Lowering or raising my bike?

I've noticed my friends Gixxer has a coilover type system under the seat to raise or lower his bike. I was wondering if the 2002 vfr800 has something similar or I can buy? I'm 5'8'' and I'm balancing on the archs of my feet. If it was a feet inches shorter it'd be perfect!

Thanks!

 

There is a company that makes lowering triangles to replace the stock triangles on the lower shock mount but I'm not sure how far they lower the bike. To the best of my knowledge at least, I'm not sure if there is a company that makes an aftermarket system likes your buddies Gixxer for lowering the ride height on the VFR. The name of the company that manufactures the lowering triangles is called Lust Racing. Here is a link to their site and hopefully this helps your situation.

Lowering kits for motorcycles | Ride Height Lowering | Motorcycle suspension linkage kits | Motorcycle Accessories by Lust Racing Ltd

 

Hi,
Not sure how much you are willing to spend, but I just lowered my bike this past weekend and it make a world of difference. Cost $ 0.00. I spent $125.00 for a set of Knight design pegs. If you havent found any links showing/telling you how to lower your bike. Below is a synopsis of the process.
Put bike on center stand with a piece of 2x8 under the rear wheel. On the sprocket side located the 3 bolts that hold the triangle shock brace. Loosen and remove the two bolts opposite the shock bolt. Now loosen the shock bolt and when you remove this bolt -- put the bolt, with the same hole that it was in the pair of triangles into the frame hole. The holes for the triangles that WAS in the frame are now in the dog bone. The original dog bone hole of the triangles is now at the shock. Basically, move the triangle so that the frame hole..lets say 12 0'clock position...is now at the 6 O'clock position. You more than likely will need to take the board and lift on it to align the last bolt hole. I chose to do the dog bone last. Tighten it all back up and this will give you about 3/4 of an inch. Lastly, you should measure how high the fork tubes are out of the triple tree. Factory setting should be 40-42mm. This measurement is taken from the top of the exposed triple tree to the top of the snap ring located just under the fork tube bolt. To maintain your same rake and turn angles, it is highly suggested you move your fork up another 10mm. I have done this on 3 VFR and one CBR1100XX. All 4 bikes were more responsive after this change. To loosen up the fork tubes, it is recommended you have someone to help you. This person can help apply the weight and measure the increase while you tighten the bolts so the forks do not recede. Some say you have to take the clip ons off. I never have...but your choice. The procedure is simple and takes 10 minutes with assistance. Put a jack under the headers, while bike is on center stand. Give the jack enough lift to supend the front wheel off the ground an inch or so. next loosen the top triple tree pinch bolts (12mm i think) They should only be finger loose. Next loosen the lower triple tree pinch bolts to finger loose. Now, easily position yourself on the bike and lean over the tank while grabbing the handle/clip ons and push down to see if the forks rise up. If the dont after a few attempts...loosen a little more and try again. Once you are able to see the forks rise, push down suddenly and keep the lean over the forks and tighten the top pinch bolts to prevent the forks from receding. Again, a partner is helpful first time around. Take the measurement and and adjust as necessary to obtain the 10mm increase in fork height. I can take some pics and do the arrow thing if you like. Let me know.

 

I say YES to your offer of putting pics with arrows for this. I am also 5'8" and I am on the ball of my feet all the time. Lowering the bike by 1" would make a huge difference.
The problem with most hondas is not the height of the seat but the with. You lose about an inch. I test rode a Ducati ST4 before I bought the VFR, the seat is the same height but much narrower, I was standing at the light flat footed, huge difference.

 

You could first try raising the forks (free!) up to 10-12mm.

 

What a bunch of shrimps you guys are. :wink:

(Good post, Justice).

 

Just had this done today! What a great difference, I am 30" inseam, and now much better footed on this bike. 3/4" drop for free!

 

What did you do ?

 

Rotated the "triangle" of the bike and lowered it 3/4", was free, took maybe 30min..........i really needed it a bit lower, amazing this doesn't get talked about more here.

 

Good point. I am going to look into this. I think Ron Drake had a lowering kit that included side stand, and it was just a shorter dogbone. If anyone knows of ramifications of the triangle flip please let me know.

 

So after thinking about this, and reading ALOT of threads. I have purchased the Lust Racing lowering kit. Going off to get my side stand cut 5/8", and based on many on here, including many that track their bikes, the kit is solid and works well and engineered well. And of course best part is its an additional 3/4" drop, which is going to be perfect now for me.

 

I am not sure what gen bike you have. I looked at my triangle and it is equilateral, so rotating the triangle on my 2006 would not make a difference.

 

surfandski, they all look equalateral, but they are not. rotating the triangle counter-clockwise one rotation gives a drop. I was surprised myself, I thought there is no way its not equal, until it was pulled and measured to dead center of each hole and in fact there was a difference which resulted in 3/4" drop.

 

Signal, what year is your bike ? I am looking at my triangle and it is not that easy to go after it. The pipes are in the way of reaching the bolts.

 

My VFR800 is 2003