I am thinking about lowering my bike and it would be strictly for cosmetic reasons. I do have a question before I do this and that is, what are the ill effects for doing this and how much of a drop before you start to feel it?


Jeff

my mechanic told me anytime u alter like that or even extending the swingarm u loose handling cause i asked him the same question
and i quote "it would be like rideing a sled" lol hole shot no prob but the twistys u would have to fight it
cause i was thinking of lowering my 12 and extending the swingarm at one time

When I had mine stretched 7" over and lowered 3" in the back and .75" in the front, I rode it like it was stock. I had no problems turning, but I would scrape the fairings on the bottom. I now have it stretched 12" with a 330 tire on the back and I can definitely tell the difference now. I really have to counter steer it now where I could just lay it over before with my weight.

I am not interested in stretching only lowering and maybe 1-2 inches I think it makes the bike look better. The 12 seem to be a bit tall. I am on a quest to beautify mine and lowering is one of the ways.Ransome your bike is Hooooot.


Jeff

Shoot Avenger a PM. I'm sure he can tell you lots.

I am not interested in stretching, only lowering and maybe 1-2 inches I think it makes the bike look better. The 12 seem to be a bit tall. I am on a quest to beautify mine and lowering is one of the ways.Ransome your bike is Hooooot.


Jeff

Thanks! I also forgot to mention that I'm short so I needed to lower the bike to feel comfortable riding it. The 12 is a little tall.

Actually the height is perfect for me, but with the undertail and a few goodies it just looks goofy so tall. The bike is fast as heck and handles really good.


Jeff

I'm not a fan of extended bikes, bit I do like lowered bikes! They look so much better lowered some. If using 3 hole links, the center hole was perfect for the street.
And I had mone lowered the front 1". Don't go any lower than 1-1/4" with the front.
For the average rider on the street, you would not notice a huge difference.
If you were getting the pegs down at stock height, then you will notice it.
The biggest negative is you will probably scrape up the lower fairings.

Looks better << I miss her, sold 08/01/08>>


Definately not a sled, Cherohala Skyway


It will happen

I rode around town for a bit with my drag straps tightened...It rode like a log wagon! But it was easier to maneuver at parking/slow speeds (I have short legs). I never dragged my fairings but then again I wasn't fully "drag strip" strapped. Plus, slow speed turning took a bit more effort, the straps act a little like a steering damper.

If you want to feel what the bike would be like lowered (at least in the front), strap it and ride it around town. The suspension won't be the same, but at least you'd get a feel for the ride height...

I wouldn't recommend it long term though....

When lowering the front.Do anyone had trouble that the frontfender hits the airduct snorkel in hard suspension?

I would recommend NOT riding on the streets with the straps pulled down.
You are just asking to crash due to reduced suspension travel.
It's not like going down a smooth dragstrip.



Yes, I had about a 1" crack on both sides of my front fender. Those came from setting the front down too hard from wheelies and the fender hitting the bottom of the snorkel.

I set my bike down very gently when whellie so no cracks yet.

BUT I did a full speed run a few weeks ago and when going full trottle I ran over a bump causing the frontsupension to push through and the fender hitting the airduct.Result was the front wheel bouncing and making a wheelie in 300km/h.Came down ok but scary.

I think lowering and street riding may not be the best thing.I have mine lowered just 1,5cm in the front now and a very tighted supension setting

love my @ 4over would never lower it cause im tall. short guys should get short bike like a buell or wear boots with thick soles so your feet dont dangle while you sitting on the seat.

mines dont ride like a sled for me it rides much better than stock

I lowered mine for quicker steering.

But when a small guy flicks the trottle he will leave a big guy behind in a dustcloud

I don't strap it all the way down, and yes the suspension is a ton more rough...That's why it should only be done on a decent road for a short bit just to see what a lowered bike feels like (at least the front anyway). A lot of guys only lower the front, allows for them to stand flat footed but not sacrifice all the handling that a full lower would....

