Hi.
I'm about to buy myself a QingQi 200 GY. But now my wife also wants one, although it is too high for her. How can I lower it to a seat height of, say, 80 cm? How much is there to shorten in on the springs, practically speaking?
Thanks!
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Hi.
I'm about to buy myself a QingQi 200 GY. But now my wife also wants one, although it is too high for her. How can I lower it to a seat height of, say, 80 cm? How much is there to shorten in on the springs, practically speaking?
Thanks!
I have the super motard version and that is too high for me. The seat height is quoted as 31" (787 mm) but I think it's higher than that. I did 3 mods:
Had the seat uncovered and the foam sliced by 35 mm by an upholsterer. He made just one cut and the surplus material came out in one piece so in the future it can be put back. This makes the seat unsuitable for very long distances, but it's fine for up to 30 or so km.
Set the rear spring to its minimum setting. This makes the suspension very soft but, unless you do a lot of dirt riding it's fine for the road and tarmac surfaces.
I figured that the spring settings come as suitable for pillion passenger and, as I don't intend to ever carry anyone there's surplus spring there. I've also removed the pillion footrests and hangers saving a couple of kg.
The rear monoshock is also adjustable by means of an air valve so you can stiffen the springing by inflating it more or less. The softness also helps to lower the height as the spring compresses when you put your weight on it. The handling is still OK and the damping is very good. Curiously enough this is the most comfortable suspension I have ever experienced, bumps and potholes are absorbed without upsetting the chassis and it feels very safe. If you look at the rear suspension layout it's quite sophisticated, with a beatifully made alloy roller bearing swing arm, near-vertical monoshock and roller bearing bell-crank linkage, etc.
Dropped the front forks through the yokes a little bit. You can't drop them more than about 8 mm as they touch the handlebars. In theory this changes the steering angle, making it quicker to steer. In practice it doesn't feel any different. The steering is very quick and sensitive as it is. Once again the front upside down forks are absolutely gorgeous and have a very good action.
It's still a little higher than I would like, (I'm used to custom cruisers) but the light weight of the bike (123 kg) means it's no problem at all.
I put a shorter shock in the rear of mine and it dropped it down quite a bit.
I suggested to the QingQi that they offer lowering "bones" or kits that would replace some of the linkage pieces and lower the back end without loosing any suspension.
Let hope they come up with the parts and make it available!
CC
Could you give us more details please...this is the solution I've been looking for but couldn't find alternative parts. Thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim
That's great. Let's see if they think it's worthwhile. They can look forward to increased sales, I'm sure. There are many people that are short on the leg department as a quick search for "bike lowering kits" on Google reveals. Some manufacturers even offer them themselves as well as lower seats, etc. BMW for example.Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyCarl
In the past some makers hastened their demise by making their bikes only suitable for giants, the oil-in-the-frame BSA's for instance.
Thanks for good suggestions.
I'm rather short-legged myself but I have decided to ignore it. I've had a rather tall Husaberg and my current Yamaha XT660Z Tenere is rather tall, as is my Guzzi Quota 1000. I use only one foot in the ground always - that takes care of it :-)
I looked all over the net for DR200 lowering links but no one makes them. Strange as you'd think there should be some market for them (especially as learning bikes).
This is where I wish I had my own machine shop and could manufacture some. :rolleyes1:
CC
Hm. Maybe I should let someone I know have a look at it when I get my 200 DY... It IS strange, as you say, as most of those type of bikes have a provider of lowering links. But apparently not the DR200.Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyCarl
I just got a shock from a gy5, it was too short though, so we modified the mount on the top end of the shock (nothing on the bike was modified).Quote:
Originally Posted by forchetto