Welcome aboard, Beekey. Although I have the XTR, I do fancy the X in your colour scheme. Very tasy. I, too, am short at 5'9" with a 32" inside leg and convinced myself that I needed to lower the bike, so I fitted the Lust Racing lowering links. Despite also dropping the yokes on the forks, the bike never felt right so I refitted the originals and am much happier. So, stick with it for a while and hopefully you'll get used to the height. I use mine for B road blasts, especially in the winter and,as you'd expect, get a few slides from the Conti Escapes. That, coupled with an effective back brake, means that I ride, and am comfortable with, the bike much looser than I would my main bike that has ABS and is much heavier. I also think that the riding position makes slides seem less a*se twitching than on a sports bike. Enjoy!