Adapting A VFR For A Shorter Rider

My wife rides my 1989 Honda Hawk and loves it. She's always asking about a bigger bike with a bigger gas tank to go on longer rides. She likes the way my bike looks so she asked if it is feasable for her to ride/get one. After I regained my composure, I told her I'd check into it.

I think the bike is pretty heavy for her, now that I think of it, it's heavy for me. The one major issue I can see is her height. I am 6' and can flat foot easily at a stop. She's slightly up on her toes which is not a good thing on a 500+lbs bike. Is it possible to lower a 98-01 VFR with out screwing up the handling & balance. I would absolutely love to surprise her with a 2001 VFR.

I don't think I would be able to contain myself... A Red Head on a red VFR...

KC-10 FE out...

 

In short (no pun intended) the answer is yes ... it can be done!

This redhead rides a '99 VFR, is 162cm tall and weighs between 60 and 70kg. (Taking woman's prerogative not to be too specific here :wink: )

Sitting upright on the bike with both feet down I used to only be able to touch with toes, though stopping at lights etc. has never been a problem with just sliding across the seat a bit to be able to touch a foot flat to the ground.

As for the weight of the bike, that is only an issue for me when I park .. cause I have to make sure that I never park the bike on a downhill slope if I can't ride straight out. This is because I can't successfully walk the bike around without some degree of difficulty.

After making the changes the bike handles beautifully and the added bonus was that I found the VTEC shock to be better than the original even in general riding conditions. I have done a track day and a couple of big touring rides since this modification and have had no issues with handling at all.

I can now sit on the bike and comfortably have the ball of both feet on the ground when stopped if need be.

And whilst I can ride the bike, I make no claims whatsoever to be able to do anything other than basic maintenance on it. The technical stuff about how the bike was lowered comes from my partner who did most of the work.

I replaced the shock absorber in the '99 model VFR with a VTEC (2002-on) shock, which was 7mm shorter. I found that it was too low fitted on it's own (read below, it lowered the rear approx 22mm) so therefore I fitted a 3mm washer to the top shock mounting shackle (sometimes known as 'shimming the shock'). the stock setting of 3/4 turn out of rebound to line up the dots on the adjuster, and position two (of the available 7, also the stock setting for the VTEC) on the rear preload was perfect for the use of a 63kg rider with no luggage.

At the front I simply slid the forks* through 15mm. this gave quite a bit of fork showing through the top however it also gave me the ability to slide the clip-ons up somewhat to give a more comfortable riding position!

*(totally stock VFR800 '99 with fresh 10W oil at stock height of 130mm, 4th ring of preload showing)

This bike has been ridden like this up to a fast mountain road pace (almost doubling the signposts, but not quite), and had no issues.

Tyre wear is no different as you don't alter the geometry and there is no ill-handling felt. if the bike seems too hard to turn compared to the stock, slide the forks 'through' 2mm further, if it feels a bit twitchy, slide them back out 2mm, or adjust the fork preload adjusters. this bit was trial and error. I slid the forks through for the same reasons as shimming the rear- it maintained the stock balance of the bike.

All in all any lower than that and you run out of fork clearance and the forks will bottom out at full travel, and the guard will hit the fairing (not good either). this is why I fitted the shock shim, to maintain the level geometry of the bike.

The VTEC rear shock works far better than the 98-01 and this brings a nicer feel to the bike as well, more solid on the road. The original shock was buggered, and that was why the swap was originally planned, the lowering was a big bonus!