I'M TOO SHORT FOR MY BIKE...PLEASE HELP ME !!!

Hi, can someone give me an advice. I have a police kz1000 and I am only 5'5 when I first bought the bike I couldn't even touch the ground. Do you know someone that sales a lowering kit? Or a rear shocks that's at least 13' it seats on 14 1/2 right now. The shop I go to called m&c located on pacific coast highway and cherry in the city of long beach, CA. Has done everything possible. They lowered the rear shocks as much as posible and took air out of the front shocks to lower it as much as possible. I even re-apolstered my seat took out all that conffey ride on my butt and just put 1 inch cushion seat that made a difference drop me down to about 4inches.

However, I'm still not satisfied i still manage to keep falling at a red light or stop sign. I'm jus a little bit over my toes. I like to have my feet flat both feet flat on the ground like a normal riders such as yourself.

Can you help me out....suggestion, comments, sale me something that would help me. Anything?...website?...something. [/b]

Question, with no seat on, are your legs long enough to sit on the frame and touch firmly on the ground?

If so, fab up some different seat mounts or cafe style (semi flat) seat is about the only thing I can think of...

Unless of course you drop rim/tire size front and back....
Not sure about the Police bikes but my KZ900 originally was set at 19" front, 18" rear....

In my conversion, both front and rears are 17" so that's a significant drop in itself... Keep in mind though, in this concept you also loose ground clearance under the engine/frame tubing... ~ 4-5" under the Kerker collector is about it...

No big deal though, just learn to not hit speed bumps or ramped curves head on versus at an angle....

Outside of that, can't think of much else for ya....
Let us know what you come up with for we do have ladies on this forum as well that have had some issues with leg lengths....

OMR

Not sure about the police bike swingarm,but u can gain a 2 inch drop on KZ 1000s by installing the swingarm from a Suzuki GS1100 using the shorter Suzuki shocks.This is pretty much a drop in swap IF ur bike has a disc rear brake and not the drum.bj

My Mom rode a Honda 750four and she was a very short woman. What she did was have a local cobbler make soles for her boots from car tire tread and nail them onto her riding boots. This sounds very 70's because it was in the 70's. She also had struts put on the bike to lower it but shocks would work to.


Between shocks, seat and shoes you should be able to ride and stop safely even being short for the bike.

My Mom passed two years ago and I found her boots as I was going through her possessions and decided to keep them for the fond memories of my Motorcycle Mama.

I hope you find the right combination so you can ride with confidence and safety.

Fit shortest eye-to-eye shocks possible that when fully collapsed won't allow rear tire to hit inside of fender.

Lowering blocks or struts often result in a far too stiff ride.

Also consider western boots with highest heels available, plus internal heel cushion lifts.

Suzuki Savage has one of the lowest motorcycle seat heights available, and would likely allow you to sit flat-footed, barefoot, while providing decent all around performance. It's a favorite for the shorter inseam folks. A smooth running 650cc single cylinder cruiser style.

Good Fortune!

:laugh:

You're not too short, the bike is too tall.

Since the seat is suspended between two points, you really only have a couple options.

As mentioned, smallest eye to eye rear shocks possible.
You can also put the bike on the center stand, then loosen the fork clamp bolts on the triple tree, and slide the fork tubes up an inch or so. This makes a big difference.

I dont know if I would remove too much air/oil from the forks, as this seriously affects the damping. Air should be between 6-8lbs I believe, thats not really that much.

And the seat/frame lowering I think you've covered as best as you would like. Squishing the seat more narrow helps too.

GL!

Christian_ezar wrote:

Hi, can someone give me an advice. I have a police kz1000 and I am only 5'5 when I first bought the bike I couldn't even touch the ground. Do you know someone that sales a lowering kit? Or a rear shocks that's at least 13' it seats on 14 1/2 right now. The shop I go to called m&c located on pacific coast highway and cherry in the city of long beach, CA. Has done everything possible. They lowered the rear shocks as much as posible and took air out of the front shocks to lower it as much as possible. I even re-apolstered my seat took out all that conffey ride on my butt and just put 1 inch cushion seat that made a difference drop me down to about 4inches.

However, I'm still not satisfied i still manage to keep falling at a red light or stop sign. I'm jus a little bit over my toes. I like to have my feet flat both feet flat on the ground like a normal riders such as yourself.

Can you help me out....suggestion, comments, sale me something that would help me. Anything?...website?...something. [/b]

one word my friend......clogs.....happy riding.....:woohoo:

like dave said, maybe try to locate a rear rim from an LTD, they are 16" as opposed to your (I think) 18"

9am53 wrote:

like dave said, maybe try to locate a rear rim from an LTD, they are 16" as opposed to your (I think) 18"

Imo, won't make much if any difference, because axle height is same with either wheel after oem size tires are mounted.

Good Fortune!

Even without anymore lowering you can still be stable at a stop. Most MSF instructors that I've met have said that it is much more stable to rest your bike to one side and only have the weight on your left foot while your right is on the brake. A tripod where all parts are solid is much more stable than a quadpod (?) where it is wobbling back and forth shifting the weight between sides and greatly increasing the chances of it overbalancing. When it comes time to move off, put your right foot down and lean the bike that way and put your left foot up to shift into first. It might take a bit of tap-dancing but it works. Also, you may not look like a 'normal' rider, but you won't be dropping your bike either :dry:

I never thought of that, are there any lower profile tires that the 16" rim would accomodate?