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lowering the front
Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2003 9:41 am
by Volker Traudt
What happens if I drop the front 1 or even 2 inches (letting the ends of the
fork tube stick out 1 or 2 inches above the top of the triple clamp)?
Will it change the steering geometry dramatically? Other potential
disadvantages?
I want to set up one of my bikes to accomadate my kids better.
Volker
-----Original Message-----
From:
sentto-488385-83622-1065273706-vtraudt=compuserve.com@....c
om
[mailto:sentto-488385-83622-1065273706-vtraudt=compuserve.com@...
.yahoo.com] On Behalf Of Arden Kysely
Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2003 9:22 AM
To:
DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [DSN_klr650] Re: front end twitches in gravel
I'll add a couple of things to Pat's list:
4) Try keeping as much weight as possible on the pegs. You don't have
to stand, though it might help, but pressing on the pegs gets the
weight down lower.
5) Use the throttle if the gravel gets deep and the bike starts to
wallow. The throttle is your friend in loose stuff, and many other
places as well.
__Arden
--- In
DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, kdxkawboy@a... wrote:
> In a message dated 2003-10-03 4:40:19 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
> revbob1999@y... writes:
>
> >
> >
> > Hi All! I have 1200 miles on my 2002 with stock tires. I have
tried
> > to ride gravel roads but both the front and rear ends feel like
each
> > rock wants to send each end bouncing to and fro, very twitchy
feeling.
> > Any ideas how to cure this, or is this just a characteristic of a
> > KLR650? Thanks
> >
> >
>
> Its a characteristic of riding gravel/sand on most any bike. The
stock tires
> wont help the problem any. A slight change in riding style could
help. Next
> time you're in gravel try the following:
>
> 1) Use your knees/thighs to get a good grip on the seat/tank/side
panels.
> 2) Use this grip as the foundation to use your lower back muscles
to hold up
> your upper body and get your weight off the handlebars.
> 3) Loosen your grip on the bars. The idea is let the wheel wobble a
bit and
> it will more less keep itself centered on the line you're trying to
follow.
>
> Pat
> G'ville, Nv
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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lowering the front
Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2003 6:21 pm
by Guest
I say you will affect geometry by just lowering the front forks.
I just installed the Scootworks lowering kit and put my bike down 3
inches. But that's 3 inches front AND back. (as in level??). I'm
barely past novice but why would kits be available if you could just
lower the forks to get the bike down lower.
Martin.
Canada.
lowering the front
Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2003 7:14 pm
by Jim The Canoeist
Don't confuse us. That's 1.5 inches front and rear. Please guys, don't try
to lower anything 3 inches without some serious thought to what happens to
wheel clearance, cable routing, handling, etc..
As to original question: try it and tell us. Sounds good for hunting worms
by head light. Conventional wisdom though is to keep pretty much the same
geometry by doing the same amount front and rear.
A question from me. Am I anywhere close to hitting the front wheel on the
front fender by slipping the forks 1.5" What if I install one of the
popular fork braces? Will it hit the fender?
-Jim in AZ
----- Original Message -----
From: "martinwaters"
To: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2003 4:21 PM
Subject: [DSN_klr650] Re: LOWERING THE FRONT
> I say you will affect geometry by just lowering the front forks.
> I just installed the Scootworks lowering kit and put my bike down 3
> inches. But that's 3 inches front AND back. (as in level??). I'm
> barely past novice but why would kits be available if you could just
> lower the forks to get the bike down lower.
> Martin.
> Canada.
lowering the front
Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2003 7:28 pm
by Doug Herr
On Sat, 4 Oct 2003, Jim The Canoeist wrote:
> Don't confuse us. That's 1.5 inches front and rear.
He said that he used the Scootworks lowering kit. This allows 1,
2 or 3 inches of lowering. So, I do thing he really meant that
he lowered the rear by 3 inches and then also lowered the front
by 3 inches.
My wife's bike was at the full 3 and 3 setting. We did check to
find that about 2 inches is the max front lowering before the
tire can touch the fender a full compression (stock tire with
about 5000 miles on it). I have given her the K9 fork brace and
moved her to 2 inches of lowering. This does mean that the
outer/bottom part of the fender will hit the brace with heavy
compression, but will not effect the wheel. She does not do much
dirt riding and what she does is pretty timid, so I think it
unlikely that the loss of travel will be an issue. Maybe we will
consider progressive springs since they should help this and
should give an overall improvement.
