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How low can an NC be lowered?

TacomaJD

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Wife is wanting a bike, would love for her to learn on an auto so she can concentrate on riding first without shifting. She is 5' flat. So idk if the NC can be lowered that much.

Anybody have any sub 30" seat heights on their lowered NC?

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I am ~6 ft but only have a 30" inseam, I picked up some riding boots with thick soles to help make up the difference.

Bike is not lowered.
 
I would like for her to get something light like a Ninja 300, but they are 31" seat height and I think max you can lower them is 2" and it gets a little sketchy at that point with clearance issues I think.

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Stock seat is 32.7" so you're wanting to lower it 3"? I would look at a different bike. If DCT is a requirement, then maybe the ctx700 with a 28.3" seat?
2018 CTX700N DCT Overview - Honda Powersports

Most other DCT bikes are much taller.
Top Automatic Motorcycles You Can Buy In 2019 | Cycle World

If DCT isn't a requirement, then there's bikes like the Rebel 300/500 which have 27.2" seat heights (5.5" lower than the nc700). My wife is 5' 4" and has a 500. She can flat foot but feet after getting a Corbin seat. Bars are a little bit of a reach and we may change them at some point. My nc700x gets better gas mileage but she has plenty of power too keep up. With equivalent riders, the Rebel might win a drag race.

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Another option is to put her on a mid size (250-300 cc) scooter. Attributes are low seat height, automatic transmission that is less complex than a DCT, low center of gravity, semi step through frame, full fairing front end. My 5 foot tall wife got a 250cc Honda Reflex. She would not have been able to handle the weight of a CTX700, even if the seat height was suitable, so the midi scooter is about the maximum size bike she can ride.
 
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Stock seat is 32.7" so you're wanting to lower it 3"? I would look at a different bike. If DCT is a requirement, then maybe the ctx700 with a 28.3" seat?
2018 CTX700N DCT Overview - Honda Powersports

Most other DCT bikes are much taller.
Top Automatic Motorcycles You Can Buy In 2019 | Cycle World

If DCT isn't a requirement, then there's bikes like the Rebel 300/500 which have 27.2" seat heights (5.5" lower than the nc700). My wife is 5' 4" and has a 500. She can flat foot but feet after getting a Corbin seat. Bars are a little bit of a reach and we may change them at some point. My nc700x gets better gas mileage but she has plenty of power too keep up. With equivalent riders, the Rebel might win a drag race.

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Yeah she is like me and big on looks and does not like the CTX at all. I figured with the NC's ground clearance and longer suspension it could be lowered significantly, and add preload to rear shock to minimize clearance issues. Which she is also a lighter rider than myself anyways, so adding preload might not matter. I'm just mulling over my options right now.

I have been against her getting her own because I don't want to be responsible if something bad happens. Older guy at work had bikes for him and his wife and she took a curve too wide, hit a car head on and died. My wife grew up on farm driving tractors, atvs, large lawn mowers, and whatnot, but never anything with 2 wheels. I have no doubt I could teach her everything, its just whether or not she will listen and soak it up, she is rather stubborn and likes to do things her way.

I figured a Ninja 300 would be good due to the lean angle clearance, sportier more manageable feel with being so light, like it would be more responsive for her. And they are much cheaper, used ones with low miles going for $3k or less.

Looked at the Honda rebels in 300/500 and may go that route if small cc sportbikes are out, but I just dont like their looks that much. I do like the Yamaha Bolt and it has a low seat height too, and sounds badass with some V&H exhaust. And would probably sell more easily if she ended up not being much of a rider later on.

We have dinner reservations later tonight at Scottie's On The River in Chattanooga and are gonna try to stop by Southern Honda on the way before they close to let her sit on the CBR300R if they have one in stock, and a Rebel 300/500, to see which one suits her best.

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I'm not big on looks but I can't get it the ctx appearance. It's a bike I want to like but can't. Maybe if I rode one...?

I understand being nervous about your wife riding. My wife is still rusty and hasn't got over some bad habits of riding a bike too big (VStar 1100). That got her scared of riding and she stopped for about 8 years. We got together and she rode with me which ignited her desire to ride again. But not another 1100 beast. This is her fourth bike but it's been a struggle getting past the fears that made her stop.

My wife knows a guy who commutes about 40 highway miles on a Rebel 300. He bought it used thinking it was a 500. He was a little upset when we said "nice Rebel 300..." but sucked it up because he's been happy with it.

