lower seat for shorter rider
 

hey all, i am new to gas gas ,i just bought a 2006 ec 250, ive got to say i love this bike it feels so light and nibble , and the suspension is awesome , the only problem I have is I am quite short and would like to lower the bike about an inch but dont want to go down the road of altering steering and suspension geometry . My first thought was to shave some foam of the seat as i have done this before many times on other bikes , the problem is although it look like there is a good three inches of foam on the seat , because of the seat design there just isnt enough foam thickness to play around with.

Does anybody know of anywhere that makes a lower seat for the gas gas i can find them online for the newer models but not for the 2006 or will the later model seat still fit ? Any help would be greatly appreciated

Congratulations on your new ride, and welcome to this forum!
The newer seats does not fit. There was a change in the subframe design between the 06 and 07 models. You can change the subframe to the 07-11 model to fit that generation of seat. But that also implies a change of other things, like plastics and also the air filter box if I remember correctly. There used to be an "upgrade kit" with all the necessary parts, I used that kit on my 06.

Drop the forks down the clamps, lessen off the rear preload.
Give your boots to a old school repairer to bond/screw another sole on bottom.
Little here, little there and a bit more getting used to it should see you through.

You can modify the rear suspension link to some degree in most cases.GasGas actually had some different length links between years that would interchange.Maybe the same years too? Does anyone remember?
I remember the early bikes with the flat links were something easily made and modified.

The sag setting is not something you really want to be over compensating with.
If your a putt putt kind a guy. Maybe.(I'd say never)
But you probably wouldn't be riding a GasGas either if you were now would you.
You could revalve the rear shock and play with spring rates to some degree-
But that is a weight issue.I'm not going to assume "short" means light also.Its tricky.


I think if you spend sometime digging through old threads on this site you can find a lot of ideas and information on the subject.

LTR has the lowering links or I have a used set that I will sell for half of new.

If you use the longer lowering rear dog bone link you will need to raise the fork tubess in the triple clamps to lower the front end (as described) to match and even out the front and rear.

Running lower profile tires with shorter sidewalls will help too. There is a Dunlop Geomax AT81 in a 110/90/18 and there are several front tires in a 90 aspect ratio.

I wonder if you can swap to the older 1998 / 1999 seat and gas tank which the tank does not run under the seat like the bikes after 2000. If so that would give you more foam to work with.

Thanks for the replies guys, I have already backed off some preload on the rear and raised the forks in the clamps a bit , but as I said I don't want to alter the geometry of the bike too much as I love the feel of it .

I am a light rider ,only 62 kg so maybe i could back off a bit more preload to soften it a bit more

Do a sag measurement (plenty of articles on net for full process to reduce stiction effect) and aim for the lower end of the spectrum.
Clearly some softer springs would benefit if you can stretch to that.