BTW, Had the bike strapped one time at the strip (fully down, maybe an inch off the ram air scoop) and on the return road there was a bump...went over it a bit fast and "CHUNK!!!" Got back to the pits to discover the strap bracket had taken a nice bit out of the fork housing from being shoved upwards going over that bump...Returned VERY slowly from then on...Drag strip has since been re-paved and bump is gone, gladly the chunk isn't too noticeable...

I am down 1 1/4 front and the 3rd hole on lowering link. handles very good. but you have to watch will rub paint on the bottom. I LIKE the look alot and I am 6ft

How far can you go on the front without hitting the fender? I am debating on a 4-6 stretch and lowering a bit. Partly for looks, partly for the track, and mostly to keep me from being hard on it in the twisties and taking a chance on messing it up... I'll keep the Bandit for the stepchild.. LOL! :)

I may look at a 240 kit down the road, but since the stocker is a 200 not sure I can justify the expense. How big of tire can you fit on the stock rim and swingarm?

I had mine lowered 1 1/2 inches in the rear and 1 in the front with no probs scrapin.Also remember if you lower more in the front it will turn sharper due to havin less rake and trail.more drop in the rear will make it more stable at high speeds. Of course I don't think 12's need to be anymore stable lol.

yeah... after I posted i found another thread detailing the taper in the A1 forks. Not sure what year I have on there now off Ebay. I am still on the fence... guess I need to review budget and pull the trigger on a 200 rear tire and extensions

I have mine lowered an inch and a half front and rear front fender only hits if hitting a large bump hard. front of the fairing is really low so you have to go around speed bumps and be careful using ramps as it will bottom already broke one fairing this way.

i weigh about 210, lowered the bike after seeing the bike standing tall among other bikes, too tall in fact, now at the middle hole at the rear and 1-1/4 up front it looks really nice.

as far as handling goes, i love how it rides lowered, fantastic on a straights and on fast sweepers, the bike was more wheelie prone when stock under less throttle than it is now with basic mods.

i ride a fixed route so bumps dont worry me, but upon cleaning the fairing recently i did notice scratches down under :p ....caused by a pillions extra weight after he got a flat

but seeing how decent it handles lowered im thinking of going back to stock height at the rear and raising the forks 10mm

It's simple really. If your a POSER...POSE. If your a RAILER...RAIL.

I'm into my bike looking exactly the way I want it to with only one caveat...whatever I do to it, it CAN NOT hurt the performance capabilities of the bike or I wont do it. Lowering will alter its performance. WR

What he said!!

how did it negative alter the performance if the bike. I lowered my bike because it makes me more comfortable on the bike even though I am 5 ' 10" I have short legs . More comfortable = better performance for me.

I had my last 12 lowered, 1" drop on the front forks, muzzy links in the back on the bottom hole. I LOVED it. it was much more responsive in the corners, flicked in very quickly. sure may have lost some turning ability, but i NEVER noticed it. I guess i wasn't out trying to drag knee on the street. After i did the 17t front, stock ride height, it would wheelie all the time. after being lowered, it would never wheelie unless i really pulled back on it. I would use a front end strap and the strip, and the snorkel did hit the front fender and put a little scratch in it coming back on the return road. It did tear up the bottom fairing though, especially when i would have my wife on the back and give her rides. Scraped all the time.

btw.. you WILL have to cut down your kickstand. Or buy one of those crazy expensive adjustable ones.

what about heating the stand to a slight outward bend? thats what my mechanic does to lowered busas brought into the shop and recommended the same. hardly noticable

I lowered mine 1" in the Front and 2" in the back. Stock Wheel length Still corners great. Stiffened up the suspension a little in front and back. No problems with scraping. Won't come off the ground as easy. Very comfortable ride for me.

Cut my kickstand 1" and it has a perfect lean to it.

I bought my bike lowered and the dog bone is in the lowest position and is too low. I want it back to stock height and just started taking off fairing etc. the lowest position in the dog bones goes directly into the pipe, meaning the pipes have to be entirely removed as well to be lowered? Can the pipes be taken off without dropping the radiator? I really wasnt hoping for hours and hours of work, but one thing seems to be leading to another. what a pain in the ass!

