Newbie question on lowering seat height

If you lower the suspension to therefore lower seat height and allow the rider who rides the majority of the time in the city and wouldn't mind a better plant of the foot at stop lights...

if you lower the suspension all the way what does it do to the handling characteristics of the bike??

I'm 5'10 165 lbs. The bike is mostly going to eat pavement with gravel/dirt roads mixed in. Nothing crazy off-road. No triple black diamond trails, at least I don't foresee it.

I'm sure I'm not the first to ask this question...

Once again I will give my standard answer.

Being able to touch the ground while sitting on the bike is highly over rated.  Usually when I am riding the bike and touching the ground bad things start to happen.  

You will get use to it in no time.

I'm 5'7" and have stock seat and suspension height.

No issues.
I usually one foot it at stop lights.   

I've heard the spring will wear in a bit too. Already feeling it get a tad softer. I love sitting up high. I drive a truck for a living and nothing beats being able to see over the car in front of you. It is just when you were trying to parallel park the motorcycle on a busy street it would be nice to be able to quickly back it up with your feet. Tippy towing it backwards is somewhat of a chore sometimes. Plus you feel like a ballerina. But hey that's just one of the quirks of riding a dual sport!

PortlandWRider wrote:

if you lower the suspension all the way what does it do to the handling characteristics of the bike??

What do you mean by "all the way"? The rear suspension has a built-in way to lower the rear by about an inch -- is this what you have in mind? This lowering has virtually no effect on how the bike handles, but if you want to be consistent you can lower the front by about 0.5" by sliding the forks up in the triple clamps.

BTW, I'm 5'6" and do not feel the need to lower the bike; the bike is fairly stable and light, so tip-toeing on just one foot is fine.

PortlandWRider : Are you on a WRR or WRX ?
The WRR is taller than the WRX due to the taller wheels.
I'm 5'8" on a WRX and I pippy toe one foot at stops. (stock suspension height / Seat Concepts "standard" seat which is a fart taller than the stock seat)

If you're on a WRR and you're mainly looking to ride the slab, I'd look at installing 17's for better grip & lower height.

I have lowered the stock setting and installed the low link. I have nothing negative to say about it. It works fine, gave up a little ground clearance but worth it. I am 5'9" but like to reach flat footed, we have ridden some pretty rough stuff and some situations end better when you can reach the ground.

JBEGNOCHE wrote:

I have lowered the stock setting and installed the low link.

If you have lowered the rear that much, then it would be advisable to lower the front too by sliding the forks up in the triple clamps by about an inch (right at the edge of the bulged up section of the fork tubes).

I really appreciate all this insight, friends. Thank you.

I'd be fine giving up a little ground clearance if it meant a better footing. And who knows, maybe one day I'll look back and think I was foolish to want to lower it. But for right now, especially considering the fact that I doubt I'll take a brand new bike on triple diamond trails or over jumps, I'll take the footing over the clearance.

Evol, living in the city I'd be lying to myself if I said my WR is going to see dirt more than the slab. Therefore, maybe 17s and street tires is something to look into. Where does one shop for WRX 17s? Are there some after markets options out there? Mags, even?

Holy shit! Are supermoto 17s really around $435 each!! Yikes! In that case, maybe just a more street-oriented tire on the stock WRR wheels...

About 18mm is the most we recommend raising the front forks UP. There is no 1:1 ratio of rear vs front lowering; changes to rake & trail effect geometry at a much different rate than changes to the rear end.

JBEGNOCHE wrote:

I have lowered the stock setting and installed the low link.  I have nothing negative to say about it.  It works fine, gave up a little ground clearance but worth it.  I am 5'9" but like to reach flat footed, we have ridden some pretty rough stuff and some situations end better when you can reach the ground.

Hi there. when you say low link, do you mean something like yamalink? Also, when you lowered the stock setting, did you change the rebound adjuster at all? I'm about your height and the yamalink helped but I need to plant my foot down more.

Thanks