Factory lowered questions

markymark · Sep 24, 2020

Currently have a 2018 1200 RS & thinking about a new factory lowered 1250 GS next, have any owners noticed the handling suffering or the foot pegs, centre stand grounding out sooner than on a standard height GS ?

I'm not a short arse 5'10" but thinking a lowered bike with a standard height seat would be just easier to get on & off, move around at low speed etc.

What do you guys think :okay

Worth going low chassis with standard height seat for knee comfort ?????

Cheers, Mark :thumby:

Gargy · Sep 24, 2020

Had a factory lowered GSA. No problems with handling at all. I'm 5'9" and it was perfect for me.

Doc · Sep 24, 2020

No problems with my gsa. I like the fact that i can flat foot it which makes a big difference two up loaded with luggage.

Appman · Sep 24, 2020

Mark, Im 5'8 but the main issue is your leg inseam, I'm a 28" so I found simply putting a leg over the standard bike a stretch and then can only get one foot to the floor (not too much an issue if off road all the time), I your closer to a 30" inseam then the standard bike may likely with the lower seat offer you the same as the lower chassis and especially if you use the foot pegs to climb on/off.

I'm on my third lowered chassis and comfortably find footing usually for both feet and recently purchased new boots with decent sole/hell which further improved feet on the ground, if on a longer jaunt I do tend to put the seat in the High position just for that extra knee flexibility.

Only way to know will be to test ride the lowered chassis, I think they also come with the Lower Seat option, so you may want to check both chassis with both seat options too, you may find Standard with lowered seat is fine for you.

As to getting On/Off, it did take me a while coming from road orientated bikes to realise the GS simply doesn't care that you use the foot pegs to mount/dismount.

cpszx · Sep 24, 2020

29" i/l with factory lowered 1200 GSA and have noticed the centre stand grinds out with a pillion unless i put into pillion or luggage mode, but those modes put me on tip toe at a stop even with seat set to low, so have to be sure about stopping and lowering suspension before they get off. Dealer also gave me a lowered seat as an extra, which i haven't used yet but might try that before we do any tours, to see if it makes a difference when i stop.

Almost always have to use the pegs to get on and off it.

Just being short in general, 5'8, makes shifting it around by hand a bit of a pain especially reaching over for the other bar.

Teeonethousand · Sep 24, 2020

I am 5’8 29 leg 1200GSA low but with standard seat. I agree with others that leg length is much more important than height. I can confidently get either/both feet down and settle onto flat foot of whichever one works best....I can also paddle backwards if needed (on the flat or downhill) . I find it comfy and like the additional leg stretch the standard seat gives. I put toes on pegs in corners as it’s easy to catch your boot but have never ground any metal and have never felt restricted when hustling on...nor when on tracks/ stoney roads which are my off road limits anyway. I have suspension on 1 rider, normal but move to +luggage when I have it and can still manage plus I can put the seat in high front for longer distances and still manage fine...I notice the difference but still it’s fine. I use foot pegs to get on and off. I hope that helps.

Rowle · Sep 24, 2020

If you go to a dealers to try a low model, ask for the build spec on the Salesmans computer.
I went to 3 different dealers who said they had a low model with low seat and after checking the spec sheet they were actually low with high seat or standard with low seat. Some of the sales guys are hopeless.....And cost me a load of time/fuel.
I now have a low model with low seat = 5ft 7” with 28 leg.
and can just about touch the floor flat footed with both feet. I absolutely love the bike.

markymark · Sep 24, 2020

Thanks for the replies guys, I have a 32" inside leg & do fancy a lowered chassis with a normal or comfort seat but just worry that the pegs or centre stand touch down far too easily.

Going by what's said this isn't a problem, on my RS the left foot peg & the right side of the centre stand are well scraped

Spareparts · Sep 24, 2020

If you are 5'10" with a 32" inside leg, imho I would stick with a standard bike and just have a low seat. I am 5'10" with a 31" inside leg, and have scraped the pegs on the standard bike. I am 78kg and leave suspension in auto mode - often in road mode and not always in dynamic. It is inevitable that you will scrape pegs with a low chassis bike, unless you don't carry big lean or are even lighter than me. Weight and riding style has to be a factor.

GoSquirrel · Sep 25, 2020

At 5'10" I'd stick with a regular height bike - you'll have no worries. :thumb2

batman1 · Sep 25, 2020

I’ll second what Squirrel suggests, with your height and inside leg you have more than what is required to cope with the beast.

I went from my first standard height GS to a factory lowered GS For the same reasons that you are considering, but I found the ride on my lowered bike a bit too firm after the standard bike, although I didn’t have a problem grounding the pegs or anything else on the low bike.

I ended up going back to a standard height bike....a much better more comfortable ride for me. 5-8 and 29 inside leg.

Most of these issues are down to technique, practice and confidence, what I did at the end of every ride was to ride into my garden and do a few circles on my lawn, knowing that if it fell over the damage would be minimal, yes I am slightly odd, but it wasn’t long before I went from circles to figure of eights on my lawn and it improved my low speed manoeuvrability immensely. I appreciate not many folk have a lawn that is easy to ride on.

NRG-57 · Sep 25, 2020

Teeonethousand said:
I am 5’8 29 leg 1200GSA low but with standard seat. I agree with others that leg length is much more important than height. I can confidently get either/both feet down and settle onto flat foot of whichever one works best....I can also paddle backwards if needed (on the flat or downhill) . I find it comfy and like the additional leg stretch the standard seat gives. I put toes on pegs in corners as it’s easy to catch your boot but have never ground any metal and have never felt restricted when hustling on...nor when on tracks/ stoney roads which are my off road limits anyway. I have suspension on 1 rider, normal but move to +luggage when I have it and can still manage plus I can put the seat in high front for longer distances and still manage fine...I notice the difference but still it’s fine. I use foot pegs to get on and off. I hope that helps.

