Help? Wanna Lower my 2000 VFR

I have a 2000 Vfr and have never lowered a motorcycle even though i have had 3 bikes. I'm tired of being on my tippy toes or leaning the bike to the side at a stoplight. What's the easiest way to go about it. I do have a mechanical background as an aircraft mechanic so i think i could do it myself, just need some info. I'm 5'6 170lbs i dont knwo if that will help. I know there are many lowering kits but i have heard of people just lowering forks but im not sure. Any help i would greatly appreciate. :smile:

 

Take the lower rear shock mounting plates off and turn them around, that will get you about 3/4 of an inch for free.

 

Nozzle's shorty tips: (don't ask how I know this)

1) Get boots with heels. Then add heel material if needed
2) Stop next to the curb and put foot on curb
3) Get narrower seat so your legs can go straight down
4) Ride with a fat passenger to compress the suspension

 

someone told me about doing this is this the triangle down by the center stand? Do you know of any step by steps with pics ? do I risk bottoming out if I have a passenger?

 

Sanrio, I have an 07 and have done the triangle flip and lowered the front end by sliding the forks up in the triple clamps a bit (9 mm) . I haven't ridden with a passenger since doing this mod so can't speak to any clearance issues. I did this when I got my stock suspension back from Jamie at Daugherty Motor sports (upgraded front and rear, highly recommended) so there was more going on than just the bit of lowering but really like the improved suspension and the little help in reaching the ground. It's not dramatic though cause I didn't have to shorten the side stand, though I am careful of the angle of the bike when parking as it does stand a little more erect on the stand; I should mention that Jamie did caution me about lowering the bike (probably any bike) do to the potential of clearance issues.
John

 

Check out Lustracing...thats what I used and shortened my sidestand. I love it and actually I think it handles better. Next is sending my forks out to be reworked

Sent from my SGH-T679 using Tapatalk 2

 

Never lowered a VFR, lowered a GSX-R 750 but regret it later. I did bottom out when riding with a passenger and definitely changed the bike's handling.
I truly relate to being sick and tip-toeing. I'm 5'4" 135 lbs with a 28" inseam, but I wouldn't lower my VFR.

 

I have done the triangle mod and it does work well. With a passenger, you can "bottom out" on speed bumps if you are not careful, but not just normal riding.

 

You are refering to bottoming the (scraping) center stand on the pavement right? Not suspension/hard parts of the motorcycle right? I think that's what the safety concern is with lowering.
John

 

With you on that !! Only 5'4" myself but if i thought i needed to lower my bike and compromise suspension, i'd guess i'd bought a bike just too damned big for me in that case. It may take hundreds of miles and a few months to get beyond the stage where the bike feels tall. At some stage bike will begin to feel smaller after you gain the confidence and practice necessary. Sometimes wanting your bike lowered suggests a simple lack of self- confidence. Seems every bike i've spent time on seemed smaller after a few months.

Without any big suspension changes, you can move forks up about 10mm in clamps. Also, i think shorter riders could possibly modify the seat foam to narrow at front so you gain additional "boots on the ground." Lower the rider, thick boots, and it's easier.

 

tell me if i'm wrong here but the forks in a vfr are not triple clamp, they're double!

 

I just lowered my 2001 VFR and like it much better. I'm not short, or tall, 5'9", but didn't like being on the tips of my feet at a stop. My previous bike was an F2 and I was flat footed at a stop. I do want to clarify something for the next guy to do this. All the write-ups I see about this say something like "flip the triangle around". Since the triangle has 3 holes it is possible to have a number of possible positions. Here's what I did on mine: The triangle plate has an arrow that, in the normal position, faces to the front of the bike. I turned the plate around so the arrow faces the rear of the bike. I also lowered the forks about 25mm. Whole project took less than 1/2 an hour. Hope this helps the next guy!

Jim

 

Think you meant 5mm Jim right? ....
First day I had my bike, took the seat to an upholstery shop and had the inside portion of my thighs and just alittle off the top shaved, BIG difference. .02 worth

 

Nope, 25mm. I wanted the front lowered as much as the back. I know it sounds like a lot, but I wanted to keep the bike level and the geometry nearly the same, and that's about how much the back end lowered. I started at 10mm and moved up a little at a time. It hasn't negatively affected the handling. I've been riding for over 20 years and have been playing with suspensions for almost that long. I'm no expert, and I don't recommend it for every one, but I'm saying it works for me, and it was cheap (free). I have recovered seats before, and thought about removing some foam from the edges, but since removing foam is kinda permanent, I'm trying this first. Put on a few hundred miles so far and no problems (no bottoming or tank slappers even 2-up), and our roads are garbage. I've been thinking about recovering the seat as I find it somewhat slippery, and I already have the marine vinyl from past seat projects, so maybe that will be next. If I do recover it, I'll probably slice a little off the edges at the same time.

Jim

 

Two things, when altering the triangle you change the suspension compression ratio that the Honda Pro-Link suspension was setup with, probably not noticeable to most but it does change some. Probably one reason why JD recommends against it. The other is that unless you change the front and rear equally, you change the rake/trail of the bike which does affect the handling to some degree. When left unchanged up front, but lowered in the back, the bike gains high speed stability but slows the steering. Inversely, if you lower the front but not the back, you quicken the steering and decrease high speed stability. In reality, the VFR doesn't seem to really have any issues at high speed regardless, at least that I have seen, heard or read, but the principle it true.

The other side effects of lowering are...
1. Decreased ground clearance.
2. Possible bottoming out due to above.
3. Less leaning when on the side stand, unless corrected like Duccmann has done.
4. Harder to get bike up on center stand.

I am just on the cusp of being too short, I'm 5'8" but with full gear and/or when using the top case and tank bag, the extra weight allows me to flat foot it with no problem (w/Sargent seat). When not weighted down with "extra" gear, I can barely flat foot it but it's sometimes tough on the inner thigh, I'm sure shaving the seat would help. I recommend you start with shaving the seat down, then see where you are at. If your inseam just isn't long enough with that mod, then consider the other options. Sometimes it just isn't in the cards any other way.

 

This sounds more like getting a Brazilian to me than a lowering exercise!!! Or did I mis-read something....

 

Yes there are two clamps (the upper and lower) but they connect three parts (two fork legs and the steering head) so they are a triple clamp.

 

Good thing the word triangle wasn't used in that sentence too, then it really would be confusing!

 

Deffinatley a yes on #4......could do before my operation........7 months later still haven't tried