Lowered bikes

[Gippo]

Are lowered bikes the sole realm of short people?

Can they be done for cosmetic reasons and be done well?

Anyone over 5 foot 11 inches ridden a well lowered bike? Care to share thoughts?

Can bikes be lowered badly, i.e. cut shit out etc.

I'm not the one doing it so trolls stay under your bridge...

[Heretic]

if you lower a bike you might run into ground clearance problems, especially when you start to compress the suspension with hard braking or cornering, depending on where the pegs, exhaust pipe are and fairings. i guess if your happy going in a straight line cruiser style it wouldn't matter as much, lower seat options i think better to start with if they can be done without messing with the geometry of the bike.

[Stoneville]

Is this said bike going to be actually ridden? I mean properly ridden? or just a show bike?

Show bike go for it, ridden then why would you, I'm sure it wouldn't make that much difference to appearance (other than look funny)

If you can actually ride and intend riding properly (sorry short ladies) then No I wouldn't do it, it would feel like crap

[Arwon]

If you are a short person, you usually are a lighter person. This works ok for a lowered bike because the big issue is the front wheel hitting the radiator under hard braking. If you are a bigger person ( above 70kg) and you are lowering the bike for esthetics then look at limiting the travl of the forks so it cannot hit the radiator. THis can be done with air gap. Reducing the air gap cam limit the travel of the forks, it takes a few goes to get it right. or you can lower it Drag racer style professionally.

[AliastheJester]

Can bikes be lowered badly, i.e. cut shit out etc.

The question is actually, can they be lowered well. It's a lot easier to fuck it up than it is to get it right.
If your arse is far enough from the ground you shouldn't be lowering a bike for the reasons that the people above have covered.
Form should follow function, so if it is being done for aesthetic reasons it is probably just going to end up looking silly.

[boeman]

you are a bigger person ( above 70kg) .

All my life, at 5'11" and 72kg (maxed out at 81kg in my gym junkie days), I have always wanted to be classed as "bigger".

Thank you.

[ripper1199]

I got a friend who is severly height impaired. She bought her bike new because the color was nice and ended up not being able to ride it without falling over a lot. That did not help the confidence. Tried a lower seat first but that made her spread her legs further so there was nothing gained. After Installing a shorter rear shock and new springs with different spring rates in front brought the bike 5 cm down. It does reduce ground clearance and lean angle the race driver will tell you but it the aftermarket springs actually improved the ride and made steering much easier since made for light people and gave her all the confidence she needed and now she can use up all that lean angle without the crashing. As said before she weights half my weight so I ran into more trouble than her and only double up makes it significant. The side stand had to be chopped too. Bringing it bck to standard is more difficult than just installing the bad lowering sets where they alter rear shock geometry.

[Arwon]

All my life, at 5'11" and 72kg (maxed out at 81kg in my gym junkie days), I have always wanted to be classed as "bigger".

Thank you.

don't feel to happy, thats based on the Standard weight range of a anglo compared to the average japanese test ride of 56kg and 5ft 7in.

bubble adequately burst.

sorry

[boeman]

don't feel to happy, thats based on the Standard weight range of a anglo compared to the average japanese test ride of 56kg and 5ft 7in.

bubble adequately burst.

sorry

Don't apologise.

I am constantly referred to as a "garden gnome" by my "friends".

All the bastards are over 6'2".

[Arwon]

Don't apologise.

I am constantly referred to as a "garden gnome" by my "friends".

All the bastards are over 6'2".

don't worry I'm 5'11" myself

[Heretic]

Don't apologise.

I am constantly referred to as a "garden gnome" by my "friends".

All the bastards are over 6'2".

Spotted this morning boeman, oh wait, wrong thread...

[robwas]

Being both short and the rider of a lowered bike (see avatar) I feel I am qualified to answer as below.
Bikes can be lowered safely to suit a riders stature but it is not always optimum for the performance of the bike and can be done to the detriment of the bikes handling and safety if not done properly.
Bikes can be lowered safely to suit a purpose such as Drag Racing however the bike will be rendered quite useless for much other than drag racing and looking Porn (again see avatar).
Tall bikes can be ridden by short people successfully (like me on my TE310 and TE510 which are both standard height) by learning to ride with your feet on the pegs and sliding off the seat to the prefered side when needing to touch the ground. You wil look like a numpty though.
I hope that answeres your question.

[Crobbo]

All my life, at 5'11" and 72kg (maxed out at 81kg in my gym junkie days), I have always wanted to be classed as "bigger".

Thank you.

You're practically obese.

5'11 and 60kgs on a fat day.

[boeman]

Spotted this morning boeman, oh wait, wrong thread...

Unfortunately I shaved off my beard.

Otherwise that would be spot on.

[Arwon]

You're practically obese.

5'11 and 60kgs on a fat day.

are you a chick???