Seat Height?

Message

Khris1208 · #1 Unread post by **Khris1208** » Fri May 05, 2006 5:54 am

I went into my local bike shop the other day and looked at bikes. Being a complete newb I was just trying to get an idea about different bikes and what kind of bike I would want. I am pretty sure I want a sports bike but, as I talked to the guy at the shop he placed me on a gsxr600 and I was still a little to short. The guy at the shop told me I would have to get the bike lowered. My question is how much can a bike be lowered and how much does it usually cost? What entry level sport bikes (bikes lower than 600cc) have a low seat height?

by the way I am 5'6

jstark47 · #2 Unread post by **jstark47** » Fri May 05, 2006 6:08 am

OK, first you do realize that a GSX-R600 is not an entry-level bike, right??

There's a bunch of reference sites where you can do your homework on specs like seat height. E.g., a quick look shows me the seat on a Kawi Ninja 500 is about 1 1/2 inches lower than on the gixxer you were sitting on. I use http://www.totalmotorcycle.com a lot. There's also a spec section right here on the non-forum side of Total Motorcycle: http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/motorcyc ... /index.htm

Other's will have to respond about costs of lowering a bike.

BigChickenStrips · Fri May 05, 2006 6:35 am

um, there is a sticky marked "motorcycle seat heights" at the top of this forum. also GSXR's are not starter bikes. Theres a way to tell when the sales guy at the stealership is lying- His lips are moving. good luck and welcome to the forums.

Khris1208 · #4 Unread post by **Khris1208** » Fri May 05, 2006 7:07 am

HandsomeRyan wrote:um, there is a sticky marked "motorcycle seat heights" at the top of this forum. also GSXR's are not starter bikes. Theres a way to tell when the sales guy at the stealership is lying- His lips are moving. good luck and welcome to the forums.

I know that the gsxr is not an entry level bike. I just used it as an example because it was the shortest bike in the store. I checked the seat height sticky but, being a new to motorcycles I did not know which bikes were cruisers, sport, or what. I did not want to look up every single bike on the list so I ask in this thread. Also the man at the dealership was very helpful. He was the mechanic not the salesman so, he was not out to make a sale. He only talked about different bikes and told me their was no need to talk about price until I decided what I wanted.

moto_hanki · Fri May 05, 2006 11:19 am

I was looking at the Suzuki SV 650, and the Yamaha FZ6 both are a little too high for me. The dealer said a lowering kit would be about 300.00. It would lower the bike 1 to 1 1/2 inches. They even had a lowered bike on the floor.
The dealer should be able to tell you the exact cost of the lowering and how much the bike will be lowered.

I am almost 5 foot 7, the bikes that fit me best are in the 29 to 31 inch range. I think the seat hieght on my Seca is 31 1/2, pretty good, not quit flat.

Are you looking for a sport, cruiser?

BigChickenStrips · Fri May 05, 2006 1:12 pm

what is dragon hawks website? we need a link here....

wait for it... wait for it.....

http://www.californiabikenights.com/learn/

best intro-to-bikes site evAr!

V4underme · #7 Unread post by **V4underme** » Fri May 05, 2006 1:52 pm

Seat height is an ok guide, but don't be put off until you actually sit on a bike. What seat height does NOT tell you is how wide a seat it. Wider seats splay your legs apart and reduce the amount of leg you have to reach to the ground. For example, a 31" ehight on a skinny seat might be the same as a 29-30" height on a wider seat. Just something to bear in mind. I went through this same ordeal with my wife when she was looking for a ride.

jstark47 · #8 Unread post by **jstark47** » Fri May 05, 2006 2:50 pm

V4underme wrote:What seat height does NOT tell you is how wide a seat it. Wider seats splay your legs apart and reduce the amount of leg you have to reach to the ground.

Good point. Listed seat height also doesn't tell you how much your weight is going to compress the suspension, which works for shorter riders.