Lowering Motorcycles is a matter of great concern among bikers. If you’re a beginner at biking, you may be worrying about it more often. At first sight, it may not seem much of a difference, but it actually creates an impact.
If you’re considering lowering your bike, you must know its advantages and disadvantages.
This article will give you a clear idea of lowering motorcycle pros and cons. So, without further ado, let’s get into the details.
What Does It Mean By Lowering Motorcycles?
Lowering a motorcycle means decreasing its stock height. One may do it for several reasons. However, the most common cause of doing it is the flat foot comfort of it.
Selecting the perfect bike is quite challenging for shorter riders. Unfortunately, they often can’t find the best bike for their height as bike manufacturers manufacture most of the bikes maintaining an average height.
That’s why most shorter riders have to lower their bike to ride them comfortably. Besides, your riding style also matters in considering lowering your bike.
It’s not that shorter riders don’t get the touch of the ground at all. The reason is that only tiptoe ability doesn’t make them confident to ride the bike effortlessly.
Why Should You Lower Your Bike?
The apparent reason is already said. To get a flat foot and more control over the bike, you should lower it. These bikes are far more comfortable to ride over than even taller riders feel comfortable riding lowered bikes.
Advantages of lower motorcycle
Now let’s talk about the pros of lowering a bike-
- Flat Foot Control
The most valid reason for lowering a bike is getting the flat foot control. It’s the most advantageous side of lowering motorcycles.
Can you relate to the suffering tip-toe standing for a moment holding your bike on the street? Maybe someone came up and you had to talk to them while holding your bike for a while.
But you can’t figure out how to maintain the balance and suffer from standing with balance because your legs aren’t reaching the ground properly. This scenario is the worst for a rider indeed.
To solve this problem, you can lower your bike. It would give you a perfect flat foot reach to the ground.
- Stop Signs Are More Comfortable
As you can reach the ground properly, stopping signs while driving becomes much easier. When you reach the signal, you don’t have to stand stretching your back tightly and feel uncomfortable.
You can do it sitting on your bike and still touch the floor with your feet to keep the standing balance if you lower your bike.
- Easier To Drag Hard Parts
Another benefit of lowering your motorcycle is that it becomes easier for you to drag hard parts of the bike. It’s because of the excellent ground clearance. The ground clearance factor also helps you in cornering and going over bumps and speed breakers.
- Comfortable Saddle Experience
In standard stock height bikes, the biggest challenge for shorter riders is adjusting their back with the bike height while sitting on the saddle.
Stock height saddle is uncomfortable for short people. While riding, they’re always adjusting by constantly straightening and bending their backs. This is really painful and irritating as well.
When you lower the bike, you don’t have to face such a problem. You can sit nicely in the lowered saddle and enjoy your ride effortlessly.
- Goes Best As The Perfect Daily Driver
Lowering bikes is really not for everyone. If you’re planning to drive your bike on the streets like a daily driver more than on track, then lowering it could be a good decision for you. It’ll bring you comfortable riding a bike and avoiding accidents.
Disadvantages of lower motorcycle
Now, let’s talk about the cons of lowering bikes.
- The Geometry Of The Bike Is Changed
You’re making modifications to an already made motorcycle, indeed, this will affect the overall geometry of the bike in many aspects. As the bike geometry changes when you lower the bike, you feel a difference in balancing the bike.
If you’re riding the bike at an average speed to get some groceries across the street, the lowered bike will do just fine. But, in heavy riding or adventure bike riding, the balance may be a matter to think about a little.
- Possible Challenges In Cornering
Cornering is the prime concern in lowered bikes for riders. Decreasing the height of the bike impacts the cornering and big wheelies.
However, in the streets, you won’t feel much of a difference and obstacle while cornering. You could efficiently run your lowered bike across the street without any hesitation.
But, if you’re thinking about going to tracks or racing, lowered bikes aren’t a suitable choice for it. You’d face many difficulties in cornering riding a lowered motorcycle.
- Not Suitable In Racing Bikes
You already got the idea that lowering motorcycles doesn’t affect the daily cruisers much. On the tracks, they also go along pretty nicely. But if you’re into bike racing and thinking about lowering it, it’s not something suggested at all.
In racing, you require a perfectly balanced bike that can take the heavy load of speed and any consequences. If you use a lowered bike there, you might face accidents any time soon.
How To Lower Your Motorcycle?
You could lower your bike at different angles. Basically, there are three options to do it.
Lowering The Seat
Lowering the seat of the bike is the first option to lower motorcycles. And mostly, every rider mainly chooses this option to lower their bikes.
You shave off a portion of the seat and get the desired seat height. Doing this, you can touch the ground effortlessly with a flat foot. It gives you a better balance and better grip over the bike.
Lowering The Bike
Lowering the bike means lowering the body and it’s done by decreasing the rising rate linkage of the bike. This method gives you a combination of appearance and sound performance altogether.
However, a slight change of millimeters in the stock rings can make a massive difference in the performance as the spring rate modifies. So, you must know what you’re actually doing with your bike.
Matching The Height
Matching the height means matching the height of the front and back side of the bike to lower it at a state. In some cases, people prefer to lower only the front part, and in another scenario, some people prefer only to lower the back part.
When you lower only one side, the bike loses its balance. That’s why it is suggested to match the height of the modifications you make in your bike, both in the front and back parts.
You can also take professional advice if you still want to change only one side.
FAQs
Is it OK to lower a motorcycle?
It’s ok to lower a motorcycle if you understand what you want your bike to be. Lowering your bike 1.5 to 2 inches doesn’t show much difference in appearance and doesn’t affect the performance much.
But it gives you the comfort of bike handling and makes you capable of holding the ground grip nicely with your feet.
What happens when you lower a motorcycle?
The motorcycle’s height decreases when you lower it. Besides, some geometrical changes take place and in some cases, it impacts the bike’s cornering.
Does lowering a motorcycle affect speed?
If you’re talking about high speed tracking, lowering the motorcycle too much can affect the speed as you’ve to be more cautious while riding. Otherwise, you may face unwanted accidents.
Other than that, in street riding, lowering bikes doesn’t affect the speed much.
Words To Conclude
If you’re still here, I guess you’ll have a clear idea about lowering motorcycle pros and cons. If you’re thinking about giving it a try, you’re welcome.
Before you jump into the action, friendly advice, seek some professional assistance, know your bike the best; understand your need the best and then work on it accordingly.
