Help with lowering seat

[drp643]

I have a 2004 Venture that I just purchased, and it's sitting a little too high for me. After reading through some threads, I decided the first thing I'd like to try to is have the seat re-worked to lower my riding position about 2-3". My problem is that I've seen a lot of posts suggesting people to do it, but none are still working. Any ideas on who can do this for me?

 

Thanks in advance!

[Heimdog]

This is a good question that I'll be following. At 5'6" I don't quite reach flat footed unless I'm 2 up. I love the seat though (07 RSV pillow top) as I can ride all day without getting sore. Therefor I am nervous about modifying it.

[RDawson]

Have you tried a lowering kit? I have one I took off my bike.

[Ripside]

Just bought my '08 RSV this week. I'm a hair over 6'0 tall, and there are times I'll ride up to a stop and cannot get flat-footed without scooching way forward in the seat. I even have relatively long legs, and wearing riding boots with fairly thick souls.

 

Yet most of the time I'm lucky to have the balls of my feet solid on the ground at a stop. On a bike this big I'd really rather have both feet flat on the ground. I don't honestly know how someone less than 5'10" can even reach the ground.

 

I already checked the pressure in front and back - they're all at 0 PSI. That was disappointing, I was hoping they'd both be 7/57psi, and explain the seating height.

 

I've read a lot that says it'll handle better with around 5psi in the front and 30psi in the rear, but to be honest I'm afraid of raising it up any more.

 

The factory seat is in perfect, stellar shape - I hate thinking about replacing it or having it modded.

 

The width of the seat "seams" to be the issue (see what I did there?), as I'm fine scooted all the way up. Maybe I do just need a narrower seat.

 

[update] no wonder. I just realized there's an aftermarket Mustang seat on it (didn't see the logo until just now). Seems much thicker and wider (17" per specs) compared to factory seats.

Edited November 15, 2019 by Ripside

[cecdoo]

Rick Butler would be the guy to talk to, if he is still doing it. A corbin seat will also get you quite a bit lower. Raising the fork tubes up in the trees will help, also rear lowering kit. A combination of the 3 will get you 2-3" lower.

I am 5'5" and could flatfoot my 06RSV

Mite want to check your bike for leveling links, it will raise the rear about an 1" from stock. Anyone 6' tall ought to be able to flatfoot a stock Venture no problem.

 

Craig

[Ripside]

Rick Butler would be the guy to talk to, if he is still doing it. A corbin seat will also get you quite a bit lower. Raising the fork tubes up in the trees will help, also rear lowering kit. A combination of the 3 will get you 2-3" lower.

I am 5'5" and could flatfoot my 06RSV

Mite want to check your bike for leveling links, it will raise the rear about an 1" from stock. Anyone 6' tall ought to be able to flatfoot a stock Venture no problem.

 

Craig

 

Appreciate it - going to check for aftermarket levelling links, and have the front end lowered. I don't have the tools at the moment to do this myself, but I was quoted 2 hours of labor by a local shop - fairly cheap.

 

I love how this Mustang seat feels, and I'm pretty confident I could sit in it all day and not get uncomfortable, so that's a last resort option.

 

I suspect the previous owner may have been a good bit heavier than me and needed the bike up higher, or really loaded up the storage. Or, he was 7' tall :/

[RDawson]

Appreciate it - going to check for aftermarket levelling links, and have the front end lowered. I don't have the tools at the moment to do this myself, but I was quoted 2 hours of labor by a local shop - fairly cheap.

 

I love how this Mustang seat feels, and I'm pretty confident I could sit in it all day and not get uncomfortable, so that's a last resort option.

 

I suspect the previous owner may have been a good bit heavier than me and needed the bike up higher, or really loaded up the storage. Or, he was 7' tall :/

 

Leveling links raise it, PO may have installed some. I have a Baron's lowering kit for the rear with the caliper relocation bracket that I took off mine if you need it. PM me if you're interested, it'll be cheap. Be careful though if it has leveling links and you go to a lowering kit it may drop you too much.

[Ripside]

Leveling links raise it, PO may have installed some. I have a Baron's lowering kit for the rear with the caliper relocation bracket that I took off mine if you need it. PM me if you're interested, it'll be cheap. Be careful though if it has leveling links and you go to a lowering kit it may drop you too much.

 

TY much - I'm going to start with the forks, and see if that makes enough difference. If it's not, I'll either go back to stock levelling links if there's aftermarkets installed (I'll bet there is, as tall as this thing is), otherwise I may consider a lowering kit.

[Ripside]

TY much - I'm going to start with the forks, and see if that makes enough difference. If it's not, I'll either go back to stock levelling links if there's aftermarkets installed (I'll bet there is, as tall as this thing is), otherwise I may consider a lowering kit.

 

No-go on raising the forks - the mechanic said if they raise them at all, even one millimeter, it'll hit the air pressure zerts. Were they not taking the right approach?

[stanG]

The tubes on my RSV are exactly 1 inch higher than tree with no clearance problem.

 

 

Sent from my motorola one using Tapatalk

[Ripside]

The tubes on my RSV are exactly 1 inch higher than tree with no clearance problem.

 

 

Sent from my motorola one using Tapatalk

 

 

Would you have a photo by chance?

 

I noticed the throttle cable and the front brake hydralic line is right up against the top of the air input for the right shock... looks like those would have to be re-routed.

Edited November 17, 2019 by Ripside

[stanG]

I will photograph today and post for you.