Oh, I also have a UFO low front fender coming in. If I like it a
bunch then maybe she will go for that then we will see how that
effects front end travel.
--
Doug Herr
doug@...
lowering the front
Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2003 7:44 pm
by dooden
--- In
DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "martinwaters"
wrote:
> I say you will affect geometry by just lowering the front forks.
> I just installed the Scootworks lowering kit and put my bike down 3
> inches. But that's 3 inches front AND back. (as in level??). I'm
> barely past novice but why would kits be available if you could just
> lower the forks to get the bike down lower.
> Martin.
> Canada.
And some say by raising the forks in the tubes you get a quicker steer
with more tight cornering. Perhaps it would give a stiffer ride since
there is less angle to aborb the motion of the impact on bumps.
Either way it don't cost anything to try it, same as adjusting the
bars before buying another set of them.
But heck everybody is entitled to spend their money as they see fit.
Thats one reason I like my KLR so much, I can do to it, whatever I
want to make it more comfortable and fun to ride and not care what the
next person thinks.
Ride on...
Dooden
A15 Green Ape
lowering the front
Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2003 3:21 am
by Guest
With my forks up about 1" into the triple clamp, from the factory
assembly in 1997 until about 1998 and 15,000 miles, my bike definitely
felt more nimble and more steady at speed, although i did install mt21's
front and rear at the same time as finally lowering the forks.
lowering the front
Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2003 11:01 am
by Volker Traudt
I just checked the scootworks website, they are offering 2 kits. Which one
did you get?
Also, the picture only shows what seems to be a different link for the rear.
Is that all the kit includes? What about the front (just raising the
forks?).
Volker
-----Original Message-----
From:
sentto-488385-83648-1065309672-vtraudt=compuserve.com@....c
om
[mailto:sentto-488385-83648-1065309672-vtraudt=compuserve.com@...
.yahoo.com] On Behalf Of martinwaters
Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2003 7:21 PM
To:
DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [DSN_klr650] Re: LOWERING THE FRONT
I say you will affect geometry by just lowering the front forks. I just
installed the Scootworks lowering kit and put my bike down 3
inches. But that's 3 inches front AND back. (as in level??). I'm
barely past novice but why would kits be available if you could just
lower the forks to get the bike down lower.
Martin.
Canada.
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lowering the front
Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2003 11:25 am
by Doug Herr
On Sun, 5 Oct 2003, Volker Traudt wrote:
> Also, the picture only shows what seems to be a different link for the rear.
> Is that all the kit includes? What about the front (just raising the
> forks?).
They have a single position 2" kit which is about the same as all
the others. They also have a multi-position link that can be
used at 1", 2" or 3".
I know you did not ask me, but I got the 1-3" kit. It comes with
the lowering links and a stop to install in the rear shock if
bottoming out in the rear is noticed.
There are no parts supplied for the front, just instructions
to raise the forks.
> -----Original Message-----
> .yahoo.com] On Behalf Of martinwaters
> Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2003 7:21 PM
> To:
DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [DSN_klr650] Re: LOWERING THE FRONT
>
>
>
> I say you will affect geometry by just lowering the front forks. I just
> installed the Scootworks lowering kit and put my bike down 3
> inches. But that's 3 inches front AND back. (as in level??). I'm
> barely past novice but why would kits be available if you could just
> lower the forks to get the bike down lower.
> Martin.
> Canada.
--
Doug Herr
doug@...
lowering the front
Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2004 4:17 pm
by bzrc
i used a kit from skootworks to lower the rear. they mentioned the
front could be lowered to keep the machine geometry the same. sounds
simple but the forks are not sliding after loosening the clamp
brackets. is there some device or procedure that will make adjusting
the fork tubes simpler?
fore sale 1999 a13 pittsburgh pa
Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2004 10:19 am
by imbikermikenotu
Let me know if anyone in the region is interested.
12,000 miles
Super Trapp IDS and K&N Power Kit.
Braided front brake line.
Moose bash plate.