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I think it was OCR in a different post had recommended a riding shoe/boot that he took to the shoe cobbler and had them add 1" to the sole. It still looked good, easy to walk in, was fairly cheap and once finished he could easily touch the ground and had better stability. Just a thought...

Also if you were closer, i have a beautiful black and pristine 2012 CBR250R with 462 original miles that i am finally going to be selling that i'd make you a great deal on it. I bought it several years ago to commute when i worked over in Montana, but quickly found out that at my age and with my Arthritis/Gout, i just can't ride in that position any more. :{)

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Lowering.........

TacomaJD,

To see how much she will need to lower any bike you might want to start here.........


Motorcycle Ergonomics


Start by putting in any bike she is considering and then keep adding to her inseam on the options pane to see how much she would need to lower it to get to a comfortable point for her.

Sounds waay more complicated than it is.


Slo_Rider
 
She liked the rebel 500 pretty good. All they had was one orange 500 and liked the color of the gray 300, so she sat on both. Some thick soled riding boots would make her a little more surefooted, but she was comfortable on it.

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Haha

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Also got a cool pic of the CB500X beside a 750X beside an Africa Twin. Didn't realize how big the Africa Twin was. Hard to tell in pics though. Another thing that surprised me with the AT was the 90mm wide front tire, didn't realize they ran that skinny of a tire up front.

a4ec9a4315baebc55ff320a1a022cdf5.jpg


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Africa Twin is basically a dual sport in the CRF series (CRF1000L). Skinny 21 inch front tire.
 
Africa Twin is basically a dual sport in the CRF series (CRF1000L). Skinny 21 inch front tire.
Yeah my buddy has one and I have rode with him while on my Vulcan, didn't really look his bike over too good and hadn't rode with him since I got my NC to really notice the size. I sat on it, it was pretty cool. Still rather have Vfr1200x though. Lol.

It was sitting beside another AT that had a massively wider tank and sat up even higher, I assume a special ADV edition or something. It was crazy wide at the tank.

I haven't kept up with newer sportbikes since I can't ride them anymore, but those new '19 flat black CBR1000R's are absolutely badass! So much different than they used to be. Wish I could still ride them!

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Another option is to put her on a mid size (250-300 cc) scooter. Attributes are low seat height, automatic transmission that is less complex than a DCT, low center of gravity, semi step through frame, full fairing front end. My 5 foot tall wife got a 250cc Honda Reflex. She would not have been able to handle the weight of a CTX700, even if the seat height was suitable, so the midi scooter is about the maximum size bike she can ride.

I very much tend to agree with this suggestion. Imho DCT might not be ideal for a beginner especially in the bottom two gears, whereas the smooth and linear performance of a variable belt drive is much kinder to beginners. My Wife's short riding career began with an early model Majesty 250 and She loved it, to the extent that she covered 800 miles on it over a long weekend.
 
Although on the surface, it appears that Soupy's Adjustable Links would allow a near-infinite drop, in reality it's not that way. The arc of the rear tire's circumfernce and the arc of the rear inner fender differ so at some point, they will converge. My guess is that somewhere just a little north of 1-1/2" is the safe max. And this distance can and will be effected by where the rear axle is secured.
 
Tire size matters as well: with a smaller tire, maybe a 150/60 to replace the stock 160/60, you can lower it more before the tire hits the undertail at full bump. It lowers the bike some, too... of course, lowered and with smaller tire you might run hard parts into the ground in a G-out.
 
She liked the rebel 500 pretty good. All they had was one orange 500 and liked the color of the gray 300, so she sat on both. Some thick soled riding boots would make her a little more surefooted, but she was comfortable on it.

....

Is there a size/height difference between the 300 and the 500 frame that might make it easier for her, or is it just an engine difference?




Although on the surface, it appears that Soupy's Adjustable Links would allow a near-infinite drop, in reality it's not that way. The arc of the rear tire's circumfernce and the arc of the rear inner fender differ so at some point, they will converge. My guess is that somewhere just a little north of 1-1/2" is the safe max. And this distance can and will be effected by where the rear axle is secured.

We lowered my wife's NC700x about an inch at the triple tree and about an inch on the rear using Soupy's. My wife is now much more comfortable on the NC. She's 5'8" and had to "tip-toe" the bike. Pretty close to "flat footing" it now.
 
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Talked her into a bolt and found a nice R Spec near where we live. Letting me have it for $5k. If she turns out to not be a rider, we can sell for even money or maybe even make a little on it.

a46e0b5f8db7e9f7be1d983198c0b315.jpg


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