View Full Version : To all you girls and short people
Thinking of getting a lowering kit to help me poddle on the bike and increase my confidence - my K3 SV650S is a little bit taller than my bandit 600 was and I'm finding it a bit harder to reach the floor!
Does this really make much difference to you lot? Is it worth it?
Would appreciate your opinions.
Thinking of getting a lowering kit to help me poddle on the bike and increase my confidence - my K3 SV650S is a little bit taller than my bandit 600 was and I'm finding it a bit harder to reach the floor!
Does this really make much difference to you lot? Is it worth it?
Would appreciate your onions.
Kaybee. Knowing you and seeing you on your bike, i would go for a cut seat from suzuki. I dont actually think you need the bike lowered to be honest. However, dropping the forks through the yokes, and longer bones on the back is doable.
diamond
28-06-05, 02:42 PM
Yes it definatly makes a difference. I'm a short **** and i had my K5 lowered before i picked it up, and compared to when i tried it before the lowering i can actually get my feet down on the ground now. Not quite flat but before i don't think i could get any more than the very ends of my toes down.
HTH
Liz
Itching 2 go
28-06-05, 02:47 PM
Thinking of getting a lowering kit to help me poddle on the bike and increase my confidence - my K3 SV650S is a little bit taller than my bandit 600 was and I'm finding it a bit harder to reach the floor!
Does this really make much difference to you lot? Is it worth it?
Would appreciate your opinions.hey your just down the road from Kate, take a look at her bike she has had it lowered and its a k3
It is definitely worth it! Caterham? Really is just down the road! Why don't you pop along to a Soho or Selkent meet and you can have a sit on Phantom - she is very definitely lowered and is a K3.
Failing that, come over to my place and have a look there if you want!
Made a huge difference for me, kept dropping it before I had it lowered. In all lost about 4", butchered the seat, and put in dog bones? (dunno I didn't do it). Believe they only cost about £35 from Bandit Mania, and they were reasonably easy to fit. Can post a link if you decide to do-it-yourself.
Please can you post it, i've been quoted £250 quid and am temped to try it myself........ :?
Lowering kit at bandit mania (http://www.banditmania.co.uk/Suspension.htm)
Note that if you lower the back you gotta lower the front also.
Anonymous
29-06-05, 07:47 AM
i didnt bother lowering my k1 but then its shorter than the pointy brigade. i can reach the ground with my tip toes but im used to it now. just have to be careful of the camber when i stop. sometimes park and the camber of the road is too big for me to get bike upright whilst sitting on it so need to get off get bike upright and move to kerb to get on :oops:
i didnt bother lowering my k1 but then its shorter than the pointy brigade.
Just for reference. The K3 has a higher seat than all the other SV models. On the K4, suzuki lowered the seat back to what it used to be, i.e. same height as the curvy models.
Thanks guys.
It is definitely worth it! Caterham? Really is just down the road! Why don't you pop along to a Soho or Selkent meet and you can have a sit on Phantom - she is very definitely lowered and is a K3.
Failing that, come over to my place and have a look there if you want!
Will pop over to the Selkent page then, but for reference - when is the meet? - its not too far from me I believe. Then I could see yours. - Looks v nice.
when is the meet?
Tonight! :drink:
And I can't make tonight, busy preparing for this weekend in Le Mans! Which also means I won't be around on Friday for Soho. Probably won't be up for the Selkent meet next Tuesday either as thats the evening I come back!
But after that, things will go back to normal and I should be at Soho and Selkent meets.
jollyjohnson
15-07-05, 11:09 AM
what you want is a honda cbr400 tri-arm. looks great, total reliability, sounds fantastic, goes like lightning and has a seat height of about 6" (it's a jap import and they're little people).
I just happen to be selling mine ('cos I'm too old to ride around with my knees that bent - I'm 5'10") - let me know if you're interested.
I'm 5ft 4" and can just touch the ground with my toes i would consider getting it lowered just for piece of mind - when i took the R1 out coudn't touch the ground at all :shock:
Well I'm a girly, and certainly don't need a lowering kit - so should your thread just be named for shorties - as not all girlies fall into this category?
Sorry, but it's a major bug bear with me, I ripped a bloke to shreads at the NEC show last year, I tried a tall trailee bike, he homed in and said 'hello madam, we can get lowering kit's for it'. I don't think he'll be saying it again.
