i have a 99' gs500 that I have modified a good bit(gsxr rear shock, yosh exaust, progressive rate front springs, stage 3 jet kit, k&n filter replacing air box, titan fairing kit, 150/60/17 pirelli on the rear, drop down handlebars, cbr 900 rearsets, and 35 hp shot of nos)  I currently am crusing my ninja 750. long story short, my girl wants to ride it. She is 5'2".  I want to lower it for her so that she can roll it, but so far no one can give me any info or advice on how to do that. I was wondering if anyone here has done it or would know how to go about it. I don't want it to kiss the ground I just want to get it down not quite two inches. I know that I will have to go through it and get what I can up a little higher cause I know that she will get on it. Any help would be awsome cause right now i am going into it blind -NATHAN

Remove the GSX-R shock and replace it with a stock one and that should lower it a lot.

And I just so happen to have a stock one for sale....

Talk to Pandy, I believe she had her bike lowered.  I think it requires custom dog-bones.

Chilly

stock shop will drop the seat height almost two inches.  you can probably find plenty of people who will give you one.

I've seen lowering links on ebay, it might get you close to the stock ride height with the gsxr shock. It would be cheaper just to use a stock shock, I've also heard that an sv650 shock is slightly lower and slightly better (for light riders) than the stock one.

Quote from: ducati_nolan on October 19, 2006, 11:31:04 AM
I've seen lowering links on ebay, it might get you close to the stock ride height with the gsxr shock. It would be cheaper just to use a stock shock, I've also heard that an sv650 shock is slightly lower and slightly better (for light riders) than the stock one.

The SV shock raises the bike up almost as much as the GSX-R shock.

I thought about putting the stock rear shock back in, but I would have trouble with it, because it is such a massive upgrade to the rear suspension. I did find some lowering linkage, and i think that I can figure out the rear( I have enough crap laying around that I should be able to figure something out. My real concern is the forks...I am compleatly lost when it comes to the front of the bike. I do want to drop the front a little because I want to keep the bike as level as possible. It took me almost 2 months to dial in the weight distribution and suspention.

I've got a stocker I'll let go for cheap.

I would try and go with a shaved seat first, see if  that would  be lower enough.  If not then try and lower the bike, also I would take it to a motorcycle shop that does suspension work.  That way you know the front and rear will be pretty lvl.

A Kat shock is better than a stock shock, but will only raise the seat by like 3/4" (which will be like 1 1/4" lower than what you have now)

a bandit 6 shock will lower the gs by about 1/2" from standard.
go for that if you want a decent shock and want it lower than standard,
if you want a good shock and it to be the same height as standard then a suzuki rgv shock is the way to go

The front forks can be slid up in the tripple trees to lower the front .  Can't be lowered much unless you relocate the bars.  I have the GenMar risers and could slide the forks up an inch or two.  Since your gal is short she might appreciate the GenMars moving the bars up and back a bit, check the front suspension travel dimension to see how far you can go.

http://www.zianet.com/GenMar/

You can lower the rear with links, quick and easy to do.  I put on the Pingel ZX6 links and used the first set of holes and got 1 1/4" lower.

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

The Muzzys ZX6 links are said to give about 2 1/2" lower in 2nd holes, first holes give same length as the stock links.

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

Diamond has a new set of links made for the GS500, claimed to give stock, 1", and 2" lower.  I can only personally verify the Pingel results.

http://diamondpowersports.com/

I have 110/80 Lasertec front and 150/70 Road Attack rear tires which raise the bike front and rear about 1/2".  I lowered the front 1/2" and didn't like the lean on the sidestand so put it back up rather than alter the side stand for now.  Net result I'm running 1/2" above front and 3/4" below rear standard heights.  The rear links stiffen the suspension some but I have Progressive front springs and the bike feels better balanced now with the links on back.  The 1 1/4" change in attitude makes the steering a bit slower but it's offset by the more responsive tires.  I'm real happy with the results and am all set for now.

You can get about 1.5 inches out of the forks  by sliding them up in the clamps (lowering the bike by nearly that much in the front- after that you start hitting the forkbrace and triple clamps together..)

You can get the Gen mars like Jack said - but there is a cheaper method... Get an extra set of the factory clamps and some longer allen bolts ( same quality as stock..)...

Turn one set of the bar clamps upside down... set your bars and set the new/extra set of clamps on top of the upside down set...and bolt them down.... This has been discussed more than a few times on this forum..

Here's a thread that shows the Gen mars (Thanks to Kerry)  and a "text" drawing of what I'm talking about as well

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=4308.0

Might be a good place to mention the risers from SW-Motech thru Twisted Throttle, some might prefer the style to the ones from GenMar:

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/2016/218/

These move the bars up 1.2" and back 1" for a total movement of about 1.6" and the GenMars move the bars up 1" and back 1 3/8" for a total movement towards the rider of about 1.7".  About same results.

Raising the bars with extra clamps is effective and helpful but  I didn't find it as comfortable as the GenMars.  I put the GenMars on my 97 first and then transferred them  to the 02 GS.  I put the leftover caps from the 02 on the 97 to move the bars up about 3/4" but not back any and was using both bikes for awhile.  Helpful, but I liked the GenMar position better.  I'm kinda long in the middle and short of limb for my height so a person with longer arms would probably find the clamp method of raising the bars more helpful.

I forgot to add  that the Gen mars are the way to go if you want to slide the forks up in the clamps to get the 1.5 inches or so...

The cheap method only gets you maybe 3/4 to 1 inch (as Jack said...)

my 2 cents...

i agree w/the stock shock or a katana shock, but 1 thing--keep in mind how much she weighs. if she's a light thing, stock shock will be fine. if she's a little rounder, the stock shock might settle the suspension too much.

i have a 98 and i'm 5'3". didn't do any big mods, just changed the stock shock to one off a katana and put performance springs in the forks--oh baby, what a fabulous difference that made!

i also changed to a bikemaster superbike handlebar. that made a big difference because i have short arms. now i can keep my elbows in and maintain a relatively upright seating position. shaving the seat as noted above is a really great idea too--a lot of us girls have trouble with the seats. they're too wide, like trying to ride a horse.

i've heard of moving the forks up & the other dog bones. I would agree with the fork change if you're lowering the rear a lot, but i'd take that to a professional if it were mine.