I just bought a '96 1000f and can't seem to understand the settings on the suspension. I need the bike to be lower since I am vertically challenged. I haven't touched the suspension settings yet since I want to know what the adjustments will do to the ride before making any changes.

I rode with my girl this weekend and it rode very low in the back, even bottomed out on speed bumps. She is on the heavier side to boot.

When I ride solo the bike rides good enough for me except for the height.

Thanks and a pic for reference. Note the tippy toes even with boots on

 

Adjustment is tricky with a good rear shock and unless yours has been refurbished or replaced after 20 years there will have to be a comprise somewhere.
You have two battles here as to stop the bottoming out you need her to be stiffer but ultimately that will likely make it difficult to get away from that “tippy toe” effect.
Rear compression damping (normally connected to shock with hydraulic pipe), can be adjusted in your case by screwing inwards to make it stiffer. It might make sense to probably check your all your base settings and make a note of them before you start moving things about. (How many clicks etc)
Rear preload is the spring basically. The tighter you compress the spring obviously makes it stiffer. Rear rebound adjustment is next and that controls the extension of the shock. This is probably located lower down amongst your linkage arms. Normally a + or - sign.
All of these need sorting and there’s the sag and ride height as well ! Bet you wished you never asked lol.
Have a look at some tutorial vids on line and you’ll not be worried about tackling your issue.

 

IIRC The rear shock is adjustable for preload, not ride height. If you notice bottoming-out, try setting the preload way up and see if that makes a difference

To get it a bit lower I know the simplest way would be to take the seat to an upholsterer and have them carve out some foam and recover it. That way you don't mess with the handling of the bike. You should be able to gain an inch (or even two) this way

If you need more drop than that, you can easily lower the front up to an inch by loosening the fork tubes, sliding them up, and retightening them

The rear is a bit more tricky. I've heard that the '87-88 shock assembly is shorter, so that could be a straight swap, but I don't know for sure. You'd also be able to put on a lowering link. The best option might be a shorter, stiffer spring in the rear shock. You'd need to figure out the dimensions and rate, but that way you'd get better performance 2-up, and a lot of folks complain that the back is too soft anyway, so it might liven up the handling a bit, while being pretty cheap to do

Another option would be to replace the shock unit with an aftermarket unit with ride height adjustment built-in but that's gonna run $800-1200, and I have no idea about availability. It would definitely improve handling though

 

Sorry didn't see that Wes beat me to it. For what it's worth, I'll bottom out my Goldwing on speed bumps even if it's just me (and I'm not a huge dude) so that's probably normal, especially 2-up. Newer bikes do tend to run much stiffer though, especially on the sporty end of the spectrum

 

I was going to suggest find a Corbin saddle but the pic looks like you already have one. You might go as far as having an inch or so scooped out of it.

Your *** might hate you, but your paint job will be happy

Nice looking bike, BTW