lowering...but is it enough?

[minarose]

Hey guys! So...I have a dilemma and want to see if anyone has any wise tips, has been in my position, or just really any help at all! I'm a fairly new rider, only been riding for about a year (sporadically) on a Honda CBR 250R. Circumstances have surfaced to the point that I can't keep that bike anymore. Here's my dilemma. I am 5'2 and 90 pounds (and a female), so I'm quite small. I had my 250 lowered as much as the shock system would allow without adding in a lowering kit. I also had padding taken out of the seat to help me reach the ground at a more comfortable rate for me. I can get the balls of both my feet on the ground and it's pretty comfortable for me. I have fallen in love with the RC390, i love how narrow it is for my stature, and it's not too heavy. My problem is the height. With the ball of my left foot down, and with my riding boots which give me about a half inch to an inch, I can only scrape my toes of my right foot on the ground. I looked into a lowering kit and my local dealership said that it would give me about an inch if I'm lucky. We worked out a deal to lower it before I bought it to see if it worked for me and I'd pay for parts and labor. If it didn't work, I'm out about $500, if it does, then great. However, a riding friend of mine who has been riding for over twenty years fears one inch might not be enough...another friend says to ask around and see what others think. I'm not exactly financially stable enough to just lose $500 and be like "cool! no big deal!" soooooo...thoughts guys? the seat is already pretty thin...I don't know

any recommendations would be awesome! Thanks!

 

[Metals 907]

I'm 5'7 w/ 32" inseam. My toes just reach with shoes on and a hair more in riding boots. This machine is so well balanced and light you shouldn't have too big a problem.

 

[tecknojoe]

Be careful with lowering it. I'm dragging a lot of hard parts at max lean. Now that's on track at full race pace, but if you lower the bike you may run into the issue at even moderate lean angles in the canyons.

Post #36 has a good illustration of what I'm dragging: http://www.rc390-forum.com/forum/track-days-racing/1327-race-bike-huge-review-4.html

 

[ToraTora]

Sorry for the late reply!

It's a difficult dilemma you are faced with being vertically challenged.

The lowering kits will dramatically effect the handling of the bike. Even if the bike was lowered it could become unridable. I rode a friends Ninja 250 that had a kit installed. It would bottom out in driveways, scrape with almost no lean angle. If you pushed the lean angle to a very normal riding angle it would lift up the rear wheel. Very unsafe things. What was there to make him feel safe actually put him in a very unsafe state.

Probably the best thing to do is learn how to slide off the side of the seat to get one foot on the ground. Motocross bikes are high up for even tall folk. They have to learn this technique too. I'm reasonably tall now, but when I was young I was vertically challenged too. I had to learn how to ride a bike that appeared too large. It is mostly a mental thing--and paying attention.

The dealer wanting to charge you $500 seems--well I wouldn't do it.

You would be much better severed getting a quality rear shock with a spring set up for your weight, and also get fork springs set up for your weight. These will be much better modifications that will actually get the bike set up for you, without inducing a dangerous state.

 

[motoputz]

I am with ToraTora on this, you can spend the money on a lowering kit and it will probably not be enough. If you can get one foot down solid you should be good to go. You will adapt your stopping to only getting one foot down solid quickly. I am 5"-10" and can only get one foot down solid on my dirt bike. I adapted because I was not willing to give up riding performance just to get both feet on the ground when stopped. I was at a track day once and came up behind a Honda F4i just shedding sparks off of the stock exhaust muffler. The rider was knee down on the track and going at a good fast pace. When I got back to the paddock I found the rider was set up next to me, all 5 feet tall of her. She adapted her riding style to the bike and was quite a good rider. You should be able to ride the stock bike with out modifying it. After a few thousand miles it should be no big deal. If you spend time and money now to get the bike lower you will just regret it later when your skills improve. My 5"-6" wife rides her Multistrada just fine, and her KTM400EXC and she can not get more than both toes on the ground on either of them. This may sound harsh and insensitive; but just ride the thing. If you can hold it up at a stop you should be good to go. Holding it up at a stop and getting going from a stop are a few of the skills needed for riding a motorcycle.

 

[ToraTora]

A thread to read: Apparently these kits have other issues too.

Dangerous aftermarket suspension linkage - please read !!!!!!!!!

 

[=maz=]

[video=youtube;YId9Pr_RlIo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YId9Pr_RlIo[/video]
Don't lower the bike...learn to adapt.