Experience of Hyperpro lowering Kit on an F800GS Adventure

Hi,

I recently bought an F800 GS Adventure, for use both on road during the week, and some light off roading at the weekend. However I'm finding it just a touch too tall, so on uneven ground I am not confident getting my feet down to hold it up if the bike starts to lean over at very slow speed/stopped.

Has anyone fitted the 35mm HyperPro lowering kit (here) themselves to an Adventure?

I've read the commonly quoted post by Dave Ett, who describes fitting one to a standard F800GS, so I was interested in there was any differences in fitting to an Adventure that it would be useful to know in advance.

Also I would be interested to hear of anyones real world experience of riding a lowered F800GS off road, and whether its abilities are compromised noticeably.

Note that I have tried the lowered seat, and its bloody uncomfy - like a rock, so I sent that back.

Thanks, Chris

HyperPro Springs

Hello,
Now while I haven't ridden the Adventure I have just taken a set of 50 mm lower HyperPro springs off my '08 F800GS.
I while I might be wrong I don't think the rear shock and forks are different to the standard bike so if you want to try it they are listed in the For Sale section.
SuperTed

SuperTed said:

Hello,
Now while I haven't ridden the Adventure I have just taken a set of 50 mm lower HyperPro springs off my '08 F800GS.
I while I might be wrong I don't think the rear shock and forks are different to the standard bike so if you want to try it they are listed in the For Sale section.
SuperTed

Click to expand...

Thanks, I saw that listing actually, it came up when I did a search on the site. I'm already quite wary of lowering the bike 35mm, I wouldnt risk going as far as 50mm thanks. You could provide some good insight though, when you lowered your stock 800GS (which is only10mm lower seat height than my adventure anyway, and thats only due to extra seat foam), did it feel radically different to ride? Obviously it meant you could get your feet down, but did it less of a 'big bike' thats what I'm worried about. Also do you go off road, as I'm worried it might screw up my ability to do some trail riding.

I initially lowered the bike as with the standard seat height I was on tip-toes, which isn't great stopping on a sharp camber!
The way the bike rides is not changed as long as you go down front and back. I ended up with both feet flat and my knees bent, and a bike on which I successfully ran away from a kid on a GSX-R600 down a twisty road. When he came to the traffic light I was stopped at he wouldn't look at me; can't think why!
Be a bit wary about the claimed 35mm reduction, when sorting out raising mine I got so confused about is 25, 35, or 50mm that I e-mailed HyperPro. And they said they don't do a 35mm kit, it's either 25 or 50.
I don't do actual 'off road', but I have been quite happy to charge down a few forestry commission tracks and a few gravel roads in France and being that much lower didn't affect the way the bike handled them at all. I also got a Sergent seat, which was standard height, and then got that cut down to the low seat level.
If you find you're coming my way (Romford in Essex) ping me a pm and you are welcome to take mine for a quick spin.
SuperTed

Change your footwear

Rather than lower the bike, consider buying some Daytona boots which make you taller. There is a specific model, not sure what it is called for men, for Ladies its the Ladystar GTX. For a few seconds when you put them on you notice it and then its over. I often see issues when bikes are lowered, especially with the side stand, this way no messing with the bike and you can do it yourself.

Thanks Superted, wknight. I looked at the Daytona boots but they are very expensive and I only recently bought new boots. Perhaps if I knew somewhere to try a pair on. Anyway I have gone for it, ordered the 35mm hyperpro kit from Calsport, and booked into a local garage that specialise in bike work, they do lots of suspension setups and refurbs for track days or adventure rides. Booked in next Friday so I'll report back on how I find it.

SuperTed, I'm the same as you, I don't do real off road, it's trail riding. Though sometimes like today the trail can take a turn for the worse and you are in a rutted field. All good fun!

Little update - I bought the HyperPro 35mm loweting kit from Calsport, and arranged for a motorbike garage near me to fit it. They specialise in motorcycles, do lots of bike refurbs, setting up of bikes for track days etc, so thought it was a safe bet. Anyway, the bike defeated him - he simply couldnt compress the rear spring enough to get the circlip off to release it. He tried two different spring compressors neither of which fit properly, then tried the ratchet strap method shown on other posts on this forum, and it snapped the straps!

