Opinions needed - Strength of KZ440 Frame

like nerdy already said, the swingarm pivot / output sprocket relative position limit how much you can raise the bike.
more than 1.5"-2" and the top run of the chain will be rubbing the swingarm,

so assuming you wan tot keep the stance balanced and not ride a chopper in the dirt, the front cant be raised above 2" either.

this kind of increase in fork length is not going to introduce much bigger forces.

essentially you will end up with a scrambler stance, which should look nice actually, just dont expect to get more than 5" wheel travel for big air jumps.

search for "mcdeeb z400" to see some nice examples of such scramblers

thekneeslider.com/kawasaki-z400-scramble...ic-farm-motorcycles/

turboguzzi wrote: like nerdy already said, the swingarm pivot / output sprocket relative position limit how much you can raise the bike.
more than 1.5"-2" and the top run of the chain will be rubbing the swingarm,

so assuming you wan tot keep the stance balanced and not ride a chopper in the dirt, the front cant be raised above 2" either.

this kind of increase in fork length is not going to introduce much bigger forces.

essentially you will end up with a scrambler stance, which should look nice actually, just dont expect to get more than 5" wheel travel for big air jumps.

search for "mcdeeb z400" to see some nice examples of such scramblers

thekneeslider.com/kawasaki-z400-scramble...ic-farm-motorcycles/

Thanks turboguzzi. I'm not going for the "Carolina Lean" look, that's a trend in trucks I just as soon see die off.... and definitely not a look I'm going for in a bike either. And No plans for big air jumps or even medium air jumps, so the plan is to keep the bike level. Gaining an 1" to 1-1/2" higher ride height with more suspension travel overall is what I'm after, so I guess it would be a proper scrambler, but nowadays it seems like scramblers are just stock suspensions with knobby tires. Oh, and my front fender will raised up for clearance. Probably mount it to the bottom of the lower triple.

well, that's exactly what i meant, the +1.5"-2" added suspensions travel stance, not the look, whatever Carolina Lean means (?)

take out the stupid rebound spring of the stock suspension, put in there a proper 0.8kg/mm spring and a height adjuster spacer and thats exactly what youll get without changing the fork even.
wanna get proper working suspension? drop in there race tech emulators too.

you still need +1.5 travel shocks at the back, but thats it.

turboguzzi wrote: well, that's exactly what i meant, the +1.5"-2" added suspensions travel stance, not the look, whatever Carolina Lean means (?)

take out the stupid rebound spring of the stock suspension, put in there a proper 0.8kg/mm spring and a height adjuster spacer and thats exactly what youll get without changing the fork even.
wanna get proper working suspension? drop in there race tech emulators too.

you still need +1.5 travel shocks at the back, but thats it.

Carolina Lean is that stupid look in trucks where they raise THE FRONT of the truck 4"-6" but leave the rear stock height so the trucks look like they're hauling a ton of gravel in the back...

I've never had the stock KZ440/KZ650 forks apart yet... but I pretty much plan to use all Race-Tech internals and gold cart emulators in all of my builds, Kawi and Honda...

So, thank you again!


I really appreciate all the help, guidance and links guys!