low seat option

[geek]

greetings all. i have lurked for a while, this seems like a very useful / helpful site.

i test rode a 12GS over a year ago - I am vertically challenged (five foot nine and a half in old money/176cm) and although i loved the bike in every way, felt just a little woozy sometimes at the lights / stopped, my foot being more on tipped toe than i might like. i believe it had the standard seat on it (unadjusted), they didn't do a low one then.

have any of you fellow shortarses got a bike with the low-seat option yet? i'm right at the point of placing an order and would welcome any feedback. does the extra 20mm make much difference?

 

[Yellow Peril]

I am 5' 7" and ride GSA 12 with the standards bike low seat, I comfortably get one foot flat on the ground with the other on a peg or both feet down with balls on the ground. But if the dealer wants your cash he'll find a low seat for you to try or go esle where where they will.

 

[MATKAT]

vertically challenged

your having a laugh.your decidedly lofty I have a 28" inside leg on a good day at 5' 6".............The low seat makes it very usable and if your really clever put some Technoflex or Wilbers rear suspension on it so you can lowere it if you want. Don't be a softy just get it...........the worst thing that can happen is you fall off....so what

i test rode a 12GS over a year ago - I am vertically challenged (five foot nine and a half in old money/176cm) and although i loved the bike in every way, felt just a little woozy sometimes at the lights / stopped, my foot being more on tipped toe than i might like. i believe it had the standard seat on it (unadjusted), they didn't do a low one then.

have any of you fellow shortarses got a bike with the low-seat option yet? i'm right at the point of placing an order and would welcome any feedback. does the extra 20mm make much difference?[/QUOTE]

 

[twig]

hi, i was in the same dilema some 18 months ago and opted for the low seat option. i made the right choice for me as i like the confidance of knowing i can get my feet planted down when i need to and not teetering around on tiptoes. the only downside though is you will be a little more cramped when on long motorway hauls, but i don't find it a real problem. the one advantage is there is more room under your seat as there is no adjusting mechanism.
hope this helps

 

[alimey4u2]

I went with a low seat as there was a reasonably priced one on E-Bay. A little more stability when putting my feet down but with compromised padding & reduced long distance comfort. All is not lost as I will use my standard seat for long distance travel.....

 

[Happyhenry]

........or both feet down with balls on the ground.

I can't manage that! Nice trick though.

 

[Schtum]

greetings all. i have lurked for a while, this seems like a very useful / helpful site.

i test rode a 12GS over a year ago - I am vertically challenged (five foot nine and a half in old money/176cm) and although i loved the bike in every way, felt just a little woozy sometimes at the lights / stopped, my foot being more on tipped toe than i might like. i believe it had the standard seat on it (unadjusted), they didn't do a low one then.

have any of you fellow shortarses got a bike with the low-seat option yet? i'm right at the point of placing an order and would welcome any feedback. does the extra 20mm make much difference?

You're exactly the same height as me. My inside leg is a bit less than 30" on a good day. I use the low seat because in order to get the bike to turn reasonably quickly and to be more stable in a straight line, I'm running next to maximum preload on the rear shock. If I were to compromise the handling and run less preload on the rear, I'd probably get away with the standard seat on the low setting. In fact, that's the way that this test bike was set up....

 

[smiler]

hi, i have a kahedo low seat on my 1200gs, find it very comfortable and looks really nice on the bike and my feet are closer to the floor. my husband sat on it who has a 31inch inside leg and his feet are flat on the floor. hope this helps

 

[geek]

thank you all, v helpful indeed. i shall be using the bike daily a fair number of miles, some on motorway and then filtering in and out of central london. Schtum, tell me more about this preload nonsense as you're the same height (i am 72 kilos w gear on) and your requirements in handling sound similar to mine.

 

[Janie]

i have the touratech extra low seat and i ride a 1200 and i'm only 5.4...mindyou i do struggle a bit on bad camber so after six months i have decided to have some wilbers shocks fitted.........to lower me bike, so i can have more than me tippy toes on the floor.........

 

[Schtum]

thank you all, v helpful indeed. i shall be using the bike daily a fair number of miles, some on motorway and then filtering in and out of central london. Schtum, tell me more about this preload nonsense as you're the same height (i am 72 kilos w gear on) and your requirements in handling sound similar to mine.

You're reasonably close in weight to me as well. I'm about 13 stone kitted up - what's that in kilos? - c. 82 Kg.

In order to get the GS to achieve a reasonable rate of turn, you need to jack up the rear. In order to do that you need to run a lot of preload on the rear shock. It's a quick 'n' dirty fix and doesn't preserve the correct amount of static sag on the rear. It can also lead to quite a harsh ride. By far a better option would be an aftermarket rear shock with a separate ride-height adjuster, such as an Ohlins.

On conventionally suspended bikes, jacking up the rear would tend to make the bike less stable in a straight line because of the reduction in the trail at the front fork, ie less castor effect on the front wheel. That would tend to make a tele-forked bike more prone to shake its head if not go into full blown tank-slappers. Paradoxically, the opposite seems to be true with the GS. Jacking up the rear makes it more stable in a straight line. I can only assume this is achieved by placing more weight over the front end of the bike. Even on maximum rear preload, the only time mine shakes its head is on landing after a high speed jump.

HTH

 

[geek]

helps very much, thanks.

 

[bmwbenji]

career change

I am 5' 7" and ride GSA 12 with the standards bike low seat, I comfortably get one foot flat on the ground with the other on a peg or both feet down with balls on the ground. But if the dealer wants your cash he'll find a low seat for you to try or go esle where where they will.

if you can get both feet on the ground aswell as your balls have you ever thought about a job in the porn industry