Short rider mods

[Ivanka99]

Hi all, Im new to the forum and I was looking for some advice.
I've had an '05 KDX200 since 2020, but only had like 5 rides on it since. At the beginning the bike was way too tall for me. I'm 160cm and weigh between 50-55kg. I've already lowered the forks and the screws on the shock back then, but I still have to kind off hang off the side to stand on the ground when stationary and I usually have to hop on when I pull away. It does also make moving the bike around or loading it very difficult.
I just redid the top-end, which seemed like it was neglected by previous owners.
Slowly busy fixing the bike up with new parts and so-on.
What more can I do to lower the bike to a comfortable height? I read somewhere about lowering links, but they are pretty hard to find around here in southern africa.
Also interested to hear about any other mods you would suggest for a lightweight rider like myself? Any advice and insights would be appreciated.

[Chuck78]

The first thing any person of shorter stature should do instead of lowering the forks / putting lowering links on it, would be to remove cover off of the seat and use a serrated steak knife or similar insulation knife to shave down the seat foam so that the seat is lower. This does not compromise the way the bike rides, but makes it so that the rider can touch the ground a bit easier.

On lowering links, I would always caution against going more than one size link longer than stock, as it begins to entirely change the progressive rising rate of the shock linkage and subsequently the spring rate of the assembly. This can give you a bike that bottoms out too easily and feels very harsh when it gets near bottoming.

You can make your own lowering links out of steel stock, with just some basic tools like a hacksaw or bandsaw and a drill press or even just a bench vise and electric hand drill. The steel KLX suspension links are effectively a 23mm lowering link for the '95-'06 KDX, by the way. The aluminum versions will require the hardware that they came with off of the KLX if you try to run those. They are 117 mm versus the stock KDX 112.5 mm. This will not work for the E-Series KDX, but there are likely some KX 125 suspension linkages from a 1990s whose stock dog bone links will lower the KDX E-Series.

[bufftester]

Shaving the seat as Chuck said should be the first item. You don't want to lower the rear by backing off the adjusting rings on the shock, that is just removing preload which will negatively affect the suspension. For the rear a lowering link and lowering the front forks in the triple clamps the same amount will get you closer. At 160cm on a full size bike you're going to have to learn to just get one foot down and hang off the side.
After lowering links and physically moving the forks up the next step would be internally lowering both which reduces your amount of available travel. To make a set of lowering links you just trace the shape of the existing ones and change the distance between the centers of the 2 holes. IIRC 112.5mm is stock. 124 mm would lower the rear by about 6cm which is about the max you would want to do with links.

[SS109]

I agree, shaving the seat is the first step.

After that it's lowering the suspension. I'm really adverse to lowering links due to how they negatively affect the action of the spring and shock itself which, of course, affect the overall handling of the bike. The proper way to lower the shock and fork is to have them internally shortened by a reputable shop but I don't know how easy that is to get done in your country.

[kdxdazz]

as a shorter lightweight rider myself,169cm 62kg i have experience, first thing i would say is forget about a kdx and buy a klx150bf, you will never feel comfortable on the kdx and never enjoy it due to how bad it will handle, i have 6 bikes and buy far my favorite bike is my scooter with offroad tyres
i live in thailand where the biggest selling bike is the klx140 and klx150 and if i could do it all over again i would never have bought a kdx

if you still want to keep the bike here is my list of things in order, the guys have mentioned cutting the seat which i don't really agree with as the first thing,i would put that at number 3, any foam you cut off will bring you closer to compressing the foam when you sit down and sitting on hard plastic,i know as i did it then had to install stiffer foam,also it will change the angle of the seat and be constantly sliding forward if you spend any amount of time sitting

first thing is to get yourself a 4.0kg or 4.2kg rear spring,this will allow the bike to sag much more and still have the required preload, it completely transformed the bike, the stock spring will be like riding a brick its so stiff (5.0kg)for your weight, ideally the valving will need to be changed but again i have no idea of your budget or facilities,i was wanting to put together a video on setting up the kdx rear shock for a lightweight rider as most information on the internet is just plain wrong

next is the lowering links,yes it will handle badly but it can't be any worse than what you have with those lowered forks, must be unbearably stiff front and rear and downright dangerous at speed, kdx lowering links can be easily made from steel as suggested or if you can find them klx250 links will lower it about 40mm

eventually you will want to install 0.32kg front springs compared to the stock 0.35kg springs which might be available second hand from the earlier model kdx's but you will have to study about preload and sag and make your own fork spacers

again at 160cm every full sized bike on the market will be unenjoyable to ride including the kdx you have now,you will waste countless dollars trying to set it up for your height and weight then all that money will be lost in resale value as nobody will want it