Although you will get other helpful responses, have you used cycle-ergo.com for visualizing the fitment?
You can get lowering links for it, but Sam's probably right about the handling.I am 5'7" with a 30" inseam and cannot put my heel down without some extra weight on the back of the bike. Seeing how my wife insists I take the Wing if she is going to be the pillion I guess using the balls of my feet will be the way things are. A little harder backing up but other than that it is OK.
I know the feeling of trying to back up on the N1K. My ST1300 had a slightly lower seat height, but it is over 200 lbs heavier. I'm 5'9" on a good day, with a 30" inseam, and I am typically on the balls of my feet. With the N1K, I can actually walk the bike around anywhere I want by getting off and pushing or pulling it. It's light enough for me to do that. I would never think of trying it with my 700+ lb. ST1300.I am 5'7" with a 30" inseam and cannot put my heel down without some extra weight on the back of the bike. Seeing how my wife insists I take the Wing if she is going to be the pillion I guess using the balls of my feet will be the way things are. A little harder backing up but other than that it is OK.
I too am 5'7" with a little less than a 30" inseam. I can easily get the balls of my feet down on both sides on my 2014 N1K. I've been riding for a long time though so I'm quite used to tippy toeing. I also have a 2008 Ducati Hypermotard that I really have to tippy toe on but it also weighs a hundred pounds (or more) less than the big Ninja.
I always tell shorter riders if you're gonna ride, and want higher end sporty bikes, get used to tippy toeing. You're not gonna get taller and they're not gonna get shorter. Lowering them just makes them suck in the handling dept.
LOL LOLI'm interested to know if you have ever actually lowered a bike and extensively tested its handling in real world situations (not race track doing 120+ around curves, but everyday streets in city/rural roads)? What empirical data did you record from consistent testing of N1k with and without lowering? Did you have multiple participants all observing the same handling quality difference? What metrics were based off of a regular N1k and tested in the same exact scenario (rider, street, speed, temperature, etc) to deduce the handling was subpar?
I spoke to two kawasaki dealerships (one which sold me the N1k and ordered the lowering link to put on it after their service mgr and salesrep both told me it was safe and wouldn't effect the handling). I asked a former car/motorcycle mechanic and a John Deere engineer about the possibility of poor handling due to lowering a bike. The mechanic and engineer actually told me technically it should make handling better because of the lower center of gravity.
I've reached out to a couple of folks of other forums who also wrote something like "don't do it, it will cause handling problems" and the generally admission was "no I have never actually rode a lowered bike, but...". I also found a lot of people over 6' and 32' inseam consistently telling short riders not to lower there bikes. A little suspicious given that many people buy/trade used motorcycles and taller riders would naturally not want to buy a lowered bike.
Not trying to start an argument, I just want to know if there is any science behind this statement or not. Point is I did a lot of research because I started asking the simple question... is there actually any empirical evidence of poor handling with lowering a bike an inch or two? My general search over other forums have found all riders that have declared to 1. have a short inseam and are in need of lowering 2. actually ride a lowered bike have reported it did not effect handling and they are delighted to ride now, even at low speeds.