I've been riding my new (to me) 500f for a few months now. It's been great for getting around the city, but as I start to plan longer day trips I'd like to figure out a way to increase my leg room, even if only by an inch or two. I'm 6'5" with a 36" inseam so could use a little extra room to reduce knee soreness on longer trips. I've seen people recommend the Stearns ATV seat cover, but for other bikes. I was wondering if any gs riders use this cover and would recommend it? Any other recommendations? I would also consider buying an aftermarket seat, but am trying to keep expenses down.

Also, I get the sense that foot-peg lowering kits are not widely available for the GS, but are there any options for lowering the pegs?

Get some shorter dogbones for the rear suspension (jackup kit) will raise the tail about an inch.Have a look on Ebay you can buy them in the UK for about £18.

Would a suspension mod affect the distance between seat and foot pegs? I'm looking for something to straighten out my knees a bit on long rides. I think I'll give the Stearns seat cushion a try, it's only $20. Anyone out there using the Buell foot pegs on their GS?

No a suspension mod would not make a difference from the seat to the pegs. It will only make the whole bike higher.

You're 6'-5" riding this thing?  Man, I think you'll need to tape a phone book to the seat!

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=51846.msg586520#msg586520

Bill, I'm sure you meant that as a joke but now I'm seriously considering duct-taping the yellow pages to the seat  Actually, someone recommended the GS to me when I was asking about street bikes for tall riders (don't like dual sports). When I test rode it, sure enough, it's not uncomfortable at all for my long legs, at least not for rides up to 30 mins, which is the longest I've ridden so far. It's much roomier than the Ninja 500, which I also tried. As the weather warms up I'm planning longer trips though, which is why I ask 

Paulcet, thanks for the link to the lowering pegs. Those are exactly what I was looking for, it's good to know they've been tried on the GS. They're a bit pricey so I'll wait to see how my knees hold up with the stock pegs, then maybe order a pair.

Save yourself the cash and just get some of the gsxr pegs from ebay...



The stock pegs literally have an inch of rubber on top of them. You can switch to the gsxr pegs, and for $15 you'll gain an extra inch.

http://wiki.gstwins.com/index.php?n=Upgrades.Pegs

As far as the seat, I'd just look into some kind of pad, whether it's gel or foam. See if you can attach some straps with velcro, you could just wrap it around your seat and put your seat back on the bike when you want to go on longer rides.

Thanks, that looks like a fun mod, and the gixxer pegs are cheap on Ebay. One question--the wiki says an angle grinder and vice would be the easiest way to grind the pegs to make them fit. I don't have easy access to those tools and I'm not very tool-savvy at this point. Do you think this mod would be possible (if a bit more grueling) with a hand grinder and no vice?

I happen to have a gel pad that is off my GS that's just sitting in my closet. I've been kicking around the idea of selling it. It will add at least a half inch to the seat height. If you're interested, make me an offer.
Here's a picture of it on the bike (with my goofy a$$ on it):

Know what you mean being 6'5 myself although I'm pretty fortunate my knees have held up pretty well on long rides so far. Rear sets are a possibility, albeit a very expensive one. I also think I've seen someone modify the mounting brackets on the stock pegs to drop them down 2 inches. This hurts cornering clearance but thats still pretty serious lean. It's on my to-do list to figures something out with the pegs but let me know how the GSXR's pegs are if you decide to try the swap.

Tim, thanks for the offer, I may be interested in the gel pad. I won't know for a little while though since I don't even know yet if my knees will start hurting on those day trips, so don't hold it for me. But if I decide to go with a cushion I'll PM you with an offer.

RSK, good to know I'm not the only one out there lookin' a bit goofy hunched over on a GS  I hope my knees hold out as well as yours have, I've heard of some tall riders having problems. I'll let you know if I try the gixxer pegs. Lowering the stock pegs also sounds interesting--let me know if there's an instruction wiki for that mod out there somewhere.

I'm always looking for something new to do, may see if I can figure out how to lower stock pegs myself and will let you know. I am flat footed with a whole lot of bend in my knees at a stoplight so have been thinking about raising the rear a bit. I just know nothing about how to do that. Will probably have to wait a few weeks to even think about starting my projects too