Lowering a G/S

[R85/8]

My daily ride while I muck about with the bike I'm building is a '89 R100G/S.

Problem is it's too tall for me - my hip goes clunk as I swing my leg over - and once I'm up there I don't like the high riding position.

I really should be on an ST, so can I lower the G/S to ST height. The rear presumably is simply a matter of using a shorter shock, but I've never looked into the internals of the G/S fork.

So the question is, can I safely cut down the travel of the fork so that I have it about the height of a ST or standard road R100?

[Major Softie]

Sorry for my G/S ignorance, but IF it has "conventional" triple clamps, not the earlier BMW top plate, then you can raise the forks in the clamps, which will reduce height without reducing travel. If the bars get in the way, you can gain more room with bar risers (lower bars will return your normal seating position). The safest way to determine the limits of this is to remove the fork springs and test the completely compressed position of the forks by turning the wheel lock to lock and making sure the higher position causes no interference with frame, oil coolers, etc..

[mattcfish]

Sorry for my G/S ignorance, but IF it has "conventional" triple clamps, not the earlier BMW top plate, then you can raise the forks in the clamps, which will reduce height without reducing travel. If the bars get in the way, you can gain more room with bar risers (lower bars will return your normal seating position). The safest way to determine the limits of this is to remove the fork springs and test the completely compressed position of the forks by turning the wheel lock to lock and making sure the higher position causes no interference with frame, oil coolers, etc..

+1. Don't cut the springs down. You should simply be able to loosen the upper and lower tree clamps and move the forks up a little. Of course, you should read up about fork alignment before you try it.

[Roy Gavin]

If it is a 89 it will be a GS, with forks with which have a proper top triple, which will let you drop the tubes through.

On my 93 GS I only get around half an inch before I hit the dash, but you shouldn't have that problem.

The shock from a R100R is an inch shorter, and the one I just measured is smaller in diameter too , which should permit a wider selection of tires.

It is possible to cut down and narrow the nose of the seat - North West Classic seat covers or Thecomboguy on ebay sells a excellent quality covers for around $60- and with a bit patient work with a palm sander you can make a decent difference and have the bonus of agood looking custom seat too.

The R100R had an 18" front wheel , but they are hard to find.

I have HPN inserts in my forks, which work perfectly, but the springs sag around 20mm less than stock so I dont think lowering with softer springs would be satisfactory.