Every time I go to a show room, the damn salesmen start on lowering kits, they look at my gender, instead of my height - I swear they are blind. :evil:
Right, sorry, rant over - phew feel better now. :wink:
And if anyone askes, I'm 5 foot 8, with long legs.
Lou
Akoronin
15-07-05, 07:35 PM
i have a 2003 sv650s...lowered 1in in the rear with a lowering link and 1 in in the front thru the triples. Also took off vinyl from my seat, carved about an inch off and revinyled. Here's some issues that i have now that you should be aware of.
1. the stock front forks are soft...so if u lower thru the triples, u will lose fork travel and if ur not careful, u'll find urself bottoming out on the triples up steep driveways and speedbumps. This can be fixed by changing ur fork oil and/or installing gold valve emulators and stiffer fork spring (this can be done for $250 US)...or juss swap in a gsxr inverted fork, where u wont lose travel when u lower thru the triples.
2. when u lower the bike...u also lose clearance with the pegs and exhaust, if u have stock header system. becase the bike is lower, ur pegs will reach the ground earlier than normal at greater lean angles. I can scrape my pegs, but still have "chicken strips" on my tires. I'm correcting this problem by getting adjustable rearsets.
i hope this helps you!
ninasilvert@mac.com
25-10-07, 08:01 PM
Hi, I'd like a bit more control by being able to have my feet firmly on the ground as well. I have trouble paddling my curvy K2 650s so always have to get off and push. My bike has a different shock absorber that's longer so I might change that which will lower it a little, then I was just going to look for a lowered seat. People say I can DIY the seat but I think it will look a mess if I just carve out the foam. Also will the seat then be very hard~? Is a lowering kit maybe the answer?
My other half Jax is 4ft 11" and she can get on my SV, the seat is lowered and the bike has longer dogbones reducing the rear end height. In turn this meant I had to drop the forks through 10mm, this has bought the bike down to about 740mm on the seat height.
Cut down seat and longer dogbones are the easiest way to lower the bike and seem to be the most effective.
yorkie_chris
25-10-07, 08:42 PM
Lowering kit at bandit mania (http://www.banditmania.co.uk/Suspension.htm)
Note that if you lower the back you gotta lower the front also.
If you dont raise the forks up in the yokes to drop the front end, then you'll end up increasing rake angle, which will have the effect of making the bike more stable and slightly less flickable.
Depends what effect you're after.
£250 for lowering is ridiculous.
£100 max is more likely, including a nice, low, gelpadded seat.
Thinking of getting a lowering kit to help me poddle on the bike and increase my confidence - my K3 SV650S is a little bit taller than my bandit 600 was and I'm finding it a bit harder to reach the floor!
Does this really make much difference to you lot? Is it worth it?
Would appreciate your opinions.
Mine's lowered. I got my seat scooped out when I bought it then I got longer dogbones to lower it a bit more. My heels are a inch or 2 above the ground which gives me more confidence than tip toe.
I'm not a girl though :flower:
i'm 5'7 shortie and i feel comfortable on mine
drefraser
26-10-07, 08:17 AM
Try test riding a KTM Adventure. I'm 6' and I can't get my feet down on that thing. Then when you go back to your SV it'll feel tiny and easily manageable - problem solved with no cost and no spanner work :D
petevtwin650
26-10-07, 08:30 AM
.
£250 for lowering is ridiculous.
£100 max is more likely, including a nice, low, gelpadded seat.
Think you misread Akoronin's post Yorkie Chris. It was in dollars and was for tricking up the front forks. Wish it was a cheap as that over here.:smt013
Spanner Man
26-10-07, 09:42 AM
Morning all.
I've supplied all forms of lowering devices available over the years, from purpose made shock absorbers to dogbones etc. Just about every customer who had it done really appreciated the difference, & found it to be a worthwhile modification.
Lou M, I did chuckle at your rant, for an ex of mine who was 5'9" with a 35 inch inside leg (& swung a VFR750 around with the best of 'em) used to get treated in exactly the same way. On one occasion she returned to the shop wearing 4 inch heels to see if the salesman would treat her the same way & he did! She literally & metaphorically talked down to him until she got an apology!:D
Cheers.
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