lowering question

[anthonygs1000]

I am in the process of doing my fork seals now if i lower the back of my bike two inches should i lower my front forks ?  (easy to do when i have them apart ) and what will this do to the handeling  of the bike ? thanks anthony

[lamoun]

If you lower the back, you should probably lower the front too.

If you don't, then the steering of the bike will be slower, because you increase the rake angle and the trail.
Maybe more important, you change the load each wheel supposed to carry, the back wheel will have more weight than normal.

[anthonygs1000]

 probably ? Maybe? these words scare me thanks ant

[GI_JO_NATHAN]

I rode with my rear dropped for a while before I dropped the front, and it felt fine. It definitely affected the handling, but it didn't make it un-rideable. One thing it did do was make it way more comfortable, because the seat no longer shoved your junk against the tank.

[GeeP]

Why do you want to lower your bike two inches?

By lowering the rear only you will slow the handling as the rake will increase.  You will also drag parts much more easily.

Unless you're under about 5' tall or extremely weak there should be no need to lower the bike.  Learn to one foot it and you'll be fine.  Sport bikes only get taller from here. 

[Teek]

I'm a lot older than the OP, but I lowered mine because the Katana shock I put in put me up on the very tips of my toes. I used to one foot it to the left. If I was on a track, no sweat, but I ride on streets with BIG crowns, potholes, manhole covers, cracks, all sorts of crap, and the crowned side originally had me tiptoe-ing the right side, where the knee I own there has NO ACL, so is a little wobbly, and I don't trust it. Bad hip that side too. Also we use dirt pull offs with big ruts and holes; if I accidentally put a foot down in something like that on the bad knee side, I could easily drop it if my knee buckles. If I'd had the choice, I might have said an inch would be enough, but I got two at the seat, and like 3 1/2 down on the tail (which went up a few with the Katana)l. It feels great, actually, on the street now. The forks we slid up to the bars, so it's not quite to specs yet. I'm waiting on risers, but the bike while not as quick on the turn in, handles nicely and the lower center of gravity should be a plus with the 14t front sprocket that just went on it...    I'll get the steering geometry corrected soon, because I prefer the quicker steering input. I did remove the center stand though, I felt like I was trailing an anchor.
And yeah, I got no junk but I was too tight against the tank anyway, now I can sit back a touch and have a little more bend in my elbows so I can be light on the bars, because of the front being just a bit taller.

[GI_JO_NATHAN]

And yeah, I got no junk but I was too tight against the tank anyway...

I took me a second to get that, then I remembered what I wrote. Ha Ha Ha!!!

[Toogoofy317]

Teek I also have a bumbed right knee and wondered if you wore a brace? My ortho prescribed me a breg brace. Which helps with stability but I can't get my knee in the tucked riding position. I'm 5'8" but terrifed of my  knee giving out. Any advice  would be appreciated!

Mary

[Teek]

Hi Mary,

No brace. I used to use the wrap kind, and it helped when I was riding horses. I never tried one for motos or bicycles though. So you can't bend the knee enough because of the brace?? If you can't bend the knee enough without the brace I'd think there was something else wrong, how long has it been, and did you have any reconstruction? I didn't want to go through the expense and the time laid up for reconstruction, or the great big scars involved to get donor material for a "new" ligament. They tend to fail anyway down the road. It took me some time and lots of working the knee to get my full range of motion back. Now that I have been doing squats and lots of stair climbing, the muscles supprt the joint more and I don't have as much trouble. If it hasn't been that long, it could take 6 months to a year to get full range of motion back, depending on how much you exercise it and how.

If it's just the brace in the way, hmm. I know that I feel much more stable with the bike lowered because I know I can swing it to the left and hold it with that leg if I am quick enough if the right knee buckles, with my left foot flat. Even lowered I am still on my right toe at some lights. I don't have trouble making smooth stops and starts, or balancing with the bike crawling in traffic, it isn't that at all. It's yeah! if the knee goes it's like someone kicking your foot out from underneath you by hitting you in the back of the knee, which is what people don't get. Lowering the bike also lowers the center of gravity, which also makes it easier to balance it (though they balance themselves nicely too), and it is really fun in the twisties. Dunno if you need that if you're 5'8, but the guy I got my bike from was 5'9 and he scooped out the seat!

