What do people do when they lower a bike?

Was just curious how to lower a bike. Will more than likely get my 77 900 lowered and stretched.:blink:

To lower my 77 1000, I slid the front forks up in the triple tree by one inch, and replaced the 13.5" stock rear shocks with 11.5" sportster takeoffs. At 5'9". I can comfortably sit on the bike with both feet flat and a little bend at the knees.

On a roommate's old XS400, we raised the forks in the trees an inch and cut down the seat by two inches. She barely fits with this arrangement, 5'1" doesn't make for many riding choices. :dry:

So it is easy as that huh? Does making the bike lower mess with the handling of the bike from the stock ride?

greatly improves handling,lowers center of gravity.easier to hpold frontend down if your into that.:evil: :whistle: :woohoo:

Knowing Wireman's style of bike, I believe such lowering modifications will improve handling by his definition. :D

The short shocks and fork tube modifications will indeed change the handling.

Shorter shocks will increase the wheelbase and increase trail. This will give you a far more stable ride, but it'll be harder to muscle your bike through the turns. Shorter shocks increase the wheelbase in the same way that a lengthened swingarm does, so if you're familiar with the handling changes a stretched bike goes through, its about the same deal.

Moving the forks around in the triple tree changes your trail a decent amount. I wouldn't recommend pulling the forks up any more than an inch because of the changes in the trail will make the bike a little unstable, and because the front fender may start to hit your header pipes over sever bumps or under heavy braking.

Trail is a pretty neat. All things equal, the less trail you have, the more responsive your bike will be. Some people say that decreasing the trail makes a bike more 'flickable' or 'twitchy'. A common thing to do on modern SV650s that are going to the track is to pull the forks up in the trees an inch to improve their handling.

As far as how much these mods will affect your bike, I can't tell for certain. My bike felt more stable after the shocks and forks. Yours may too. The best handling setup is determined by the rider. I can only recommend that you make the changes one at a time, and if you're able to, in small increments. You'll get a good feel of what affects what, and hopefully you won't put yourself in a situation where you jump on a bike with really unsafe handling.

But with a stretched and slammed bike, maybe the twisties aren't your thing, anyway.

Anyway, to close, a link:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rake_and_trail

Post edited by: Johnno, at: 2006/06/12 00:54

yeah what he said!:woohoo: but i dont reccomend lowering front without lowering rear first but you can lower just the rear for more high speed stability.my 1327 and my z1 each have about 3 1/2" of ground clearance under header with my 200 lbs sitting on them they handle like slotcars but the speedbump going into advance auto parts is a drag literally! hahaha;)

Thanks for the info. When i get my bike, hopefully this week some time(waiting for the dmv to get the papers on it so i can get it) That will more than likely be one of the major things i do to her. I am 6'4 265 pounds so kinda wanting the bike to look as big as i can get it.