subframe surgery?

[byost]

Has anyone tried cutting the suframe down on a '09-'11 to lower the seat height? I am a little vertically challenged could use an inch or so of height reduction. I know that I can send my suspension off and have it lowered but the cost and the fact that you loose travel is holding me back. I have an '11 300 six days with the 45 mm zokes and ohlins shock. It looks to me like I could cut out a section of the down tube and reweld it I just don't know how much I can cut out before the tire hits And I don't want to end up with a chopper and be slideing off the back.

Thanks.

 

[GMP]

JMO but I would avoid this if possible. It could raise all kinds of fit issues with the silencer, seat, air boot, etc. Not specifically on a GG but in general from what I've seen.

 

[andoman]

I've been thinking of the very same thing. This will help you determine if its possible:
-Remove the lower subframe bolts and loosen the top ones.
-now you can pivot the subframe up and down. You can check the seat, airbox, shock clearance and pipe for clearance and binding issues.

I did this when I first got the bike and it looked like an inch at the rear of the seat would be doable. This won't make it feel much lower, because most of the loss is at the rear of the seat since the pivot is up front. However, it would make swinging a leg up and over the bike infinitely easier. Especially from the downhill side of the bike.
If you pursue this, there are a couple of options. Obviously you can cut, shorten, and re-weld the lower arms of the subframe. But I thought about just ovaling the bolt holes in the subframe.

The one problem I saw was fitment issues with the silencer to the new subframe location. If about 5/8" is cut off the end of the pipe and silencer, they can be connected by about a 3.5" section of heavy duty heater hose without being sleeved together. This would give some leeway to line things up. I just happen to be running this setup to cut down on vibration.

Like I said, I didn't end up doing any modding, but I'm thinking about revisiting this.

 

[HenrikSchmidt]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gas-Gas-E...91?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item3ccba0e6f3

just install theese, and lower the fork in the clamps, cutting in to your subframe will only destroy the frame..

 

[LAWMAN]

Might try cutting down the seat foam if you haven't already

 

[Cruiser]

I tried cutting a subframe before on an older GG and it was too "off" just too much work and did not really gain any significant drip in height for all the work.. I cut the seat foams down now and use different length links. I have 123's? on my 97 which was stock and when swapped out on my 03 it dropped that a bit.. and I had 126's but it dropped it a bit much for me. I think I ended up with 124's on that bike for a while. I sold it with the stock 122's? The longer links made the rear feel slightly more progressive and slightly softer. Which was good for me. I had a 5.4? rear spring in and it was a bit harsh at times and that calmed it down nice without a revalve. I'm looking at getting a z-link for my stupid pumpkin if I keep it.. would like to drop it down just a hair.. touching the ground would be so very nice..