Lowering bike for short rider

I'm just here looking for ways to lower my bike without too much in depth mechanical work. I am a short guy, 5' 3" and about 120 so I find it very hard to reach the ground comfortably. I can get it on my tiptoes, but I would like to be a little closer to flatfooted. What are my options for lowering the bike? and what parts would I need? Thanks

 

lean to the left on stop is the easiest way. how low you go will affect the tire travel clearence

have you tried adjusting the load setting on the rear shocks?

 

it's not too hard to take a inch of padding out of the seat

 

I did the following to my XJ650 for my girlfriend. In the end she did not like the weight of the bike.
1. Shorter shocks
2. loosen the triple tree clamp. Let the front end fall until it bottoms out.

You now have a shorter bike. No guarantee that adjustment will not make the ride unstable.

 

depending on the bike you can also raise the forks in the triple tree.
The no work approach would be to wear high heel shoes, that will give you that extra inch or two. Might look silly though.

 

raising forks and dropping front end would affect the oil levels putting more oil up front and allowing oil from tranny to flow forward.
this could cause problems. it did back when people would put longer forks on bikes for the chopper look and not change the rake.
would also change the way gas sits in the carb bowls affecting its actual level

 

i'll remember that next time i go down a hill

 

or up a hill

 

If you can measure the difference in float levels and such after dropping the front and rear an inch or two I nee to know how you did it. I can see a problem if you change the fork length drasticly.

 

You cannot change the fork length more than a couple inches using my method. The vertical drop is less since there is an angle.

The shocks are a couple inches shorter, so you get an inch and some change vertical drop in the back.

I made this change and drove the bike around plenty. No problems. I would not worry about floats at all. This change is very minor.

You can always easily reverse this process. Changing the shocks is easy. Just put the bike on the center stand.

 

Which rear shock setting would give me the most benefit? and what is the process for adjusting these. (sorry I am really new to this). Also, I have the opportunity to buy some aftermarket parts new for very cheap (liquidation sale of a distribution center). I was thinking about picking up some aftermarket rear shocks, shorter ones and wanted to know if anyone had any good recommendations as far as brands go? and the taking an inch off the seat was definitely something I had in mind as well so thanks for confirming that as an option.

 

the setting that puts it at the lowest height. i think this is done by turning the adjuster. never did it before I am sure someone will be able to tell you how
looks like it can drop an inch or so. it preloads the spring so what ever makes that shorter is the way to go
there are companys that will make them for you $$.
stock size new shocks go around 250$

 

this link is about shocks and companies that do them
http://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/any-suggestions-on-new-rear-shock-for-85-fj600.72266/

 

I'd have to get some more info, but there looks to be a set of shocks that are 11.5" eye to eye as opposed to 12.5" which I believe is the original size. If this distribution center has them I think I'm going to get them. Thanks for all the input so far.

 

Adjust the collar in the rear shocks does NOT shorten the shocks. It ONLY adjusts spring preload. At the firmest setting it takes more weight to compress the shock... At the softest setting it takes the least amount of weight to compress the shock.

 

That picture is at the highest preload, you need to go the other way. It won't make any difference though.
A inch shorter will be ok

 

What exactly do you mean when you say it won't make any difference?

 

lets say the springs are set at the highest preload now, and you sit on it and the back drops to "X" inches from the ground.
now you change to the lowest preload and sit on it, it will still stop at "X" inches from the ground.
the only way it might make a difference is if the back didn't move at all with you on it at the highest preload