Questions To The Lady Wingers Out There!

In early summer,my daughter is moving back home from Florida. I just found out that I might have cheap access to a very good condition, garage kept '80 or '81 1100 Standard with a windshield. My daughter may very well be interested in it if I get it! :music:

It only has under 21K miles on it. I know the Owner and he picked it up about 3 years ago. He bought it, rode it home, went to a local Honda dealer and had the tires replaced and front fork seals. They recommended carb work, but I think he was shocked by the price quoted so he rode it home, parked it in his garage and it has been there ever since!

BUT, she is only 5' 1" tall and I am concerned that the bike is going to be too tall for her. I know that I can easily lower the front end by dropping down the triple tree on the forks like I did with mine, but I am at a loss on how to lower the back end other than maybe replacing the air shocks with shorter spring shocks. It also has an OEM Honda seat. I have an '82 OEM seat that I could crop out the foam and recover with a new seat cover.

So, my question for the Lady Wingers out there is, have you performed any mods to lower the bike?















Even though it is in good condition for the most part, I know what type of work I am up against. There is a possibility that if I come over and fix his boat, he might consider swapping the bike for the work performed!

There is or was a kit that provided 2 metal straps that could be used to lower/rase the rear shock mounting point. Can't draw it but is simple.

just have to take the seat off and figure how drastic you have to go for her to handle it ...it certainly wont look stock for it to be safe for her ... witch is job one ...very nice bike just needs some lowering tricks and a super custom saddle....

No, I am not a lady, but I read about this same subject on another one of the forums. Seems the easiest thing was changing the seat to one that didn't have as much foam and using shorter shocks: CB shocks I think they were.

Found some reading for you: https://goldwingdocs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6827

Hmm fix his boat as a swap.....be careful on that deal.

[url=https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=144350#p144350:32nlywgn said:

dan filipi » Thu Mar 26, 2015 2:44 pm[/url]":32nlywgn]
Hmm fix his boat as a swap.....be careful on that deal.

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:hihihi: Yeah, I know!

But the difference is, I can see what is wrong with either the boat or the bike. He is not mechanically as inclined and tends to do more damage than good. :hihihi:

[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=144354#p144354:poe6qedx said:

mcgovern61 » Thu Mar 26, 2015 12:50 pm[/url]"oe6qedx]

[url=https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=144350#p144350:poe6qedx said:

dan filipi » Thu Mar 26, 2015 2:44 pm[/url]"oe6qedx]
Hmm fix his boat as a swap.....be careful on that deal.

Click to expand...

:hihihi: Yeah, I know!

But the difference is, I can see what is wrong with either the boat or the bike. He is not mechanically as inclined and tends to do more damage than good. :hihihi:

Click to expand...

I hope these aren't your friends and their boat... :hihihi:

I think the seat mod is the most important Gerry for a vertically challenged person especially the width as a narrower seat allows your legs to go down vertically as much as possible. Lowering the suspension height will make life a lot easier as well :yes:

if you do the seat mod get re-foam it too or she will feel like she is sitting on the frame rails. lowering the wing is really going to cut down on ground clearance and you might need to shorten the side stand

Seems like a lot of bike for a gal that's 5'1." How long has she been riding, and on what? I think sometimes we forget how easy these bikes are to ride for us do to our familiarity.

~O~

Smaller wheels and tires will lower the bike some but the seat is where you'll lose most of the height.

The thing is if she is 5 foot 1 inch your going to need more than a seat cut down, possibly the lowering struts too and even then it will be a stretch, the thing I noticed about the wing is the width takes up more leg inches than most other bikes, so your legs don't only have to go down to the ground it the seat/frame width is fatter then many other bikes.
I have seen on a few occasions those lowering struts on ebay, last ones I seen were a few months ago for 15 bucks if I recall right.
Not saying you shouldn't get it though, looks like a clean one.

I saw a tiny guy ride a big ole Honda 750-4 in the early 70's. Guy was so short he had to climb down the side to shift gears. If there's a will there's a way.

I've had mine get away from me at a stop with uneven pavement more than once and I'm 6'2". Not trying to talk you out of it, just backing up O man and Jeff in what they said. Don't want her getting hurt either :BigGrin:

Understood guys! I already have an '82 seat to cut up and might try some VT1100 shocks (only 11" between centers versus the 13" for the wing).

Worse case, I fix the bike up and sell it and use the money to buy a bike she can ride!

A custom seat may help a bit, but not comfy.
Platform soles on boots if you can find them only add a couple of inches.
A smaller bike or outrigger wheels.
At 5' 3" there is no way for me to ride a Goldwing1500, unless it was a full trike or had an outrigger unit.
I'm short and I become the entertainment quickly if someone said take the 'Training Wheels Off'. :smilie_happy: :smilie_happy:

I'm short and I become the entertainment quickly if someone said take the 'Training Wheels Off'.

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:smilie_happy:

Thanks for the reply! She is determined that we should try to make the wing work. BUT, I am under the opinion there are better bikes fitted for her height.

Keep the comments coming! :yes:

Some bikes like stretched out iron horse buggers can't be leaned more than a few degrees if she can deal with that kind of riding i'm sure the wing can be slammed enough for her.

She has been on our wing many times as passenger and tried to stand up, but my seat is a bit taller and much wider than standard and she could barley get her toes to the ground. I'm thinking the seat is a big issue to start with.

You have a good plan Gerry and as you said you can always move it on if it doesn't work out. Yes they are a heavy bike to pick up but they are also incredibly manuverable at low speed and they certainly handle better than a cruiser (low seat height) that would be more suited for her height :yes: