Crazy Idea, does lowering HELP cornering?

[xunedeinx]

I ordered some dogbones that lower it about 1.5 inches, being my bike is up 1/2 inch bc of the kat shock, it should get me a 1 inch drop.

Ill also be doing the front forks to match.

Heres the crazy (or not so much) thought.

Yea, a stabilizer bar helps with fork torsion from the axle, mainly from breaking..

But, lowering the lorks an inch or so more into the triple clamps, should make the area that has the opportunity to twist, less..

What I mean, stock height is x inches from bottom of the bottom triple to the axle.

Lowered is x-1 inches from the bottom of the bottom triple triple to the axle.

So, therefore, its a shorter area to bend or twist, so therefore, its stronger.

like being able to step on a 6 foot 2x4 and bend it, but do it with a 4 foot 2x4 and it wont bend as much...

Discuss. Maybe?

[Slack]

Makes sense.  But, I think that the true benefit of lowering the front to match the rear is returning the rake and trail numbers to something more aggressive.  That should have much more of an impact on the handling then the tiny bit of added rigidity you are referring to, although every little bit helps 

[Twisted]

If you look at track bikes they lower the front by pushing the triple down in the forks and raise the rear. This affects tip in and out dramatically.

[xunedeinx]

Yea, but im not refering to affecting rake, making the bike less stable.

Im refering to making the forks more rigid by making the distance from the bottom of the bottom triple to the axle less.

[mister]

If you place the triple lower down the forks, it will effect rake. It will also effect wheel base. Your handling Will be different.

I know a guy who did this on his forks by 5mm, he reckoned it was almost unridable.

But hey, do it and then you know for sure, right?

Michael

[gsJack]

I lowered my rear end about 1 1/4" to compensate for larger rear tires and not with the intention to affect handling.  A taller GS was getting inconvenient since mother nature has lowered my overall height 4" in recent years.     As far as handling goes I felt it stifened the rear suspension a bit and with my shock preload also cranked up a bit it was better balanced with my progressive spring front end.

With a larger rear tire that raised the rear end about 3/4" I was a net 1/2" lower than standard with the links so I dropped the front end on the forks about 1/2" to get my 25 degrees of GS rake back.     More recently when I put a smaller rear tire on I was not happy with it until I put a 110/70 stock front tire back on to replace the larger 110/80 and 120/70 fronts I had been using.

Anything greater than 25 degrees of rake and it's no longer a GS500!  I recall putting a 130/90 rear touring tire on the back of my 1st GS500 like I had used on my previous Hondas and it raised the rear about 1" and I really liked the handling but my GS didn't like the tire because it wanted to go around corners faster than that touring type tire did.

I checked the front for lowering limit once and found I could only put the forks up 1" max before the seal wiper would hit the lower triple at full compression:

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=40074.msg450638#msg450638

Can only lower it about 1/4" until the fork tubes hit the bars unless they are moved out of the way.  I have the GenMar risers so plenty of clearance there.

[SAFE-T]

I believe the effect will be positive, but negligible.

[tt_four]

Making anything stiffer will help. That's why newer/nicer bikes come with 45-50mm inverted forks, instead of the 37mm deals you get on the GS. Someone on here used to make thicker fork braces to replace the thin steel one that comes with the bike, for the same handling benefits.

The other thing to consider, is supposedly a lower center of gravity is better for handling too. That was the idea behind all the lower models that came from Buell. Unfortunately the shortened suspension made those feel rougher, and really, taller bikes are more fun to ride anyway. I enjoy the way a bike feels when it drops into a turn. Besides, my yz426 has long forks and has a super high center of gravity, and it still handles better than most street bikes on twisty roads, so who really knows.

In general, I agree to it having a benefit that's unfortunately too small to really be noticeable. If you're looking for a front end I'd get a thicker fork brace, or if you really want to do it right spend the $500-600 on used parts and swap on a gsxr front end. I know it's not as free as dropping your triples on the forks, but it's still one of the beds mods I've seen on a GS. 

[john]

I found lowering the GS front and back made it handle much more poorly in corners.  Though lowering a zx6r similarly made it much worse and obvious than the GS.  Regardless if you need to lower the bike, it is worth the consequences most of the time.

PS. Yes I am alive!  And also why didn't you just make the dog bones?

[tt_four]

I found lowering the GS front and back made it handle much more poorly in corners. 

With how much better my Buell felt after I replaced the short suspension and seat with the normal suspension and tall seat, not to mention how much fun my yz426 is when you're up that high, I feel like the right way to go is to make a motorcycle like this....



I've got a cheap harbor freight welder and a spare yz426 that isn't running. If anyone wants to bring a good motorcycle over we can get to it!