Looking to lower my bike - any help on this please

[ddkolb]

I have a 1980 GS100L. The rear wheel is 16". There is a good 4-5" clearance between the wheel and rear fender.
I am open to suggestions as to how to lower the bike about 2-3"
Would changing the shocks be of any benefit?.... or is there another way?
I don't want to get too extreme, but would like it to be lower than it is presently.
Thanks for any input on this.

[Anonymous]

bike lowering

I made a couple of brackets out of 1/4" aluminum billet to move the lower end of the rear shocks back about 3" on the swing arm. It lowered the rear end a couple of inches. You used to be able to buy them commercially but I don't know where to get them now.

[Anonymous]

Any more on this?

My GS850GL could stand to be an inch or two lower. Can either of you give an update? I like some more info on the billet brackets, sounds like something I could do.

[Anonymous]

Any more on this?

My GS850GL could stand to be an inch or two lower. Can either of you give an update? I like some more info on the billet brackets, sounds like something I could do.

[shaftzuki]

I lowered the rear of my 1000gl almost 2" by purchasing a set of "shorty" showa shocks - they are advertised on Ebay all of the time ... my originals were about 12 1/2" eye to eye, I replaced them with 11" ... 8)

[Anonymous]

Shorter shocks makes sense. The ones on my 850 are 13" long, so an 11" set would definitely lower it. How was the ride afterwards? I'm not planning any major jumps or off-road racing, so unless they're just too soft, they should do the trick.

[shaftzuki]

The shocks I purchased work great!! There's really no noticeable difference unless you hit the "big one" and then it wouldn't matter how big the shocks were anyway ... 8)