help a short brother out
 

hi my name is ashton
i just bought my first bike
it's a 98 superhawk i'm 5' 7" and i can't get my feet on the ground
and for the life of me i can't find a lowering kit online
can anyone point me in the right direction
and i need some plastics too
i would not have bought a bike i can't touch the ground on but it was only
$600 and it has 11000 miles on it

thanks in advance

I could give you the $600 and take that tall bike off your hands and you could go buy a shorter one. LOL, J/K. couldn't resist. Sweet deal, Good luck with the bike.

One cheek sneak ftw.

Almost forgot, welcome to the board.

First try adjusting the preload all the way down on the rear spring, that will get you a little lower.

You might be able to drop the front a bit by just loosening the triple clamps. I'm not sure though because I bought mine with aftermarket bars.

I'm just over 5'8" and I can put both feet flat anywhere. I think my legs might be a little disproportionate though.

The rear link on this isn't typical of most bikes where you just throw $30 down for longer links.

post some pics of this 600 bike! welcome to the board man! I'm 6'2 so I have no clue as to help you out.

my solution to lowering superhawks, touring superhawks, global warming, world hunger, and peace on earth is a corbin seat w/ superbike bars. (I'm a long torso not quite 5'7")

Warning for us short guys a corbin certianly lowers the seat height but the bars are a reach. Both @ the same time are the way to go.

(on the other hand the superhawk is lower than the xr400)

I'm a smidge over 5'9" with my boots on. I've got the rear preload cranked up to the third position with a 4mm spacer on top of the shock. I can still put both feet flat on the ground.

Maybe you've got a short inseam even for a 5'7" guy. Or maybe your rear spring preload is cranked up and/or there is a spacer on top of the shock.

I'd check for spring preload and spacer before I'd look for lowering links.

I'm also right around 5'9" with boots, maybe shorter. I have a Corbin seat and superbike bars and I can also touch both feet flat. I don't know what's been done to the suspension though.

I'm 6'5", so iv never had this problem...
But Welcome! and I demand pics!

i'm not a midget i can get my toes on the ground
can't find my camera but as soon as i find it
don't get me wrong it's no cherry but it's not bad
needs plastic and some little stuff like levers and pegs
i'm going to make it a street fighter

and yes i have a very short inseem like 28

:cheers: welcome to the site and that bike sounds like one hell of a deal. but im laughing my ass off about im not a midget comment. i get called a midget on my bike and im 5-10 and im on my tip toes when i stop. i got a long torso with short legs. to remedy this i just lean the bike a little to one side when i stop and rest one foot flat on the ground. my corbin seat seems to make it worse cause i can flat foot the bike with the stock seat but just barely.

The compromises to handling involved in lowering a bike would make it a non option if I were in your shoes. I would learn to live with it. Half the guys in MotoGP are about 5'7".

i was pretty sure it was a good deal
since it's got a clean title and even the parts bikes on ebay were selling for more that i was paying and it ran and road straight

boy was that a fun test drive no right foot peg no front brake lever snowy gravel road and 9 degree weather

so anybuddy know a good sit i can get radiators or plastic from

nothing wrong with being on the short side, some of my best friends are 5' 6" and under...

I'm 5'8" and don't have a problem.Maybe platform soles? :D.
Welcome to the forum.

Send a PM to hawkrider - he's the suspension man (and the site owner.)

and, welcome to the forum.

Yes, welcome! Hawkrider is the admimistrator of the site. That means he drives the ship for the owners. He's also very good at suspension = he did mine twice on the same bike.

I'm 5'8" according to my DL but I'm sure I'm loosing a little every year at my age. I can just get my feet flat but I'm dropped 10mm in the triples. I also have an aftermarket rear shock that allows for ride-height adjustment.

He's going to ask you lots of questions and then you get to take lots of measurements. Then you can set up the bike for you. Believe me, it's the same grunt but a whole new road once you do your suspension.

Try wearing boots. I'm 5'8" with 30" inseam with no prob standing flat foot. preload in the middle.

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here you go boys
this is the $600 bike

Ouch. That radiator got crunched. Otherwise, not too bad for $600. Headlight has got to go.

Straight forks and swingarm and wheels?

You might also check and see if anyone has added washers to the shock mount to raise the rear height. Like is said above, I'm 5'8" and have a 30" inseam. I think somebody has been messing with the rear shock. It's been spacer'd, replaced with the wrong shock or assembled wrong. Download the manual, print the appropriate pages and compare to your bike. Good luck.

I like the spot light!!!

Me too, that's some mad max shit right there. You'll have to paint the tank flat black for the full effect though.

yes i laugh really hard at that spot light, you can'ts see it but it has the cord raped around the trigger and zip tied it to the light assembly bracket

i checked the shock it doesn't have any spacers
and it looks to spec

i'm just that short that pic was takin with the preload all the way down

so is lowering the front just as simple as loosening the triple tree clamps and leting them slide threw???

yes, it is that easy. but you bottom out faster and more easily so be careful

Sorta. You have to lift the front end enough to unload it and block up the bike under the front of the engine before you loosen and have to make sure that each tube slides up exactly the same amount. If you just yank them up or shove a wedge under the tire you might get one moved more than the other.

Best to leave the clip ons on, lift the tubes a bit higher than you want them, stick spacers between each clip on and the top clamp then let them drop down before you tighten up.

I want you to take a measurement if you can. I was messing with some other stuff down in the shop this morning and ran across my stock shock. I went back to your picture that shows the shock from the side. It looks like the coils on your shock are farther apart than mine. Mine is on the second to the bottom on the adjuster and the shock measures 13.5 inches from mid-eyelet to mid-eyelet. Our stock shocks are not the only ones that look like this and it could be that whoever got this bike for liquidation sale might have used a shock that looked the same but actually fits some other Honda.