[rcannon409]

I lower it with the seat foam. I know theres not much there to begin with, but its abetter way.

Or, have a decent suspension shop lower the thing. I've never ridden a lowered bike that handled with a darn due to suspension limitations.

When you start with only four inches of travel, you dont have a lot to eliminate.

Or, taller shoes.....Dont all ladies have these? I believe we may own a separate house that hold only my wifes shoes.

Plus, my wife evne called my riding gear, "My outfit"...but thats another issue...

 

[rcannon409]

These bikes aren't cruisers... you don't need to have both feet on the ground. The N1K doesn't have enough ground clearance as it is, lowering it will only make it more dangerous in a sharp turn. I'm 5' 8" with a 29" inseam and I can only get my toes down. If you're short, you just need to learn to adapt and not get yourself into situations where you can't reach the ground. I learned my lesson after dropping my first bike twice because I stopped over a dip and couldn't reach the ground before the bike was leaned too far over for me to hold up. That was 9 years ago... I learned to pay attention and identify and avoid trouble spots. Toes down are all you need...

BlackSheep, had to quote this as what you said is correct, right, and how its done.

The "Both feet flat on the ground" is an old Harley campaign, and sales tool.

It was invented back when Harley had its sportster and Honda released its first cb750. Obviously, it was 40 years ahead of what HD had. However, due to Honda using real suspension components, its seat height was 31 inches..

Instead of modernizing, Harley decided to make this seat height the end all, do all.

Did it work? LOL 40 years later, the sales campaign became carved in stone.

No big deal except lowering a machine ruins the handling, cornering clearance, and is usually done in such a half assed way, it ruins the suspension.

Sadly, knowing this , and mentioning this, will not sway the opinion of 99.999999999% of those who believe you need "both feet down, flat footed." They will pay good money to ruin a sportbike.

 

[rcannon409]

So if the bike was lower are you saying that wouldnt have helped?
What about occasionally when your bike is head in parked against a curb and the front of the bike is down hill. Worse yet your chick is on the back with you.

Not everyone is out tearing up the corners and you need all the travel the bike has in its stock config.

It's far easier not to park like that. Back the bike in, and drive away.


We've learned quite a bit in the 4 years since this thread was started, right?

 

[rcannon409]

Many people do not take the time, or spend the money, to do a decent, safe job when they lower a motorcycle. Using a lowering link changes rear suspension geometry. That's not good. If you don't lower each end by the same 1 inch, or whatever, it turns their motorcycle into a chopper and handling will definately suffer.

Also, I've seen a lot of people do this lowering thing to cover for poor riding skills. You guys know what , or who I'm talking about. The rider who makes every stop look like a crash waiting to happen. At the same time, I do understand and see where this might help a rider who is short. If it meets that rider ride, instead of watch, it can't be that bad.

 

[rcannon409]

Biddles, id love to see a side shot of your bike. If you think about this idea.....

Imagine buying a car and we were not abke to adjust the seat, or the steering wheel? Ill bet that would be awesome...At the same time, we are supposed to buy these 13k motorcycles and have non adjustabke bars and seat, and its hreat for all of us? That does not make good sense.