| Author | Message | ||
     Dschley |
Got an 03xb lightning. Went to local dealer and sat on a new one and noticed my feet were'nt on the ground flat like mine. How can you tell if it is a low. Thanks! | ||
| Xb9ser |
The easyest way to tell is a low has a yellow spring on the rear shock. | ||
| Brad_buell |
Xb9ser is right! Yellow Spring = Low Suspension Blue Spring = Regular Suspension | ||
| Kdan |
The other difference might be the seat. If you sat on a CityX, the seat is significantly higher than your 03XB. You didn't say if it was a 12 or a 9. I have an 03XB9S and swapped seats for a Cityx seat and there is a big difference. | ||
| Sgthigg |
My xb12SCG spring is Blue. I dunno, its pretty darn low just ask my foot pegs..  | ||
| Yeags30 |
an 03 will have the yellow rear spring and look at your seat u can see a noticeable difference compared to the other seats....if your seat hurts your butt then chances are its a low | ||
| Tank_bueller |
if your seat hurts your butt then chances are its a low Amen to that!! I can ride the twisties all day when I'm moving around on the bike. But, riding in a straight line, sitting still..... 50 miles and I gotta' take a break. It's like a concrete park bench. Sgthigg: Is that your bike in your profile??? Looks like a yellow spring shinin' there under the seat to me??  | ||
| Aldaytona |
Muffler is closer to the ground? | ||
| Metalstorm |
Yellow rear shock spring & you can tell from the forks too. When the bike's sitting on it's kick stand, you'll notice that the dust seal on standard forks is about an inch or so above the top fender screw where as the seal on the low forks is about even with the top fender screw. | ||
| Angelwild327 |
i have an 05 scg, definitely the yellow rear spring is the easiest giveaway that it's a low or scg...the true scg will also come with a low seat... if you have a blue spring, then it's not really a standard scg anymore. | ||
| Sgthigg |
Yah definetly a yellow spring . Brain fart...lol | ||
| Rageonthedl |
you could also look at the side stand, a low will have the part that you use to "kick" it down almost at bottom of the stand, the regular will be up like an inch or so. | ||
| Cochise |
Also, if you sit on one and your feet touch, but sit on the other and they don't...  | ||
| Tank_bueller |
Also, if you sit on one and your feet touch, but sit on the other and they don't... That's funny. Thats how I bought my bike. me: Mind if I try the yellow one out for size? salesman: No, go right ahead. me: Wow, I didn't think I would be able to reach the ground so well. salesman: Me either!? me: Mind if I try the black one too. salesman: Help yourself. me: This ones just a little tall for me, do you have a Low model here. salesman:Let me check the computer...... The yellow one is a Low. me:I'll take it......can you finance it for me? | ||
| Sub65chris |
has anybody changed from a "regular " to a low . and how much was it , does it ride differently , was it worth it ? to many thoughts at once sorry. | ||
| Metalstorm |
I believe there's been a few people who have swapped their low suspension for regular & vice versa. It's been a long while since I rode a regular S but if memory serves, My 12Scg seems to handle just the same as a regular 9S that I rode a few years back. The only time I ever think about swapping to the standard height is when I'm on one of the two really bumpy, cracked, potholed asphalt/concrete hybrid roads that i travel. I honestly don't know if an extra inch of suspension travel would make all that big a difference. On all the other roads that I ride however, I wouldn't trade my Scg for anything. I might have to upgrade to Firebolt pegs cause I'm starting to wear out my boots from scraping! I'd be doing the same with a regular S as well cause the lean angle is the same between the two when their suppensions' fully compressed. | ||
| Tank_bueller |
I agree with Metalstorm.. My bike only bottoms out on the worst of nasty bumps. With the proper suspension setup, It's awesome! I don't have a choice, though,...short legs. | ||
| Tq_freak |
while we are talking about suspensions, is anyone using the RED performance spring that is listed on buells site? Just wondering if it makes a difference. im guessing if it really did there would be a lot of people with it | ||
| Blazinc5 |
A female friend of mine today seen my new bike at my step sons birthday party and seems to really like the style of my firebolt, but like quite a few females she is a lil bit short legged.. I have no dout she could handle a 9R but does anyone know about switching out stock firebolt springs for lightning low springs so that she would be able to get a lil more than tippy-toes on the ground? | ||
| Smoothrod |
The low seat plus a suspension adjustment might work for her. My wife is only 5ft2 and it worked for her on a regular 9. | ||
| Blazinc5 |
don't believe they make a "low" seat for the R models... | ||
| Blublak |
I don't think there is a 'low' seat for the 'R's. After all, the R is more of a slab then a cushion. There are 'low' seats for Blast, Lightning and Uly that I know of.. | ||
| Metalstorm |
If I had an R & wanted it shorter I would just straight out buy new Scg forks rather than fuss around with the springs & valving. The rear shock would definitely have to be bought whole. Or find some one with a 9SL or 12Scg who wants to trade parts. If it's an 05 or newer R, the bottom triple would have to be replaced to fit the 41mm cg forks. | ||
| Sweatmark |
Agree with Metalstorm, simplest means of changing ride height is the full suspension swap: forks (plus lower triple, if necessary*), rear shock/spring, and sidestand. Did this on my bike, with swap of Low/cg pieces for '05 regular height, which included lower triple clamp due to fork diameter difference (41mm to 43mm).  Pic shows Low/cg and regular height components side-by-side. Spring on regular rear shock was powdercoated (for sale if someon wants it). Note differences in fork slider and rear shock lengths. Swap isn't too difficult with front & rear stands, or bike suspended from rafters. Mark Oregon | ||
| Shortie |
Hello Buellers. New owner of an XB9SX here. 5'6" and running a low seat on it. Still a bit on tip toes unless I have chunky soled boots on but in part I think this is due to the wide front section to the seat. The usual SX skyscraper seat means putting even one foot down is risky. I wonder if it would be worth running the SCG suspension and fitting the select or SX seat back on for comfort? I wonder how the shorter suspension would cope with poor road surfaces though. | ||
| Metalstorm |
Sweatmark, Thank you for mentioning the kick stand. I always forget that small but oh so important part  Shortie, A standard height S with a low seat & a low S with a standard seat are pretty close to the same seat height. I'd say somewhere in the ballpark of 29" to 29.5" low bike with low seat is about 28.5 | ||
| Rocket_fuell |
I am 6'2 and went with the low model because I like that slammed profile it has. The handling between the two models are the same and I personally like flat foot characteristics of the bike at a red light. | ||
| Shortie |
Thanks metalstorm that's useful to know. I'll keep my eye out to see if I can try an Scg version somewhere. Not sure if there are any in the UK though. Something I noticed trying the SX seat and Low seat on the same bike is that the low seat cramps your legs up a bit in comparison. So although touching the ground is easier. Hoiking your feet onto the pegs isn't so easy. |
