Lowering Seat Height

[keeninja]

Has anyone had success with lowering the seat height via shaving down the foam on the seat itself, or know of a good place to get that done?
 
I have a Matris rear shock coming in that is supposed to allow me to lower the bike a bit, but when I was shopping around for suspension parts I was also told that I should be wary of messing with the clearance and travel and geometry of the bike (and definitely NO lowering links!!).
 
I figure I'd only need an inch at the very most, as I can currently get the balls of both feet on the ground with my riding boots, so one of the guys at Race Tech suggested looking into a seat mod that might give me that little bit of lowering I'd need. I imagine shaving down the foam would also pair well with a nicer material or maybe a gel/foam combo to make up for the loss of cushioning?
 
Any and all advice you all might have would be greatly appreciated!

[thomascrown]

I have sort of the same problem. I raised the rear by an inch and now the seat crushes my nuts against the tank. I'm thinking of taking the seat to an upholsterer and have them add more foam to the front, or shave the rear down.
 
Also, I'm 5'7 on a good day and on tip toes with the current ride height. I don't have any problems with it, and suspect that you can acclimate to not having both feet solidly planted.

[Beemer]

My first suggestion doesn't involve installing anything. If you haven't done so, I suggest to trying getting used to the bike as it is by leaning the bike to on side or the other and hold the bike up with the one foot completely planted and the other resting on the peg. The bike isn't so top heavy it can't be held up until a light changes or whatever. When you want to take off you just push with your leg and stand the bike up more vertically and take off. Try it for a week or so, I bet you get used to it and the nice thing about doing that is it gives your inner thighs a break since there isn't as much pressure on them from trying to plant both feet. Trust me, I do it and it helps a lot.
The second thing is what you already mentioned, the gel/foam combo. Before I put gel in my seat I found gel/foam combo's on Amazon but if I recall correctly, most, if not all of it was a half inch of each material so it probably wouldn't help much. Our seat isn't very thick to begin with. I used a local upholstery shop to install mine and I love it but I did it for the comfort, not the reach but it still didn't help with the reach any. Good luck!

[Mr.Puss]

Im 5'8 165lbs and when I pull up at a stop im all ready to go in 1st gear. Right foot is always on the brake which gives me a bit more to plant my left foot flat. Its easy to handle the bike im barely leaning over if at all, nor is it uncomfortable, awkward or any hassle.
Whats wrong or uncomfortable with your current position? The stock seat is barely comfy as it is, shaving it down might be murder on your azz after an extended ride. I would go with beemers advice and see what a decent upholstery shop has to say.

[keeninja]

Thanks for all the advice so far!
I'll try to clarify my concerns about the seat height. I'm totally fine coming to a stop and standing leaned over with just one foot planted. It's more that I'm a daily commuter and my tight parking spot requires that I maneuver the bike backwards quite a bit. I've been able to wiggle out by waking the bike out standing on the side and leaning the bike up against me, but I still find it a bit less than ideal space-wise. Maybe that's just something I'll have to get used to, though.

[fzob1]

Try this. It works. I had to do this to move a 850 lb cruiser back a small incline multiple times and I am only 150lbs.
 
If there is no incline it is even more easier. 
 
[video src=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlkTY39a3TA]
 
Just for clarification, it is not my video. Good luck.
 
 
 

Thanks for all the advice so far! I'll try to clarify my concerns about the seat height. I'm totally fine coming to a stop and standing leaned over with just one foot planted. It's more that I'm a daily commuter and my tight parking spot requires that I maneuver the bike backwards quite a bit. I've been able to wiggle out by waking the bike out standing on the side and leaning the bike up against me, but I still find it a bit less than ideal space-wise. Maybe that's just something I'll have to get used to, though.

 

[Cruizin]

Great tips folks, love seeing helpful threads like this. Keep em coming!

[gregjet]

Lowering links work fine if you need them . You should lower the front as well if you wish to keep the same geometry. The 07 will only let you lower it about 12mm at the front though with std front mudguard and tyre. Would not go lower than 25mm though at the back.
There is plenty of tyre clearance at the rear for 25mm lower, but remember that your pegs will ground earlier and so will your pipe so you have to climb off a bit more.
On some bikes you can change tyre sizes and profile but you won't get what you want from this bike that way at the rear. But a 120/60 instead of a 120/70 on the front will give you 12mm to help balance the back.
I have done a lot of lowers on a lot of bikes for various partners. Many of dealers talk garbage ( note I was told by a number of dealers that the 07 was a 90deg twin and as I have recently found out it is a 270deg twin). You won't notice an inch lower on the street unless you are a VERY serious rider, except cornering clearance. On the track you will notice geometry changes of that magnitude though.
One caveat though. As ( IMHO) this bike is a bit rear weight biased, shorter riders will feel an even bigger vagueness to the front end IF you don't lower the front as well as the back.
You don't have a lot to play with in the seat thickness, but if you go lower you would be better off getting a new thinner but heavier rate foam piece made so you don't bottom out ( sorry about that pun).

[optytrex]

I found online a guy who claims (and it makes sense) that when the foam for seats are manufactured, they manufacturing process leave a thin but stiff coat of foam. In essence, the inside of the foam is soft but the outer layer is stiff which causes an less comfortable seat. This 2 way mod is simple and sounds like it will work:
remove the seat cover by removing the staples > sand down the outer layer of the foam > re-staple the seat cover to the seat
The way he explains it, it should provide a more comfortable ride and (due to the foam being softer) provide a lower seat height as well without actually doing any dangerous mods to the bike.
I'll try to find the video and post it here to share the knowledge and also try it soon and update here to see what's what but if anyone beats me to it, let us know!
 

[robbo10]

Increasing the preload would also lower the rear, wouldn't it? Optytrex's idea looks like a good solution. Otherwise I might replace all the foam with some neoprene foam; this would be softer so you would sit a little lower. (I used extra neoprene foam layers - about 1 1/4" to improve comfort - my 31" i/seam). I also removed the seat altogether from my TDM for reversing - not comfortable, but effective. That's too fiddly for the 07. I do roll my crotch forward to the pointy end of the seat which helps getting feet down.

[rick]

Increasing spring load in front (with new caps) or in back with the shock will raise the seat - not lower it.