Honda CBR 500 Riders Forum banner

Lowering the Bike 2" Pros and Cons

17K views 25 replies 17 participants last post by  NicoCbr 
#1 ·
I would to lower the bike down 2 inches.

Shaving the seat = 1 Inch
T rex lowering Link in the rear + Fork Adjustment in the front = 1 Inch

are there any major cons in doing so?
 
#3 ·
You're a lot more likely to make hard parts of the bike touch on the ground during cornering, if you mess with the suspension. Unless you are under 5' tall, there is no need to lower the bike. Learning to just put one foot down will help.
 
#7 ·
My wife is 5'-0", and can't even reach the ground with one foot, on my 500F. It would have to be lowered by 3 inches if she wanted to comfortably/safely reach the ground. She has a new V-Star Custom coming this weekend, which fits her very well.

Glen
Focus On Newfoundland
 
  • Like
Reactions: Thump
#8 ·
Mine is 5' as well, has no problem handling the 500F. She came from a CBR600F4i, which is taller still. Her only real issue was backing the bike into spots, but she just hops off and walks it for that. Short people can ride these bikes without lowering them. You don't have to have both feet flat on the ground.

But, at the end of the day, it's whatever makes you most comfortable riding. Shaving the seat is a great thing to do. I'm a strong advocate against reducing ground clearance - it's no fun being beached on a speed bump (like I did on my stock height Buell Blast - a fantastic bike for short riders).
 
#10 ·
Mine is 5' as well, has no problem handling the 500F.... Short people can ride these bikes without lowering them. You don't have to have both feet flat on the ground.
Whiplash, the issue isn't so much one's height, but their inseam. Obviously your Missus has a larger inseam than mine does. As I mentioned above, my wife cannot even place one foot on the ground without the bike leaning at a very precarious angle. (see attached photo of her sitting on my 500F... even leaned over on its kickstand, she would be unable to reach the ground) Not all five-footers will be able to get one foot safely on the ground.

Glen
Focus On Newfoundland

 
#9 ·
Besides the sidestand and cornering issues, for every inch you lower the bike, you lose an inch of suspension travel. Plus, it moves the rate of rise suspension linkage into a firmer part of the curve and makes things more harsh. Shaving the seat, getting boots with thicker soles, and moving the rear preload to the softest setting may get you 2 inches total. Once you are use to using only one foot on the ground, you can put the rear preload back to the stock setting.
 
#12 · (Edited)
I'm under 5' tall and did have my cb500r lowered 60mm using the Metisse linkage in the rear - they came in 20mm and 40mm as well at the time. (Also dropped the front forks to balance and the fork preload sleeves were clamped a bit shorter. Had the kickstand cut and welded.) Physically I can ride the bike and did so before I had it lowered, but the added comfort and safety afterward was *HUGE* Now I can put the ball of my foot down on both sides which is way better than two and a half toes!

I CAN balance the bike on one foot, but honestly the weight of a leaned bike is a lot when you can't get any bend in the knee. The bike weighs over three times as much as I do! And when I'd hold it up just using the ball of my left foot (couldn't get heel down) it is exhausting when waiting at lights or heaven forbid the freeway meter and after long rides I'd end up with my calf cramps and aching foot arches. Also after it was lowered I was able to swing my leg up over the tail a lot easier (no joking here, yes I am flexible from yoga and it was just **** tall!)

So far I've lowered three bikes and also had a couple of my seats shaved down... Doing the seat was cheap and helpful, but the comfort is reduced too much for long street rides ( I ride about 10,000 miles/year) so I only use them on track. I heard it's possible to have a seat's foam replaced by gel to remove bulk but keep shock absorption, so maybe I'll try that next.

The clearance is definitely compromised, as I bottomed out scary hard on a pothole once and have dragged the peg feelers off, also apparently it throws sparks when scraping the sidestand mount :-0 But if one doesn't ride like a hooligan on the street, those things probably wouldn't happen, and that's not too much to complain about. That being said, I want to un-lower it a little bit, or maybe stiffen the suspension so I don't bottom out again in case I accidentally go too fast on pothole highway again... Maybe lowering it 1" and shaving the seat as well will be the perfect combo for you!
 