Oh reminds me why i love naked bikes and dual sports so much!

Try taking the bottom shock bolt out and linkage bolt out that secures the linkage to the frame. That should allow you to swing the arms back and take the bolt off with out dropping the pipe. You will have to find a way to support the bike.

Thanks chuck I havent made any further progress on it yet today. I thought this was gonna be a 20 minute job. Wow what a pain in the ass. Ill see about removing both bolts you mention..but I dont know how I would support the bike. Im tempted to leave it lowered this far even though the handling sucks or just pay the shop.

Loosen the lower dogbone bolt and thake the nut off. Pull the bolt thru far enough to swing that side of the dogbone out of the way. There is a inner sleeve that you can now slide out. You may silde the bolt back and forth to see the sleeve. Once the sleeve is out you can tilt and angle the bolt to slide out past the exhaust.

When you reinstall the bolt put it in the other way with the nut side toward the exhaust and you won't have any problems should you need to make an adjustment later on.

I use a floor jack and lift it on the right side so that it lifts against the side stand. Allows me to raise and lower the bike to the correct height when i am installing a swing arm, shock or other work like that. There is a small section of frame that you can usually put the jack under.

Others use tie downs attached to the rafters to hold it up but I can't do that.

Mark this is very helpful and I am sure that will work for me. I left it apart today and havent done anything further I will pick up tomorrow and finish up with how you said it!!

Big thanks to you.

Also, I always raised and lowered mine on the rear stand by myself. I used the floor jack method under the rear shock. To keep the bike stable on the stand I wrapped a ratchet strap around the swingarm and secured it to the stand. just to be on the safe side.
I never used the lowest portion of the links. You may still have to raise up on the exhaust some. Not sure, it has been a few years since I did this.

I eventually got tired of doing this the hard way, and bought a set of the threaded links.
Must easier, and more adjustable.

Just an FYI on marks method. It will likely only work if you are lowering the bike and not raising it back up. The dog bones in the highest position will clear the exhaust, but in the lowest there is no way it will clear the exhaust. Tomorrow the whole fucking exhaust and everything in my way comes off just to raise the bike back up. I have to say this has been extremely frustrating.

I did mine alone in about 30 minutes. Now I need to do the front.



Jeff

Here's a way to get the rear off the ground without having the shock compressed. Remove the fairings and jack the bike up with a bike lift or regular floor jack. The stock exhaust will actually support the weight of lifting the bike without crushing - especially when it's just for a couple minutes. Once you have the rear of the bike off the ground, insert a rolled steel rod through the swingarm pivot - you can pick up a 3' or so rod at Lowe's or Home Depot for a few bucks. Use a couple of jackstands on either side of the bike below the steel rod, then gently lower the bike so the rod rests on the stands.

I recently used this method to change out the shock on my 12R and it worked great.

Could do the same thing with a rear stand to lift the bike, and a piece of rod on stands (thru the swingarm pivot); then just take the rear tire off to allow the swingarm to drop all the way..

I ended up not removing the exhaust and did what you guys are saying. 2 jacks stands and allowed the bike shock to come down and removed the bolt that way. It will be buttoned back up entirely when I can bare the heat in the garage again (its 115 degrees).

I thought this would be literally a 20 minute job like it was on my KTM enduro with a 38 inch seat height. The exhaust on the 12 was right where on the bolt end though and the previous owner didnt have the sense to just put the bolt through the other side and save me a ton of aggravation. Well, at least the bike will handle better now for me and the tires are mounted. Sometimes things just dont go the easy way.

Lesson for those of you who lowered your bike, turn the bolt around the other way so you can always change the height with ease or someone like me who buys the bike can adjust it easy.

Maintenance on the 12 is a little more difficult then most other bikes. Wait till you change plugs. Removing some of the OEM parts helps and adding aftermarket parts like the pipe and getting rid of the kleen system but it still takes time to access areas that are easy on other bikes.
Some little things require more thought like that bolt as you found out.

Glad you got it sorted out.