I (newbie) recently bought 05' GS500F and due to my height, I lowered it couple of inches.  I put about 100miles on it until it was put away for winterizing,  I love the way it's lowered and haven't had any problem while leaning but somebody said that could be dangerous? Should I just leave it on or take it off? The only problem I had with it was when I was going over a speed bump, it hits the bump little. any suggestions?
Second questions is.... if I decided to take the center stand off, would it be possible to use a vortex or pitbull rear stand? are they easy to use?

If it has your attention, just take it off .  You still have your kickstand.

It could be dangerous, so also, it may not. If you ground out on it while leaned over and it could leverage the rear wheel of the ground, but that's if you get leaned over that far.

You should still be able to get a rear stand under the swingarm, the axle height doesn't change, but the angle of the swingarm does; it may require a little more leverage to get it up on the rearstand.

I don't know how much you have your bike lowered, but if you can ride it over speed bumps without it scraping, then you should probably be ok for 97% of the obstacles on the road (bear in mind that you're not supposed to ride over obstacles on a street bike)

As for racing stands... the forks on the GS are narrower than most bikes and don't have the optimal fork ends for being put up on a race stand.

My friend who races gsxrs tried to put my gs500 on his race stand.  After I saw what he was doing, I smacked him in the FACE and put my bike on the centerstand!  That will teach him!

the centerstand is stillstable enough. all you have done is changed the hight of the suspension.  as long as its not leaning too far forward it shouldnt fall off the stand Center point,  If you lowered only the rear, then it wont matter other then more of a pain to get UP onto the stand.

Quote from: TarzanBoyAfter I saw what he was doing, I smacked him in the FACE and put my bike on the centerstand!  That will teach him!

I'm sorry, I have nothing useful to contribute to this thread, and I'm really not trying to whore... but that made me laugh out loud...

Quote from: BlueknytIf you lowered only the rear, then it wont matter other then more of a pain to get UP onto the stand.

You are right Blueknyt, it is pain in the butt to get it onto the stand. Almost impossible. Maybe I should get rid of it and use the rear stand instead?

the centerstand makes it nice to work on and change the tires. my hindle exhaust system doesnt allot for centerstand. i have to do it the hard way with jack stands and its not very stable.   getting down off the stand isnt hard, but putting it up can be.  using a short chunk of 2x4 say about 6 inches long, you can roll the rear tire up onto it, then set the centerstand like you normaly would do.   this is how i would put my dads 77 Honda Goldwing up on its stand. that was one heavy bike. or you can have the stand shortend 1-2 inches.

Good quality rear stands, like Pitbulls, have slotted brackets that will adjust to the width of the swingarm.  They are at least as easy to use as the built in centerstand (probably easier with your bike lowered like that).

My Yamaha has a lot less ground clearance than the GS, it has a centrestand and it has never been a problem. My biggest problem is riding off with the sidestand down which the GS won't let me do, I've had a couple of scraaaaaaaapes with that.

Quote from: JamesGGood quality rear stands, like Pitbulls, have slotted brackets that will adjust to the width of the swingarm.

The narrowest setting on my Vortex stand is still too wide to get the upright bit on the inside of the swingarm.

Good, I will definitely try the 2X4 block trick to see if I can use the center stand. If still can't do it, I will probably get a pitbull rear stand as you guys recommended. Thanks guys~

hey i know this is off subject but i was wondering if you have any pics of your bike.. i have been thinking about getting my bike lowered but would like to see pics first.

Sorry, don't have any yet but I can get soon. Will let you know for sure soon as I get some pics.

Quote from: ddcstevenhey i know this is off subject but i was wondering if you have any pics of your bike.. i have been thinking about getting my bike lowered but would like to see pics first.

Hey, I got some pics of my lowered bike. Sorry it took awhile. I hope it works....
http://samhkang.tripod.com/my_2005_gs500f/

Dunno, I pulled mine off.. dead weight. I would think the clearance is ok. I have had parts scrape in uber hard turns. You should be fine, as long as it is secured ok, and that there is enough clearance to bottom the bike out without it hitting the ground. Some harleys just about drag the engine around about .5 of an inch from the ground. One of dads bikes has a skid plate.

-edit

Just looked at the pics.. thats pretty low.. do you have any shock left even? LOL.. my feet dont touch flat all the way on my seca. Not touching a bit is ok.

Keeps you on your toes.. :badum ching!:

ya, it is pretty low isn't it? I like it though. The only problem is that it scratches little when going over a speed bump. Never had any problems turning but I might in the future, so I'm thinking about just taking the centerstand off now.