OK, not to beat a dead horse, but asking seems simply then researching

I rode a dual sport ride yesterday and dropped the bike 5 times throughout the 80 miles. It occurred to me that lowering the bike may help as it is a big bike for me at 120 lbs and 5 foot 7 inches. Ebay has links for lowering 3/4 inch. I just tippy toes now on both feet now. Will 3/4 lower it enough to make me flat footed? Get me close enough to the ground for better control? I think my forks are already raised in the clamps, but could move them if not already. Was thinking about cutting the seat, but would prob screw it up. Don't mind spend 40 bucks on links and having a nice seat

Get two pieces of 3/4" plywood, put it on the ground under your feet. Does it make enough of a difference? If so, either get the link or shave your seat or get a thinner one.

good idea with the plywood...wonder if i have any of that laying around

I got those 3/4" links off ebay. I'm 5'6" with a 29" inseam (on a good day). Even with my seat shaved down a lot and my forks raised up, I really can't touch the ground with much more than the balls of my feet - which i am okay with.

that plywood idea is pretty good to see if the links will get you close to where you want to be. I really didn't like the idea of putting an lowering links longer than the 3/4" on my bike and potentially causing problems with reduced travel possible bottoming out of the shock.

I would definitely recommend cutting down the seat though. It's really easy (and if I say that, you can bank on it), and you can get an extra inch or so without effecting your suspension in the slightest. If you decide to go the seat cutting rout, shoot me a pm and i'll hit you up with some tips on it.

here's a photo of mine with lowering links and shaved seat...

I am using the links from eBay and raised the forks. I did it as a temporary fix after breaking my leg on another bike and not having any strength in it for a while. I'm not sure if I will raise it back up. For me it makes a huge difference even though I could touch without them. 3/4" doesn't seem like much but when you need that little bit it means a lot.

The only negative I have found is if I'm beating on it through deep whoops it will bottom out much easier and my tire has got to know my license plate a few times.

rdhj said:

I'm the same height as you and have gotten used to riding my DRZ without lowering it. I dropped mine a number of times til I got used to it but I think you'll be fine without lowering it. Just my 2 cent

3/4" will help a lot. Probably more than you think. And with your weight, the effective change in spring rate will probably make the suspension work better. You can recontour the seat a little without actually taking much off the thickness also hepls to get your feet on the ground.

William1 said:

I started reading that and thought you were gonna tell him to attach the plywood to his boots:banana:

The Suzuki gel seat is supposed to lower the bike 1 inch i think.

genbud78 said:

I agree... its more of a matter of getting used to the bike. My bro is 5'8" and rides a husky that is quite a bit taller than my DRZ. Sure, he still has the occasional 'crap, I stopped in a bad spot and it goes over' but they are few and far between now.

Go for a lower seat first and try to get used to it, if you still have problems then go for lowering. I'd look into lowering is a last resort, because it will negatively affect your suspension and ground clearance.

Oh yeah, and make sure you have protection on your bike so when it does go over it doesn't hurt anything but your pride.

i bought a 2006 SM, used. the guy had it set up with the rear shock maxed out, it was good for wheelies. but up on my toes. i tested the waters... went totally soft on the spring adjustment, too soft for me, but it did lower the bike to flat footed. try to have the bike adjusted to your weight, proper sag in the back with the front forks up the clamps. then deside if your too short for the bike. it will make you know your bike more and you may save some money.

oh, i was looking into the links too, the info that was givin will tell you what the sag should be... ebay is good about that, not much else.

Worth it. Do you have trouble swinging a leg over it, just to get on the darn thing? 3/4 in the woods makes a difference when you have to dab. You may have to use bar risers so the forks don't hit the bars when you raise them.

if you don't like it, you can always go back to stock. Just bolting back the stock links. Cutting the seat? What's that going to cost to "go back"?

Kouba makes 3 different links for lowering the DRZ. 3/4", 1 1/4", 1 3/4". I have the 1 1/4" links but I put them on to stabilize the bike with the 18" front wheel for my street setup. I don't switch the links back for the dirt wheels though. The Corbin seat helped quite a bit to bring the ground up. I'm not overly short, but I like this setup because we ride a lot of pretty technical, slow singletrack and it can be helpful if I can get a foot on the ground before I fall over.

That didn't help much when I broke my ankle over Labor Day but that wasn't the fault of the bike.