Hey guys, I have an 04 Gix 1K and I have been toying with the idea of lowering it while I am rebuilding it this winter. As much as I love the looks of the stretched swingarm slammed bikes, I know that's not practical except for show bikes or drag bikes.. I want to lower it as slightly as possible with the least adverse effect on performance as I plan to jump on the twisties next spring. I was thinking like 1" but no more, I can stand with both tiptoes on the ground, maybe balls of my feet sometimes, but backing the bike up is a beeyotch. I was thinking dogbones set for 1" and either sliding the forks up in the triple or rebuilding the forks guts, if that is a good method. I really don't know that much about bike lowering and am not dead set on it, just wondering if others had some insight or experience with minor drops and the best method and results.
THX

You are asking for a serious change in handling characteristics when you lower the whole bike. This may sound crazy, but have you considered getting the seat reupholstered? I know some girls/women who have done this and that lowered their seat height by ~1 inch, depending on the bike. Just hack off all of the seat foam and recover it.

If you lower the front and back proportional amounts, the only things that will change are ground clearance and center of gravity.

I am not sure what you are planning on doing to the fork internals to lower it, but I would stick with raising the fork height. Seat height, as stated before, is always a good option as well.

Lowering the front and back proportionally will change other things. Swing arm angle and trail are just examples. You can't just change them proportionally.

If you do not change the steering head angle (i.e proportional lowering) Rake and Trail will not change. Yes the Swingarm angle will change some but the change in wheel base is minimal.