So he wasted 1/2 a day workshop time before reluctantly calling me to admit defeat. So be warned before you think about doing a DIY install.

Next stop, Manchester BMW Motorrad garage. They quoted only 1.5 hours to fit compared to 3 hours quoted by the first place, so I am dubious but I'll let them have a go. Let you know how they get on after the 27th Sep.

Allrover said:

Little update - I bought the HyperPro 35mm loweting kit from Calsport, and arranged for a motorbike garage near me to fit it. They specialise in motorcycles, do lots of bike refurbs, setting up of bikes for track days etc, so thought it was a safe bet. Anyway, the bike defeated him - he simply couldnt compress the rear spring enough to get the circlip off to release it. He tried two different spring compressors neither of which fit properly, then tried the ratchet strap method shown on other posts on this forum, and it snapped the straps!

So he wasted 1/2 a day workshop time before reluctantly calling me to admit defeat. So be warned before you think about doing a DIY install.

Next stop, Manchester BMW Motorrad garage. They quoted only 1.5 hours to fit compared to 3 hours quoted by the first place, so I am dubious but I'll let them have a go. Let you know how they get on after the 27th Sep.

Click to expand...

Fella, brill post btw as my 35mm spring arrives from Calpro today! I`m not that far up my own ass (for a change.....) to think that my not unreasonable resources will let me do it so please let me know how you get on eh?

Epic fail from Williams Motorrad Manchester. The guy who gave me the quote and said they could do it had misunderstood, thinking it was replacement of the whole unit, not just the spring. He said they didn't have the right size spring compressor to do the back spring. They where very apologetic, so I couldn't get too cross, but it was a bloody waste of 3 weeks waiting to get into the BMW garage only to fail again.

They've referred me to http://www.kais-ohlins.co.uk/, who when I rang them said they could do it, but they wouldn't recommend it. When they lower bikes they replace more than just the springs, otherwise the bike has a lot of sag. However they are suspension specialists, so they told me to pop in with my bike to see what they could do using the kit I've got, but do a bit more of a comprehensive job. Hard to know what to think, but sounded like nice bloke who said he'd show me what he meant, so I'll wait and see. Post an update when its finally sorted. Hope somebody finds this useful in future in terms of what to be aware of if looking to get one of these kits fitted.

Good post mate, I was thinking about having this done to my GS 1200. I'll be watching this thread to see how you get on I'm only about 30 mins away.

update

any update on this? watching with interest

Broke the ratchet straps? Strewth, maybe the adventure had a much harder spring...


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Final outcome of lowering - I finally got it done

Apologies for not getting round to posting a final update on this until now.

I finally got the kit fitted by KAIS suspension in Manchester. They called me part way through fitting it to explain that in their view, the kit wasn’t very good – simply fitting shorter springs would result in the bike ‘sagging’ on the suspension, and they were concerned about how the bike would ride. When they normally lower a bike they do more than just change the springs.

Anyway, when I picked the bike up, it was lower than expected, and after measuring it I would say its lower by 50-60mm, rather than the 35mm the springs where supposed to lower it by.

It is without doubt much easier to ride now, however ride quality is not quite as good as before. Even after fiddling with the suspension adjustment, it has still lost that go anywhere feeling, and ability to insulate you from all bumps. I wouldn’t feel confident going off road on the bike now.

In normal road riding though, on 99% of roads, it is still entirely comfortable and easy to ride and I’ve been happy with it.

So my advice to anyone considering lowering is to be sure what you want to use the bike for.

To be honest, I would also question whether you are buying the right bike. If I knew what I know now, it’s that fundamentally it’s just a bit too tall and heavy a bike for me to be comfortable on, and it’s probably better to get a different bike rather than try to lower the suspension to make it fit.

It’s expensive to do, you’ll probably have to change it back again when it comes time to sell, but more important than anything, it’s a big risk. You won’t really know what it’s going to ride like until it’s been done – and by that time it’s too late without the hassle & cost of changing back.

FWIW I’ve changed the rear springs on an F650GS(Twin) and on a 1150R by using the compressor kit from Motorworks (hired for effectively £10 plus return postage) and it was a piece of cake to use both times.

https://www.motorworks.co.uk/vlive/Shop/Parts.php?T=6&Q=HYA25000




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