I think he bought the bike in England.
Looks like you didn't read the lowering thread I offered, at all. Oh well; I tried. Good luck.
Clark go to your local C-14 store with two 10" long 2 x 4's. Lay them on the floor on either side of the bike and throw your leg over.
Then you will know if you could make the bike reasonable for you or not.
Don't beat yourself up so much. I read it all.
Sounded like a lot of work and expense for a few inches. And he never got the amount he expected from each thing he tried.
I probably would get a 1400 if I could get the balls of my feet firmly on the ground. I think it's my age as much as anything.
Sounds like the shorter guys here are very thoughtful and careful (and pre-plan) what the do with their 1400 and where they do it. That sounds very smart to me.
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But here is the key: No powerful, non-cruiser bike is going to be any lower or easier to deal with than the Concours. So if you want a powerful non-cruiser, then you are going to have to consider all this, regardless.
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I snipped the good stuff, but this part isn't completely correct. As just one example, the K1600GTL has a 29.5" (low) seat height.
What do they do in Japan? Only sell bikes to tall Japaneese riders?
That measurement is with the optional, lowest seat. When you do the same thing to the Concours, you have a claimed stock height of 32.1" with a claimed 1.4" lower seat, resulting in 30.7". So yes, there are other options, but they are all still pretty close to each other. Generally, if you need more than just 1 or 2 inches lower, there remains a problem and not many options. I should have worded my statement more like that (and I just edited it to say nothing much lower instead of nothing any lower). Thanks.
(I should also mention that in the K1600GTL example, I wouldn't have considered that as an option open to me, anyway, because it is completely unaffordable ($24,000 to $26,000!!))
Fair enough, though seat and frame widths can make as much difference as seat height.
For fun, let's combine this thread with the short windshield thread and the removed the bags/new bike thread. For about 10% of the cost of a new K16GTL, I picked up a 95 RF900R with 12.5k miles, cleaned it up, put on PR3's and a few farkles. Per contemporary road tests, it is only a hair slower than the C14 in the quarter, and is a bit faster on the top end. 10.9 @ 127.5 & 159+mph. Not as smooth as the C14, but nice handling. Even though the manual says the seat is only .4" lower than the C14's (31.7 vs 32.1), I can flatfoot the RF easily. Here's a few links to some reviews: http://www.motorcycle.com/shoot-outs/two-for-the-real-world-2520.html http://www.suzukicycles.org/RF-series/RF900_articles.shtml
All I'm really saying is that there are a lot of choices out there, some/many of which may work even for the non-giants among us.
OK, but if your going to do that I'd just get a CBR Black Bird or go back to my Ninja 1100 and put givi bags on them.Well, it's not like we really care what you wind up with. This is a fun game for us, and if it helps you out, that is great. At least now we have some more information to play with. Flat-foot and a shaft drive. Probably w/ bags, or at least optional bags. Still a lot of options. OTOH, you started just asking how to lower a c14, not asking us to pick your next bike for you.
I'm looking for something with a shaft drive. That leaves all those bikes out.
But they are all great bikes.
Don't beat yourself up so much. I read it all. Sounded like a lot of work and expense for a few inches. And he never got the amount he expected from each thing he tried.
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I do not think it is expensive at all. I used muzzys lowering links which cost $60 used. [...]
It lowers the rear by about 1.5".
A few good things about muzzys is that after installing, you do not have to do anything else ! no lowering the front, no cutting the side stand
Muzzy links, did not lower front, I got an inch and a half lower, corners great, no change to side stand (its a tad more upright but not an issue watching how you park), and center stand works as reported, I put the rear tire on a 1x6 and its easy. Others I have talked to at the nationals, etc love the bike lowered as I do. On my 2nd year with it lowered, wish I would have done it right away.