[Ripside]

Here's the situation with the right fork, where the shop said they couldn't raise the tubes in the tree. The factory routing of hydralics, throttle cable and wiring would have to be relocated. Even then, I don't think there's a full inch there before the air jack would hit the handlebars.

 

I can't post images yet - no PayPal account...

[stanG]

Well as it appears we're both right or wrong, however you look at it. Here are some pictures of my setup. One thing I forgot to mention is that I do have the handlebar risers on there that bring the handlebars out of the way for the clearance.I didn't have to reroute the cabling or the hydraulics. There's plenty of extra slack in there if you just pull it up out of the way.

 

 

 

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[Ripside]

Ahhh, finally got PayPal to work

 

Here's the situation with mine. No risers, so the air plug is alright right against the throttle cable, brake line and wiring loom. That could be re-routed a bit, but there doesn't seem to be much leeway at all. I did order the baron's lowering kit, and depending on how that handles and feels, I may just go with handlebar risers and lowering the front end too.

 

Edited November 20, 2019 by Ripside

[videoarizona]

 

 

You should have no troubles raising the shock tubes up 1 inch. Above picture is mine. And I have the bar extensions as well. No relocating the cables...just move them out of the way....everything fits....

 

BTW, I did go into the front inside fairing and raise it off the bolts a touch with a few washers....making the instrument panel sit more upright. Just enough to allow me to position the bars better for my arms...I raised the bars up... Then repositioned the rubber bumpers between the tree and the inside fairing as shown here....used rubber glue to hold them. Works great.

 

Edited November 21, 2019 by videoarizona
add

[grubsie]

Well as it appears we're both right or wrong, however you look at it. Here are some pictures of my setup. One thing I forgot to mention is that I do have the handlebar risers on there that bring the handlebars out of the way for the clearance.I didn't have to reroute the cabling or the hydraulics. There's plenty of extra slack in there if you just pull it up out of the way.

 

Those fork tubes look like they are up higher than 1". I am surprised that the fender mounts on the lower forks haven't dented the lower fork tube covers in the event you hit a bump hard enough.

 

It happened to me when I raised the tubes 1 1/4" . Was able to go that high due to using the handlebar risers. I wound up changing the whole setup by lowering the front 1" by using a 1" spacer in conjunction with the small spring below the the piston on the damper tube. This allowed me to keep the fork tubes flush with top of the triple tree and allowed enough space that there was no way to bottom the forks and come in contact with the lower fork covers.

[grubsie]

Ahhh, finally got PayPal to work

 

Here's the situation with mine. No risers, so the air plug is alright right against the throttle cable, brake line and wiring loom. That could be re-routed a bit, but there doesn't seem to be much leeway at all. I did order the baron's lowering kit, and depending on how that handles and feels, I may just go with handlebar risers and lowering the front end too.

 

The plastic clips that are holding the wires can be remove from the little nubs on the handlebars and that will allow a considerable amount of play in the cables and wires so sliding the tubes up isn't a problem.

 

Just lowering the rear alone with the Baron's kit can be problematic in a couple of ways.

1) Just lowering the rear changes the rake of the front forks causing slower steering. Especially in slow maneuvers.

2) Scraping the mufflers in corners but more so when turning and going up a hill from a level road or driveway or turning and driving down a hill /driveway onto a level road.

Take a good look at a picture of a Venture side view profile. If you really look, you will see that in stock form, the exhaust is already angled downward from front to rear. Just lowering the rear makes that downward angle much more dramatic.

 

I have tried just lowering the front, just lowering the rear and lowering both the front and rear together. I am only 5'-8" and finally settled on lowering the front 1" and modifying the riders seat. Most guys have Rick Butler mod their seat but I prefer to do things myself. Fortunately, I am happy with the results.

Also tire brand/selections make a difference. I am running Avon Cobras which have a smaller diameter than other tires so that helped reduce the the height.

[stanG]

Yes, I think they stick out more than 1 inch. I lowered them an inch from the original position. I do not have any clearance problems even when bottoming out the shocks.

 

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[Barrycuda]

When I had my ‘03 it came with Baron lower link from PO who was about 5’4. I left it as is because I am 5’7. Some people insisted this will mess up handling, curves, performance etc. I was able to do anything and any turn I wanted, including ride the dragon at a previous VOGEL event. The stock seats are amazing, and for ME, I wouldn’t mess with them. If someone has a lowering kit and is willing to part with them, give em a try. Also with my the rear was at 7PSI to avoid bottoming out. Keep us posted as to what works for you, maybe it can work for another down the line...

[Ripside]

Appreciate all the feedback - I've opted to NOT lower the bike at all - I like the way it handles now and don't want to change that. I returned the Baron's lowering kit I ordered for a refund.

 

I was able to sit on a 2008 with a stock seat yesterday - I was flat-footed, even with the bike on the kickstand, my right foot still hit the ground flat, easily, without stretching my leg out.

 

So, it's obviously the aftermarket set (Mustang). I'm pretty sure it's brand-new, probably was added by the originial owner before trading it in at the shop where I got it. If the seat doesn't "sink in" after awhile, I may take it to an upholsterer to have some of the padding re-worked. It's soooo comfortable though.

 

A few thousand miles in since November, and I've gotten used to being on the balls of my feet. Oddly, having my girlfriend on the back doesn't lower the bike whatsoever, and both front and rear are at 0 lbs of pressure.