#13 ·
I'm not sure why some people want to lower their bikes; being short, or having a short inseam, or not being able to plant both feet on the ground, is absolutely no reason to mess with the bikes set-up, which will probably result in a very differently handling bike. I can feel it when I had a new tire installed, the few mm of rubber make a difference, imagine what a whole inch or more does!
Most people have heard that both feet need to be flat on the ground which is a myth, or nonsense, IMO.
I had a XR650L, the tallest bike I ever sat on, and could reach the ground only with one tippy-toe if I leaned the bike to one side. Of course it's not ideal and on windy days I had some trouble at a red light, but I'd never change the suspension, which has been sorted out by experts at Honda, who should know a thing or two.
My CRF250M I bought new was a bit tall, but after a few thousand km the seat wore in and I am now sittng half an inch lower - I am considering new foam so I sit higher again!
My advice: Ride the bike! I'm sure you get used to it, many others did. If after a year/5000 km the bike still feels too tall, get a lower seat, leave the suspension alone. And ride by yourself, no passengers.
Check out this video, I've posted it before, it proves that you don't need to be tall to be able to handle a big bike! :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp6toFo6dHc
 
#16 ·
This isn't a pair of pants that you can just change the hem on. Lowering a bike is a no-no. Either you fit or you don't. It can be disastrous to try to re-engineer a motorcycle. Just get a different bike. There are so many to choose from that will fit you.
 
#17 ·
Lowering a bike is a no-no.
That's an overstatement. These machines aren't made to magically work with one geometry and not at all with any other. The bike isn't going to explode if you gain a little trail. With even a modicum of care toward keeping relative front and rear heights similar, it'd be pretty unlikely that one would alter the geometry bad enough to make the bike notably more dangerous than it already is (club racers and track riders, regular humans just like us, alter geometry deliberately in order to change ride characteristics all the time).

That said, I wouldn't make an alteration and then go ride the bike near its limits right away. It would indeed be wise to ride in a safe area at a reasonable pace and with some caution for a while after major alterations to make sure one hasn't gone to far and to get a feel for things. However, people ride bikes with bent frames. People ride/drive around on/in all kinds of crazy vehicles. Typically, very bad things don't happen. When they do, it is likely out of recklessness and a lack of careful testing. A decent level of competence and care are pretty much all that are required for a successful customization job. An extreme "make no changes whatsoever" view is unnecessary.

Even with a decent selection of available bikes, most will probably be wrong for us in many ways. If there's one bike that's right for us in all ways except one, and if that one issue can be altered to our liking, then it's an easy decision.
 
#20 ·
If Harley-Davidson can make a bike with 1,690cc's and a seat height of 23.8",
there's no reason why Honda can't make a 500cc bike with a much lower seat height than what's currently available.

Women Riders Now - Motorcycling News & Reviews
Scroll down to Softtail Slim to see the specs.

They could have a low seat 500, and a higher one like what the 500X has.

HD does seem to have a problem getting the weights down on their bikes though.
 
#23 ·
Like someone said before.... Why try to re-engineer something that's been already designed to the best specs for the bike and target market? Idk it just doesn't make sense to me.


This wouldn't be possible with a lowered bike much less something like this:


Or even this:


Lowering would make those things impossible.... Given that not everyone is trying to ride like that so to each it's own I guess.... Ride safe and smart people


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#24 ·
It's hard to ride safe and smart when you can only get one toe on the ground on each side. Well, the riding part is fine, but as soon as you hit a stop you have a high chance of going down. Sliding to the side of the seat, sitting way up front, I can get two toes down on the left side. Fortunately I'm used to only having ball of foot on left side, but if there's any kind of falling-away angle on the left side my bike's going down.


Lowering it a half inch is actually going to make my bike safer for me compared to what I would go through otherwise.


Soupy's adjustable for the win!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top