Ninja 250 fork dive

For Xmas this year my wife received her first motorcycle, a 2005 Ninja
250. As near as I can tell, there are only two problems with the bike
that I'd like to address.

1) The seat is a bit too high for her. I was mulling pulling the seat
cover off and using a bread knife to trim the amount of foam to lower
the seat height. Motorcyclist has a nice article on doing that.
Anyone here done it to this bike specifically? Tips?

2) The fork dives like a pole-axed mules under braking. I've looked at
aftermarket fork springs, but am not quite ready to make that jump yet.
I was thinking about putting some PVC tubing into the forks for now.
I'm not sure that this is the best cure as the static sag is good
enough, but the fork dive is grim. Suggestions?

Thanks very much in advance.

Bob
Rancho Cucamonga, CA

 

hows the preload on the rear spring? id mess with that first before
hacking up the seat.

a heavier weight fork oil, maybe?

 

If it dives really badly (& it does have fork oil in the forks?) I doubt
very much if more preload will help.

It's spring time!
Get new springs from your supplier, matched to the weight of the (usual)
rider.
Then start fiddling with fork oil quantities & grades - but the standard
volumes & grades will probably be best!

Bummers