lowering bike

[stampy69]

hey guys not really a mini thread but i've always gotten great help here in the past so i thought i'd ask.................

i just bought a chinese bike 2nd hand for quite cheap but its sits far too high for me.

was wondering what my options are for lowering it....e.g new forks and rear shock.

the current seat height is 102cm and the rear shock 540mm from top bolt (frame) to bottom bolt (swingarm)

I havent measured the forks yet but i assumed i could get shorter springs and put them inside the current forks.

Is this possible or will i need new forks??

Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated

 

[Carlts]

Lowering is probably something that is not recommended as you are going to lose clearance to the engine as well as wheel travel.

To do so you would need a rear shock that is slightly shorter (i.e. 10-20mm shorter) and you could just slip the forks through the clamps a bit to even the ride.

 

[stampy69]

yep been reading up on it here....shaving the seat also works i've read.

i havent ridden anything for 15 years (kx125 back in the day) so i'm pretty much re-learning to ride again......this thing is freaking tall though, had to lean it against the wall to kick it over this morning, definitely felt arkward when it came to stopping lol

I found a shock on ebay> http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_....TR7.TRC1&_nkw=480mm+shock&_sacat=0&_from=R40

which seems to be the biggest i could find so far...this would do the back fine maybe but then the front would be way to high, i doubt sliding forks up the crown would work with such a drastic drop in the rear?

so maybe new forks also??

 

[Carlts]

Changing the back shock can invoke a ton of problems. To save yourself the hassle of potentially buying one that screws up the entire back end, grab a piece of wood the length of your shock and drill some holes in it for use as shock mounts. E.g. if your current shock is 500mm then drill some holes 490mm eye to eye and put the piece of wood on the bike. You will be surprised at how much of a difference this small amount makes!

 

[stampy69]

LOL you lost me there mate....it almost sounded like you wanted me to replace the rear shock with a piece of wood, ahahahah.....can you explain that a little better

I assume you mean to use it to measure height difference to gain reference for new shock length

 

[Carlts]

LOL my bad.

1.Cut a piece of wood to use in place of your shock.
2.Drill two wholes in either end for the shock mount, make the eye to eye length 10mm shorter than your current shock
3.Mount the piece of wood in place of your shock.
4.Have a look at how it sits, If less travel is required drill a new hole another 10mm in.
5.Obviously don't ride with the wood. Might not be as comfy as a shock.

 

[stampy69]

ahahaha, its late, my brains stopped working i think.

yep i'll try that in the morning, should help with seat height but i'll still have the issue having very high forks.

Maybe i can source some second handers on ebay

I'll report back tomorrow...cheers buddy!

 

[zwebx]

just slide the forks up in there tripple clamp... should work fine