short people on Kat's

[TheWrightKat]

my niece is 5' with a 27" inseam she wants to get a Kat but I'm afraid she might be too short. How much can a Kat be safely lowered?

[steves]

http://www.katriders.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13777&highlight=lowering

[SweetLou]

What about the GS500. Looks like a mix between a Kat and a Gixxer, still oil cooled and easy to work on, but prolly more her size.

[TheWrightKat]

yeah that's what I said but she has her mind set on a Kat

[SweetLou]

Well, you can bring the fork tubes up a bit, but not a HUGE amount. Get some custom dogbones made for the rear, you would need to lengthen them. Send a PM to Neoublie, he is a machinest, and makes them himself. He made me a set to raise mine as I am 6'5". They are also easy to change. Then the last option is to shave the seat.

[Special K]

Lou's right..........you can raise the forks up into the top tree. I've done about a dozen or so for shorter folks...........seems the safe distance is about 20mm above the top tree.

REAL EASY to do...........acutally only takes about 5 minutes! Do ONE at a time, by pulling the fokr UP after loosengin the clamps on the TOP ONLY. Then re-clamp, then do the other side.

[md86]

yeah that's what I said but she has her mind set on a Kat

Sounds like a spoiled kid if you can't make her see reason . Short people just ain't got as many choices as the rest . I'd try REALLY hard to steer her toward something a little short-person friendly at LEAST until she learns a few things .

[TheWrightKat]

not spoiled just stubborn, guess that's why the Navy likes her so much

[md86]

So she can't be reasoned with ? Stubborn I can understand , but not seeing reason ...... Has she TRIED sitting on the thing ? She'd basically have to almost come off the bike at stops to get a foot down , and THEN would only be holding up the tubby bitch with one lil foot .

[TheWrightKat]

gonna have her sit on it today

[Hammer]

If she decides the Kat isn't right due to her size, then take a look at the ZZR 600 from Kawasaki. Comparable bike, maybe even a little more modern in design, liquid cooled, sport tourer, and it is definitely a lower seat height. It is one of the bikes I am considering, becausse I am also vertically challenged, but I can get both feet well balanced on the ground with the Kat. The ZZR is also a really nice bike.

[noodlemice]

Ive lowered the front forks a number of times to find the right length to slide down the trees. The best handling and safest amount Ive stuck with is 1.25".

[madkatana]

I HAD TO buy my wife a Ninja 650R, she's short and fits great on it. She also had her mind set on the 600 katana but the bars ran out to far, too long of a reach for her kinda scary. Also the 650R is fairly lightweight and pull hard in the midrange, fun bike...I'll post a pic

[madkatana]

Here's a pic of the 650R

Just like the one the wifey had to have...and of course a new helmet, new jacket, new boots, new gloves and new dark smoke screen...what next...

[LMT]

yeah that's what I said but she has her mind set on a Kat

That may well be true but I am 5-6 and have both the GS500 and Kat 600 and the GS is most definitely easier to mount, handle and ride. I hope it works for her but the first time she drops it (Kat) she'll be saddened.