I "did" my knee I think in 1999. The orthopedist didn't seem concerned that there was much possibility of a torn ligament, so I was in one of those big thigh to calf braces for 3 weeks and walking on crutches. Nine months later I still couldn't bend it more than halfway, so I went back and THEN the male dr ordered an MRI. The ACL (for you guys, the main ligament that goes through the knee from the back of the thigh and out down the shin, providing a huge amount of stability) was totalled, plus the cartilage in my knee was all torn up. I actually tore up my ankle too, which they also ignored. It wasn't like I didn't have insurance, the dr. was just dismissive that an average looking woman could be athletic enough to do that much damage, when now they know it's easier for a woman to wreck a knee because of their wider hips. So I had surgery just to clean up the crap in the joint, and was back in a brace and on crutches for a month. My insurance ran out like 3 days after the operation, so I didn't get any physical therapy, which would have taught me to NOT favor the knee, and doing so has caused more problems in my gait and my hip and back over the years. My knee always wants to "pop" forward, which also has messed up my hip more and my hip flexors. I have to consciously force it to go straight, and tighten the muscles around it. So on that side either the hip or the knee has a tendency to crumple on occasion, so I understand wanting to be aware and careful with that side.

If you're comfortable with the bike, I would suggest (and you have to make your own decision here, I'm not a Dr or a PT) trying one of the neoprene wraps that lets the knee cap stick through, but which provides a little more support than the knee by itself, yet lets it bend. That's what I rode horses in for a few years. Then I'd say to practice practice practice coming to a stop and taking off with just your left foot down. Once stopped and comfortably balanced, you can choose to put the right foot down so you can get over the fear of your knee failing, and so you can put the bike in neutral if you want for a long light. That means making sure you're downshifted to first before you're stopped so you don't have to put the right foot down at all if you don't want to. It's the same way anyone rides a bike that is "tall", and the way I was riding the bike before the Katana shock was installed, and the way I rode every bigger bike when I was much younger.

I'd also suggest asking your orthopedist for a physical therapist reccomendation and go for a bit, just to get the sets of exercises that will build up all the muscles around your knee now. If I had done that 9 years ago, my knee, hip, and back would be in a LOT better condition. Every thing that goes "out" affects the entire body, but it's often so slow that one doesn't become aware of it for a long time.

Good luck, and don't let it scare you off the bike!

Because I just put 70 miles of PCH, Latigo Canyon, Mulholland (stopped at the Rock Store to pee!), Malibu Canyon and back PCH and the fwy on my NEW 14t SSSSSSSPROCKET!

YEEHAW, these things should come with that STOCK!! 

[Toogoofy317]

No way is it going to scare me off my baby love him way to much for that. My actual surgery was a lateral release do to bicycling. Didn't finish the rehab due to my heart had started again but back in the hospital so get to start over
Mary

[anthonygs1000]

I want to lower the bike because when i am done with it i am going to let my girlfriend ride it and she is not to tall  but if it screwed with how it handles I would not touch it thanks anthony

[Jay_wolf]

ive lowered my front end , to mount the clip ons on the top of the tripple , and on the rear , i got a Hagon Shock , it was a direct bolt in as it was made for the bike , and it feels alot firmer and where the old shock would drop me about 2-3 inches, this one doesnt move

i didnt lower it for height issues , as im 6ft 3 and i can flat foot all day long , but lowering the front gave what i was thought was sharper more responsive handling , however... this is a katana front end, and my blip ons on the stock GS frotnm end were mounted above the tripple to , so it could be that lol

[Teek]

So did you lower the rear after the Hagon install? If your front end only is lowered, yowzuh, some quick turn in!

anthonygs1000, it shouldn't make the handling twitchy, lowering the rear only will slow the turn in and steering response, it would feel a little more like a cruiser; lowering the front only will make it quicker and likely too much so for someone not used to it, more like a supersport. I lowered both, but my front still needs to come down a bit more to get my rake angle back to stock.
Yeah, sometimes it feels like my Katana rear shock doesn't move, a big bump at speed will toss me an inch out of the saddle. I think I need to play with the rebound setting, then maybe I will give up and swap the stock spring onto the Katana shock....

Mary, Ow, no wonder you are having some troubles. Yes, the PT should help you feel a lot more stable. If you're a cyclist then you already have good balance, which is also in your favor. Good luck!   

[Toogoofy317]

Yeah riding came pretty easy. You know you've falling for a bike when it has a name before it is bought. Yeah I'm sure with more PT will help.
Mary

[anthonygs1000]

thanks all  i will go from there anthony