My girlfriend wants to get into riding and I conveniently have two bikes . It'd be cool to get her setup on the GS500. Trouble is she's about 5' tall and petite.

Do you think it's worth trying to fit her to this bike or should I just sell it and get her on something smaller and markedly lighter such as a Ninja 250?

GRROOOOOMMMMMMM!!!

Just kidding man. The GS can be lowered, but I don't think it's actually necessary. Personally, I would want to start her out on something smaller - think a dirt bike around 125cc. She'll figure out the clutch / brakes / throttle / balance / etc on a bike that is basically made to be on its side from time to time.

Once she is comfortable on a motorcycle, she probably won't need to "flat foot" the GS500, and it won't need to be lowered.

being 5' 10" with a 30 in inseam i could flatfoot a gs. ive seen a couple smaller in stature than myself ride a gs. including my first Gs' former owner. he was 5'2" you COULD put a lowering link on it if you (or she) felt it necessary.. but i agree the small dirtbike would be ideal. if possible.
Aaron

What year is the GS? The '89-'00 bikes have the narrower seat and a tiny bit lighter. Smaller tank also makes them a little less top heavy. Older GS with lowering links, raised forks and a shaved seat should be totally doable. What is her inseam? A girl is usually going to have longer legs than a guy of the same height.

Even an older Suzuki virago 250 .. very good size for the young lass!

Quote from: Janx101 on March 08, 2016, 09:45:38 PM
Even an older Suzuki virago 250 ..

Very good suggestion. Footpegs are a little bit forward of standard, but still a pretty upright ride and LOADS better than a Rebel 250.


Test: lay the GS down on its side. If she can't get it back up onto the side stand by herself, you have your answer.

I would have never wanted to teach myself to ride on a bike I couldn't sit on and have both my feet totally flat on the ground.

I felt completely comfortable the first time I sat on the GS I bought and that right there gave me a lot of confidence.

One of my older co-workers got into riding and bought a big Harley... rode it around for a couple years and eventually parked it because (his words) "It is too tall for me and I can't put my feet down when sitting on it. I thought I would get used to it but it is still uncomfortable and I just don't feel like dealing with it anymore."

I also saw last summer a chick cruising down the road on a bigger sport bike (can't remember what it was) ahead of me and when we got to a stop light, she was teetering back and forth on her toes and my heart jumped at least twice because I thought she was gonna go down.

What am I trying to say here ?  Hmm LOL forgive me I just kinda typed a lot of stuff there...! Maybe that she should feel totally comfortable on whatever she is going to learn on.

What are your gf's thoughts on the GS? Does she want to learn on/with it? I recently had my gf sit on my bike... she's about 5' as well... she did not feel comfy at all because she was on her toes.

In stock form she doesn't feel comfortable on it. I don't have any experience lowering bikes so I was wondering if there were any other shorter riders around 5' that have done it.

My concern is I wouldn't want to modify it and it still not be sufficient. Then my GS would be unnecessarily lowered for nothing

I thought there was something in the Wiki about lowering, but didn't see anything.....

Since I don't own a GS, I can't speak first hand. I think all that's involved in the rear is a different set of dog bones for the suspension. The easiest way to lower the front is to slide the forks up the triple tree (aren't the handlebars in the way though?).

Either of these are easily reversible, but keep an eye on suspension travel. Don't want to smash anything going over a bump.

I lowered the front of my 02 GS about 1/2" and the rear about 1 1/4". 

On the front you can only slide the fork tubes up about 1/4" with stock bars but I had GenMar risers on the bars that moved them back out of the way.  With the bars moved you can only raise the fork tubes about 1" until the wiper hits the lower triple at full compressioin of forks.

On the rear there are links available to lower up to about 3" but at about 230# or so I would occasionally bottom the rear tire against the inner fender on rare big bumps after I had 80-90k miles on the bike with the 1 1/4" lower links but a replacement stock rear shock eliminated that.  Should be no problem lowering a couple inches for a lighter rider.

I never shortened the sidestand but it would be neccessary with more than an inch or so of rear lowering for bike to sit safely on sidestand.

Quote from: Big Rich on March 08, 2016, 03:39:03 PM
GRROOOOOMMMMMMM!!!

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