lowering bike

[hawaiiboi]

hey guys how can u lower the bike because my feet is berrely touching the ground??

[blackhawkxx]

Someone here just did it but I can't find it right now. What he did was to get a rear lowering link and for the front, just slide the front tubes up in the clamp. He also used a strap on the front but I don't think you will want to lower it as far as he did.

[hawaiiboi]

so u cant lower the bike??

[BIG BOY]

You CAN lower the bike.

You need to slide the fork tubes upward in the triple tree and get a lowering dog leg/bone for the rear.

[demon]

You can slip the forks up in the tripples some and get one of these links. Got mine through Schnitz racing.

[pace]

Have you guys experimented with the rear sag (preload adjustment)? I'd like to drop about 3/4" up front and maybe a half inch in the rear. Do you guys think a 1/2" drop is doable by adjusting the preload alone, and would it adversely affect handling?

-Pace

[RodeRash]

I'm not a big fan of lowering a bike that is used for riding around corners. A half inch to an inch drop will cause all sorts of hard parts to drag on the ground when you go around corners. If you drag race, that's a different story.

If I needed my feet to touch the ground, I would probably have my seat re-contoured. They can do two things to get your feet closer to the ground while still maintaining a comfortable seat.

1. Make the seat area a little narrower, so your legs hang down further.

2. Make the seat lower by using less of a higher quality foam.

This gives you the best of both worlds. Good handling and ground clearance, and a comfortable ride.

One more thing. Be careful where you park your bike. Don't put yourself in a position where you need to paddle the bike backwards to leave a parking space.

[Furbird]

Been down that road. 30" inseam = no feet flat on the ground. I just knocked some preload out of the spring and took care of it. Didn't do the fork tubes thing, that's WAY too much like work

[pace]

Right. That's the thing - I have a 30" inseam and I weigh 160lbs, so I can probably safely remove some preload and drop the forks a little without touching down any hard parts.

-Pace

[partmonster]

30 inch inseam here. Since I am putting my bird back together anyway

I purchased a lowering link from Pro Tek with a 1 inch and 3 inch drop. I will be making sure to drop the front forks through the trees in order to keep the angle of attack exactly the same. I was originally going to do a 3 inch drop but after thinking of dragging parts I am thinking more of only inch is necessary. I will post back here when done.

Louie

[demon]

When you slide the fork tubes up in the clamps an inch, be careful over sharp edged bumps. You don't want the lower forks coming in contact with the lower tripple clamp. You might want to stiffen up the front preload a bit with some pvc pipe. Any more than an inch, and I would get some straps or internally modify the forks for reduced travel$$$. The straps, when tight, give a rougher ride because of no rebound past the strapping point. I bought the fully adjustable link in order to "tune" the rear suspension for my exact traction needs at the dragstrip. Too High = wheelie, Too low = tire spin.

[matey_peeps]

i'm 5'10 but all my height is in my torso, i have 30" inseam pants. i've been mincing around like a girl on my tiptoes since day one, and i started riding on supersports. it's never bothered me, just the way things are. you get to tampering with suspension geometry and you'll sometimes find yourself in a hole that only putting the bike back to stock settings will fix. hard parts touching down, fender in the rad etc etc. i've accepted it as a fact of life and i even own/ride very tall dualsports. i'm not saying it can't be done, but you can save yourself a lot of time and money by just learning to live with it. that's my $.02 and YMMV.

[matey_peeps]

i'm 5'10 but all my height is in my torso, i have 30" inseam pants. i've been mincing around like a girl on my tiptoes since day one, and i started riding on supersports. it's never bothered me, just the way things are. you get to tampering with suspension geometry and you'll sometimes find yourself in a hole that only putting the bike back to stock settings will fix. hard parts touching down, fender in the rad etc etc. i've accepted it as a fact of life and i even own/ride very tall dualsports. i'm not saying it can't be done, but you can save yourself a lot of time and money by just learning to live with it. that's my $.02 and YMMV.

[Furbird]

I'm the same height/inseam as you, and have had no ill effects from removing some preload on the spring. I have never dragged/drug/however you say it... anything on the ground, but have gotten a knee down. I do a lot of drag racing and try to hit some corners when I can, and lowering it that little bit has done nothing but help me.

[demon]

I'm 5'10" with a 30" inseam like a lot of you, and I had no problem with the bike at stock height. When I added 6mm of shim to the shock and added a corbin seat, I could barely back the thing out of a parking space. :oops:

[aquokka]

maybe a stupid question to those more knowledgeable, but i've often seen people saying changing pre-load on the rear spring changes seat height.

doesn't once someone sits on the bike make-up for any adjustment to the spring unless you make excessive change? if anything, i would think loading the pre-load (ie shortening spring length) would lower the bike because it takes more weight before added compression.

what am i missing here..thanks.

[Northman]

You're right, to a point, on the preload thing.

Shortening the spring would lower the back end of the bike, if it were riding directly on the spring - it isn't. The bike is being held up by the shock, which the spring is holding at full extension when the bike is unloaded.

Adding preload means you need more weight to overcome the static pressure of the spring before you compress it any. Meaning if you had 50lbs of preload on the spring, you would need 51lbs to initiate any spring movement.

Removing preload, say to 25lbs for example, would result in 26 lbs to actually move the spring, and 25 to overcome the preload.

The end result would be a lower loaded height with less preload.

IMO, you shouldn't fuck with preload to adjust ride height. Set your sag to the factory specs (typically 30-34mm, measured at the axle, not the shock), then buy an aftermarket link to lower the bike, or shim the shock to raise it.

Same goes for forks. Sliding them in the triples helps for minor adjustments, but too far, and you'll risk bottoming the suspension and hitting the fender or tire on the underside of the cowl. Very dangerous scenario, to say the least. :shock:

If you want the front end lowered properly, have the forks sent out, to a competent suspension shop, where they will shorten the stroke of the fork, as well as shorten up the internals so they still dampen properly.

All of this still only works for minor modifications, BTW. If the bike has to be lowered significantly for you to be comfortable on it, the bike is too big for you. Buy something smaller.

My $.02

[aquokka]

thanks. mine is fine, but considering the 6mm spacer change and deciding if the 3/4 inch height change is an issue what i'd do.

cheers

[DaveK]

You are ALL wrong !

Gain 100 pounds.....DONE ! :wink:

I am 5 10 and 240.....Bike is peeeeerfect ! And when I have a heart attack and die....you can all try it !

[bartonmd]

One more thing... if you're gonna lower the front of a bike...

Make sure you do SOMETHING to the front suspension... a guy I met on Sat night with a turbo 'busa has it lowered... but just lowered the front by raising the tubes in the clamps... sits 2" off the ground in the middle instead of like 5". He was heading down the drag strip and when the front end came down, it busted the oil pan and he went down supposedly over 100mph from oil on the rear wheel. So just watch out how low you get the front end without any straps, or stiffer springs, or something.