Hi all, Thought I'd give you all an update on the lowering kit I've had fitted to my 2022 V4S. I'm 5' 8" and 31" inside leg. I'm a confident rider but with age, I've noticed my strength lessen over the years and this does knock my confidence when coming to a stop as I was always on the balls of my feet. This became worse on uneven or cambered road surfaces. So, I bit the bullet and got Ducati Alton to fit the lowering kit which consisted of front fork springs, rear shock and shorter side stand. The centre stand is the same although I can manage to lift it onto the centre stand without luggage. I have to say that it has not changed the bikes handling at all as far as I can feel but it does give me much more confidence knowing I can now flat foot the bike when coming to a stop. I also have the lower seat. Steve
I lowered my Rally as well. Brought it down 20 mm. Rides the same but does corner a little better due to the lower COG I'm assuming. I also got a pair of Daytona M-Star GTX boots. They are 8 mm thicker at the front of the sole where you touch the ground. They really helped and are by far the most comfortable boots I've had so far albeit they are EXPENSIVE! Marc
Isn't it odd, it's never greener on the other side. As a tall skinny runner bean, I find the bike a little too small as my head sticks above the wind break like a badly attached mattress to a car just flapping around. Glad you got it sorted, enjoy the bike!
I had the lowering kit and lower seat on my V4S and could flat foot mine easily too……..however when on a slight incline/camber I still felt vulnerable as the bike was top heavy. I never dropped it ever, but it always felt as though I could.
How was the comfort of the Lower Seat - Just ordered a 25 V4S and need to get the seat - I have 27" Inside Leg and with the suspension on the lowest point could reach floor on standard seat (just) so need the seat - hope that is enough - without the rest of the lowering kit. The newly added auto lowering and the Same Colour both sides of the engine convinced me to give it a go.
Does the lowering kit mean your knees are bent more than normal and if so, is this comfortable? I am also 5'8" with an inside leg of 30" and with the lower seat I don't really have any problem, but I'm always thinking maybe the lowering kit would be the way to go.....
I would think the Lowering Seat would make your knees bent more. The lowered suspension would not change the Knee angle as the distance from the Pegs to Seat would not change - just the distance to the road.
I've also bought a set of adjustable pegs that lower your feet by 15mm so that your legs aren't as bent with the lower seat.
Dropped mine once in a petrol station in Matlock that had a rain gulley, that i didn't see and when i went to put my foot down, the floor wasn't where i thought it was. It is a very top heavy bike.
It is, I did the same but luckily my crash bars too the entire load. Took them off, rubbed down and resprayed with no visibility of the repair. I was lucky, hence the lowering kit.
Not quite the same, but I’ve dropped my forks through the yoke by 12mm, but added 5mm of extra preload on my Rally. Trying to give a bit more support under breaking, but the slight reduction in height at the front is useful, even though I am 6’2”.
Does that not upset the SkyHook or have you found it okay , I know the PP owners do it but different suspension set up. Have thought about it before but always been a bit unsure . Your in effect making the whole bike steer faster is that what you needed.
If you lower the bike on the forks it has to reduce the ground clearance. Unless you then wind the preload up, in which case the bike is effective the same high, so no benefit from a seat hight perspective. Whether the lower ground clearance increase the chances of the pegs going down depends on how far you lean the bike over. If your already getting the pegs on the deck, dropping the bike on the forks will make it a more common occurrence.
It has not had any noticeable difference to suspension (Skyhook). It’s probably only dropped the front by about 7mm, so no problem with side stand, main stand etc., it does feel good on turn in but it still does dive on the brakes quite heavily, even with the extra preload. No problems with ground clearance, it’s not much lower and if you can touch a Rally down you can corner a lot harder than me One think that is noticeable is if you put the suspension into “min” and then ride off slowly without going back to Auto or whatever your setting is, you don’t get that gentle swaying like a steering damper is set too high. I had this on my V4S and my Rally, with the back so low and the front normal it rides like a chopper and sways a bit below 10mph say, not so noticeable now.
I dropped my forks through the yoke on my 1200s DVT, probably about 10mm, no noticeable difference with the skyhook at all. Steers faster though and more of a forward lean position. Interesting to hear from Marc the lower centre of gravity is noticeable and better cornering, as it should be.
Thanks for that , how did the bike react when hard acceleration at high speed as sometimes it can lead to head shake . I was loaned a lowered Bm 1250 gs for a Spain trip by BMW as mine was broken and found it did handle well but the issue was ground clearance so had to run at two up with luggage setting on the rear (only carry a 28 litr soft bag) to get better but not perfect clearance again as I had to change the pegs once home as they were pretty worn , but that was Spain is suppose . There is always a price .
