Hello all, new to the board. I am wondering if anyone has lowered their GS500F. I am considering one for my wife, but her 27 inch inseam makes it difficult for her to deal with the bike at a standstill. I know, I know, tell her just to keep moving. Been there, tried that, didn't fly. She really likes the GS, and is ready to give up her Savage for one if I can get it down to an acceptable seat height for her. I found Gen-Mar bar risers for it, but no links for the rear.The links may be simple enough to fab myself, just curious if any of you here have dealt with this already.
Try this link
http://www.venhorstrocks.com/
Thanks, 2" should be enough. Have you lowered yours? The dealer is not much help on this. All they want to do is drop the rear preload down to the minimum.
Haven't lowered mine, I'm 5'8" and no problems. Changing the shock doesn't really lower the bike, it just makes it softer and drops when you sit on it, may also cause some handling issues.
You could PM Roadstergal, I'm pretty sure she lowered her GS. It's a matter of fooling around w/ the dogbones. Do a search and you'll probably come up w/ quite a bit, I don't know any of the particulars.
trey
Or you could PM me if you need to...my dealer lowered my bike with dogbones for the GSXR. That with a good pair of higher boots should do the trick. If a couple inches is all you need, that should be fine. You just have to watch the front bottom of the fairing because if you go too low, any pot holes or big bumps could be a problem. So far I've had mine for almost 3 months now and it's been ok.
Ebay has dogbones for cheap, and I'm sure someone could help you do it yourself.
~Amanda
I think I remember someone on this board makes custom lowering links for the "F".. have to do some searching
http://www.gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12167&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=gs500f%20links%20lowering
Not sure if anyone has installed these yet.
Thanks everyone for your replies,I am pretty certain you have pointed me to the sources I need to get atleast the balls of her feet on the ground. Looks like Gen-Mar bar risers will take care of the front (also slipping the forks in the clamps a bit) and using Venhorstrock's 2" dogbones in the back. Last will be shortening the sidestand, and a remote chance of taking a little padding out of the seat. She is pretty tiny- just under five feet with about a 28" inseam. She sits flat-footed on her LS 650 now, but is tired of riding a cruiser among sport bikes. She is really fired up about the GS- we will probably pick one up in a couple months. I just wish they had carried the yellow over to '05. Whatever the color, it will be nice for her to be able to keep up with the old man. (gotta wait for the LS once in awhile, not exactly a rocket ship).
It has been nice to discover this great forum with enthusiasm for a neat middleweight bike. Thanks again.
Scott
I usually click on the
Search link above and type in "dogbones" for the search keyword. This finds me a raft of good threads about lowering a GS500. Probably the best ones are
2001 GS Lowering info (part one) (http://www.gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3914)[/list:u]and
Lowering (http://www.gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4575)[/list:u]Along with "stretched" dogbones, some of the threads talk about shaving some of the thickness from the seat. You may find that a combination approach will work best for you -- especially since lowering the entire bike can result in a too-long sidestand that holds the bike at too-vertical an angle.
I'm sure you'll figure something out. :thumb:
Might have it figured out, thanks to you guys.
If your wife is petite, (not much padding) you may want to consider if you shave the seat adding a gel pad to that. I too went from a Savage 650 to a GS500F. The difference is incredible (for the better :thumb: ). The 04 GS seat is harder than the Savage and is something she will have to adjust to. The control and handling of the GS is so totally awesome compared to the Savage. The GS is a peppy little bike, and the ride is much smoother. I am 5'5" with a 28" inseam, and have noticed that in the short time I have had my GS (4 mths now) and 2000 miles later, that the seat is starting to "break in" a bit more. At first I could ride for about 3hours before starting to get monkey butt, lol, but now I'm good for 7 or 8 before I start to get uncomfortable.
A good pair of riding boots with a thick sole will also help her flat foot the bike a bit better. Or she could always have an "extra" sole added to help.
Good luck and good riding,
Chiquita