+1 for lowered bike with regular seat. (Lowered seat on regular bike not so comfy for me when I test rode both for comparison)

Santa-2512 · Sep 25, 2020

Height has sod all to do with whether you can get your foot down lol, its your inside leg

(Why do people think that being over a certain height means you can get your feet down?) beats me. :blast

:

If your going for an early hexhead, you can fit a low seat which drops the seat height to around 800-820mm (or so)

You can fit lowered suspension which drops the height to 790mm and means you can near on flatfoot booth sides.

The LC is a different kettle of fish, the factory low option is only available if you take the ESA option - (i need to confirm if it is a lowered spring)

it means you can set the suspension to soft, (which lowers the bike), however again subject to confirmation (it only lowers the rear) and not the front

Unfortunately, the bike is now 60mm wider in the seat area, so the 30mm height saving is lost as the seat is 60mm wider (go figure).

The side and centre stand are also lowered

So the low bike on low settings is near on the same as the std height bike .

you can get an ultralow seat which recovers the lost 30mm, but it's firm to say the least

Denz0 · Sep 25, 2020

To answer your questions about the differences between standard and low suspension.
Spring rate is exactly the same in both options
Low version spring is shorter by 8mm
shock stroke is 8mm shorter on the rear shock and 12mm on the front shock
This is achieved by inserting composite spacers.

That drops the bike by 35mm regardless of the ESA sets.
Rider and Static sag will be identical in both bikes.
Good news is spacer can be made to whatever suits your needs. What goes with it lower stands and new springs would have to be installed.
All models GS GSA can be adjusted but GS shock can't be extended to GSA high.

I hope that makes sense...
The spacer is visible on the pictures.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

sven · Sep 26, 2020

I owned a standard chassis 2014 GS LC, followed by a 2018 RS and now own a low-chassis 2019 GS LC.

I find very little difference in the handling or ground clearance. The centre stand may touch occasionally on left hand bends if I hit a bump mid-corner, but that’s about all. I ride two-up nearly all the time, so it may not be an issue solo. Loaded up the handling is probably slightly better due to the top box not being quite as high, but the differences are marginal.

TonyGt3 · Sep 29, 2020

I have just changed from a R1200GS with standard frame and a lower seat, so the balls of my feet were on the ground.
Now I have a R1250GS Rallye with a low frame and lower seat, flat footed (almost), a great improvement.
My toes can still ground out around corners, setting off from a T junction I find my inner foot can ground out, also my left boot heel is very close to the raised centre stand arm.
I am 5’ 10” with a 30” inseam.
And yes trying to find a low frame bike was difficult as the sales people do not know what they have, and describe it poorly in the advert.

Teeonethousand · Sep 30, 2020

Teeonethousand said:
I am 5’8 29 leg 1200GSA low but with standard seat. I agree with others that leg length is much more important than height. I can confidently get either/both feet down and settle onto flat foot of whichever one works best....I can also paddle backwards if needed (on the flat or downhill) . I find it comfy and like the additional leg stretch the standard seat gives. I put toes on pegs in corners as it’s easy to catch your boot but have never ground any metal and have never felt restricted when hustling on...nor when on tracks/ stoney roads which are my off road limits anyway. I have suspension on 1 rider, normal but move to +luggage when I have it and can still manage plus I can put the seat in high front for longer distances and still manage fine...I notice the difference but still it’s fine. I use foot pegs to get on and off. I hope that helps.

Further to my post above...I had chance of a test ride today of a 1250GS non adventure. It happened to be a low chassis....I found it too low with the seat in the low setting and still a bit lower than I needed on high setting. With 29” legs I would not consider a low GS personally.

Winjar · Sep 30, 2020

Teeonethousand said:
Further to my post above...I had chance of a test ride today of a 1250GS non adventure. It happened to be a low chassis....I found it too low with the seat in the low setting and still a bit lower than I needed on high setting. With 29” legs I would not consider a low GS personally.

GS is more low than Gsa, and low GS have low seat, try low Gs with Standard seat or high seat.

Santa-2512 · Sep 30, 2020

Teeonethousand said:
Further to my post above...I had chance of a test ride today of a 1250GS non adventure. It happened to be a low chassis....I found it too low with the seat in the low setting and still a bit lower than I needed on high setting. With 29” legs I would not consider a low GS personally.

Then you my friend need to get your inside leg measurement checked, because you aint got a 29" inside leg - more 30" or 31"

With a 28/29 inside leg and suspension on soft (and i'm tosser size) i can only just past toes down on both sides!

Rowle · Oct 1, 2020

Santa-2512 said:
Then you my friend need to get your inside leg measurement checked, because you aint got a 29" inside leg - more 30" or 31"

With a 28/29 inside leg and suspension on soft (and i'm tosser size) i can only just past toes down on both sides!

I agree !
I would make sure that bike was a low - ask to see the build spec on the salesmans computer , i did.

Factory lowered questions

Active member

Registered user

Let's Av It

Active member

Registered user

Member

Registered user

Active member

Well-known member

Member

Well-known member

Active member

Omnipotent one

Active member

Well-known member

Registered user

Member

Registered user

Omnipotent one

Registered user

Similar threads