lowering seat height on GS550l

[Mike S]

Our 1980 550L with 9,600 miles runs great, and all parts and pieces look like new. The only thing is, my wife is 5' tall, and the seat height makes her leery of riding and having to stop at lights and feel competent about balancing the bike while waiting to start up again.
Is there an easy way to lower the sitting position while keeping the stock seat pan?
Thanks,
Mike S

[Planecrazy]

It was suggested to me that one could do several things (I have the same bike).

1. cut down the foam in the seat so that your wife's tail end sits an inch closer to the pavement. If done correctly you shouldn't lose too much comfort in the process.

2. make sure the spring settings are set to their softest position, which should result in the bike sitting slightly lower than at the stiffer positions.

3. Find rear spring/shocks that are slightly shorter for the rears, which shouldn't hurt handling too much, but will take advantage of the fact that there is a LOT of clearance between the tire and the fender. Just be sure to make sure that there is no contact when it bottoms out.

I suppose you could try and find smaller diameter wheels and tires, but that would be much more expensive, I think, than the other choices.

Good Luck!
Steve 8)

[Anonymous]

I had the same problem with my wife. Geeese, short people ain't got no reason to live. :-)

Anyway, I found some 2 inch shorter shocks on Ebay. 90 bucks OUCH.

I also loosened the bolts on the frontend and lowered the front an inch. With the seat untouched, she could flat foot the ground.

Not a problem.

[gsbill]

On a dual shock bike you can lower the back by moving the bottom shock mount to the rear. This is done with an "adapter block", which the front mounts in the original shock mount and you mount your shock lower on the rear of the adapter. This is a common mod on older bikes, especially HD's. If ya mess with your bike a lot, its good to have a guy around who can weld and machine basic stuff. I'm sure every neighborhood has one of these go to guys!

Also, if your shocks come apart you can slug them inside to shorten them, just like you would your front forks. Basically put a fixed stop inside the shock to prevent full extension.

[Anonymous]

I'm looking at a 81 GS850T for my daughter (5'4"). Does anyone have a measurement for the stock seat height?

Thanks.

[Planecrazy]

I'm looking at a 81 GS850T for my daughter (5'4"). Does anyone have a measurement for the stock seat height?

Thanks.

I don't have a seat height for you, but I'm 5' 8'' with longish legs and I've always found these bikes to be very tall. I doubt she'll be comfortable on any early GS, although I think the later '83ish "L" models were lower... anyone else able to confirm this?

Steve 8)

[dwarf8]

I'm 5'6", strong legs, back and arms.
I find the tall, top heavy GS850 a bit of a handfull at a stop if there are irregularities like dips in the pavement or I hit an oily patch.