW-/280767008270?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item415f048e0e&vxp=mtr
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUZUKI-GS500-GS-500-LOWERING-LINKS-DOG-BONES-BILLET-NEW-/390372415323?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5ae402575b&vxp=mtr

The Twisted Throttle part raises the handle bars and pulls them back a little. If that's what you want on the front, many people have used them and they work fine.

[SAFE-T]

If you lower it much more than 1.5" you will have to get a shorter sidestand. Lowering also makes it way more difficult to put on the centrestand.

[SAFE-T]

We had an upholstery shop cut almost all the seat foam away and recover the seat as well. With the rear shock on '1' my wife could just get her feet on the ground somewhere between tippy toes and flat. Ground clearance was more limited when carrying a passenger ~ it would sometimes touch the centrestand tang down over big bumps and through corners with dips in them. It was never a big issue, but I don't think I would have wanted it lower.

[SAFE-T]

The only bike my wife ever sat on that she could actually reach the ground on without modifying it was the Yamaha 750/1100 Virago

[jeepee27]

You might find the fixed lowering links for half the price would be easier to install. No having to adjust each side and tighten all the locking nuts. And half the price.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p3984.m570.l1313&_nkw=gs500+lowering&_sacat=0

Specifically:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Suzuki-GS-500-lowering-links-95-96-97-98-99-00-01-02-03-04-05-06-07-08-09-NEW-/280767008270?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item415f048e0e&vxp=mtr
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUZUKI-GS500-GS-500-LOWERING-LINKS-DOG-BONES-BILLET-NEW-/390372415323?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5ae402575b&vxp=mtr

The Twisted Throttle part raises the handle bars and pulls them back a little. If that's what you want on the front, many people have used them and they work fine.

Thanks for the heads up dude. As for the front, I saw the raisers as if I lower the rear, the front has to come down...I saw some clip on bars...so I'm wondering. I have to put raisers in order to clear the path as the forks will rise also.

Anyways, thanks for the help. I have to drop it to the max, the wife is 5 feet tall....

[steezin_and_wheezin]

i have a set of lowering links Adidasguy linked to, and a shorten side stand as well. would let it go cheap, pm me if you are interested

[DaMuffinMan]

Soupy's lowering links and adjustable kickstand, a few hours of cussing and busted knuckles, and this is the end result, a happy wife
She's 4' 11" and 3/4. We didn't touch the front end. She put 3,000 miles on it last year commuting to work with no handling issues. Then again, she doesn"t push it 

[jeepee27]

Soupy's lowering links and adjustable kickstand, a few hours of cussing and busted knuckles, and this is the end result, a happy wife
She's 4' 11" and 3/4. We didn't touch the front end. She put 3,000 miles on it last year commuting to work with no handling issues. Then again, she doesn"t push it 

Good to know that. I actually was eyeballing the soupy stand/bones package, and they don't actually give thi$ away...close to $200.00. But you seem to have got it to work properly! Was there enough clearance for the bone to pass near the swingarm? And you say no need to drop the front? 

Both bike and lady looking fine, thanks for the info!

[SAFE-T]

You should try and lower the front an equivalent amount, but on the GS you are limited with the handlebars in the way. I/we used some washers to lift the top plate a bit and get some extra clearance ~ I think we eventually got enough room to move the forks up about 1-1.25" or so. Most bikes only have about 5" of front suspension travel to begin with, and the suspension techs I emailed basically said 2.5" was the maximum amount they would lower the front end without worrying about bottoming out or having the front tire make unsafe contact with another part of the bike.

[SAFE-T]

If you have the 1989 style 'clip-on' bars you don't have to worry about interference with a handlebar crossbar because there isn't one.

If you choose not to lower the front end, just keep in mind that your steering will be a little slower and the bike will require more effort to turn and have a greater tendency to go wide under power out of a turn and tuck the front end under braking/turning/acceleration. It will not be dangerous per se, just have handling that is more cruiser than sportbike ~ ridden appropriately it will not be an issue.

[gsJack]

I hung the front wheel of my 02 GS with blocks under the pipes with the bike on the centerstand and measured 5 3/4" from the lip of the wiper to the bottom of the lower triple clamp.  GS specs have always reported 4.7" or 120 mm of front wheel travel so it looks like the forks could be slid up about 1" max to lower the front end the easy way if the bars are moved out of the way with risers.

I have the GenMar risers moving bars 1" up and 1 3/8" back and I slid the forks up 1/2" to keep my bike  close to a normal attitude.  I put 1 1/4" lowering links on the rear to keep the bike a bit lower than normal while running larger rear tires.  Current rear tire raises it about 1/2" so with the 1 1/4" links it's about 3/4" lower than standard in rear.  Gives close to normal rake, I really didn't like my GS's handling with greater than normal GS rake.

[pandy]

The lowering links on my SV look very similar to this (but cost less):
http://tinyurl.com/loweringlinks

I do have the shortened kickstand, and I am VERY glad I lowered him. I was on my very tippy-tippy toes at stock, and my mad skillz just do not make up for my lack of height. Yes, there's a bit of a difference in handling, but nothing that doesn't make it weeeell worth it for a shorty (and I hardly ever fall over now!  ).