What's the concensus on 11.5" lowering shocks for 1980 GS750?

[Guest]

I desperately need to lower this bike so that my feet can touch the ground.
I'm 5'9"and have already set te stock shocks their lowest/softest settings, but I'm still tippy-toeing at stoplights like an ugly ballerina.

As a matter of fact I've already suffered the indignity of having this 500+-lbs monster topple on me while negotiating a friend' driveway & sliding on an exposed gumbo limbo tree.
The impact of it landing on it actually crushed the safety toe cup on my right engineer boot.

I'm going to go with the shorter shocks since I don't race anymore or ride two-up, but wanted to get any heads-up, warning, or tips in general from anyone who's done this specific conversion.

[sharpy]

It make it steer like a truck with harley type rake, lower ure ground clearence and stuff like that. 5'9" isnt short. not sure why your having trouble. In Oz we had a bloke that was 4'10" that raced A grade and he handy even standing still at the start line. Well he was sort of standing starts litterally....

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[Gorminrider]

I sort of think you really want a lower bike to start with HOWEVER maybe letting the fork tubes up an inch through the triple tree will level the bike with your shorter shocks...

and One thing_it's going to make the bike harder to get up on centrestand...another,obvious well, you're reducing clearance of course aka the rear fender so you're going to want those newer shocks preset a notch to be "harder" sprung? until you are sure wheel won't ever hit...(a pull tie on the shock stem will give a record of furthest motion after a ride)

and as usual, if you had a spare seatpan, you could manipulate the seat padding and shape. Newer foams can probably be made to act as well as the originals when thinner.

Or just keep trying 'til you are more used to it... As above posted, shorter people can adapt quite well. (How DID Napoleon get on his horse...)

[limeex2]

back in the day, I took about 1" of foam out of the seat and then made it a little more narrow where her legs went. Problem solved.

[thebrandonbeezy]

back in the day, I took about 1" of foam out of the seat and then made it a little more narrow where her legs went. Problem solved.

And it probably would cost the same as a good set of shocks too

[Jen]

I'm not quite 5'3. I'm guessing (and it looks like in the pic) that you have a short inseam. Mine is about 29". I lowered my 450l by dropping the triple tree down about an inch on the forks. I think it IMPROVED handling and now I can touch the ground. Plus it looks cooler. I am still going to put shorter rear shocks but don't want to go too far because I'm trying to keep that beltline fairly level. I second what the others said about trying a different seat- to me the width of the stock seat was downright uncomfortable anyway.

[82tiburon]

Wow, you nailed my inseam to the inch!

I will probably be lowering the front end by pushing the fork tubes up through the trees to keep things level, but the lower shocks are a definite go, irregardless.

I looked at an old-time pic of my original '80 GS750 on it's centerstand, extrapolated the length of the shocks based on some items in the pic & figured out they were lowered.
The dude who owned it was the pilot of a cramped antique Cessna bush plane who couldn't have sttod over 5'-5".

The original owner of this bike was a hefty Oklahoma roughneck (about 6 feet x 220 lbs.) so I'm assuming the current shocks are heavy duty & definitely heavy-duty, as they don't seem to compress much (if at all) with me in the saddle.

So the shocks arrive today & they'll be going on this afternoon/evening.
As stated before, my racing days & the riding style that engenders are long past, so overall ground clearance is not an issue.
I don't see myself doing the Kenny Roberts "ventilated knee" while swooping through turns any time soon.

Worse comes to worst, I'll just set them at their stiffest setting --- I've set the rear suspension on Harley projects with only a behemoth of a friend sitting on the bike & a chunk of 3/4" hose laid over the tire to check for clearance.

As it now stands, the bike is unstable & top-heavy because I cannot tough the ground. I've already injured my left elbow & knee when it went down on me, plus the injury to my back (fresh out of left-arm surgery for a serious shark bite) while dead-lifting this heavy bitch.

So, no mas!
I want to be riding for a long, long time rather than be sidelined for a stupid oversight on my part.
I want to thank all of you who took the time to respond to my question & wish you nothing but good times out in the wind.

[82tiburon]

Well, all progress came to a screeching halt when it came time to remove the old shocks as that old UJM Silly-Putty metallurgy (ot lack, thereof) reared it's ugly head.

One of the bottom shock studs had it's head all buggered up to the point where I'm afraid to put any force of any kind on it for fear of it snapping off & being left stuck with the stud firmly embedded in it's housing.
The other side is just jammed shut.
Didn't anyone inform the Japs that you can just thread in a bolt & put a locking nut on the other protruding end?

Apparently not, as they both appear to be Loctited or HondaBonded in place!!!

If for one second I thought they'd pull out without shearing off the heads, I'd immediately "Americanize" them by drilling & tapping for a pair of stout SAE coarse-thread studs/bolts with nuts instead of this Mickey Mouse ****.
Geez...don't they have anything but pot metal over in THe Land of the Rising Son???

[Steve]

Try using a "blue-tipped wrench" on them.

Heat up the threaded area with a torch. Not a British 'torch' (a flashlight), an American-style FLAME torch.

If there was some Lock-tite applied, the heat should release it. If it is stuck due to corrosion, a little MORE heat might expand the threaded area just enough to break the corrosion.

.

[mrbill5491]

Well, all progress came to a screeching halt when it came time to remove the old shocks as that old UJM Silly-Putty metallurgy (ot lack, thereof) reared it's ugly head.

One of the bottom shock studs had it's head all buggered up to the point where I'm afraid to put any force of any kind on it for fear of it snapping off & being left stuck with the stud firmly embedded in it's housing.
The other side is just jammed shut.
Didn't anyone inform the Japs that you can just thread in a bolt & put a locking nut on the other protruding end?

Apparently not, as they both appear to be Loctited or HondaBonded in place!!!

If for one second I thought they'd pull out without shearing off the heads, I'd immediately "Americanize" them by drilling & tapping for a pair of stout SAE coarse-thread studs/bolts with nuts instead of this Mickey Mouse ****.
Geez...don't they have anything but pot metal over in THe Land of the Rising Son???

A pic would be very helpful.

[82tiburon]

Sure.
Avert your eyes from the mangled carnage,

[82tiburon]

It only gets worse...

[82tiburon]

...and worse.

[82tiburon]

Well, my good friend Joe (a marine mechanic) came over with his "crack-pipe" torch & all of the specialty wrenches he uses day in & day out to remove broken bolts, studs, etc.

We were able to remove the old shock bolts, replace them with a pair each of 3/8" Grade 8 bolts, washers & locknuts --- before coating everything with anti-seize compound, of course.
Since only the shock clevis is threaded (14mm fine), it was a breeze to "Americanize" the whole suspension so it now runs all-Grade 8 hardware.
MUCH better than the cheap, tin-pot Japanese excuse for metal originally on there.

I set the pre-load at their stiffest setting, got her down off the center-stand --- with both feet planted firmly on the ground & took her out for a spin.
There was no wallowing in the turns, no spine-jarring over railroad track crossings & no tire-to-fender contact even after plunging into a long, deep dip.

The handling was crisp, precise & much more controlled without that top-heavy feeling I had experienced before.

[steve murdoch]

Everybody needs a "Joe".
Congrats on getting it sorted.