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Front fork lowering

  • Thread starter Thread starter jordraatt
  • Start date Start date
J

jordraatt

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Hi there GS - lovers!

I'm sorry if you don't understand everything i'm writing, because i'm from norway.. I have a GS650G 1982 Katana, and I'm building a bobber out of it..

I want to lower the whole bike, and I'm wondering if there is a simple and cheap way of lowering the front fork?? I've found some lowering springs on ebay, but it gets only 1-2 inches shorter, which is a bit too little.. I'm looking for something around 2 - 5 inches shorter..

I've heard something about looseing the whole fork and fasten it with the clamps lower down on the fork.. Is this possible?? And how much shorter will it get?? Are there any other ways of lowering the front of the bike??

Sincerely Terje, Norway
 
Last edited:
jordraatt said:
Hi there GS - lovers!

I'm sorry if you don't understand everything i'm writing, because i'm from norway.. I have a GS650G 1982 Katana, and I'm building a bobber out of it..

I want to lower the whole bike, and I'm wondering if there is a simple and cheap way of lowering the front fork?? I've found some lowering springs on ebay, but it gets only 1-2 inches shorter, which is a bit too little.. I'm looking for something around 2 - 5 inches shorter..

I've heard something about looseing the whole fork and fasten it with the clamps lower down on the fork.. Is this possible?? And how much shorter will it get?? Are there any other ways of lowering the front of the bike??

Sincerely Terje, Norway
Click to expand...

You can lower it a little in the front by loosening the front top and bottom triple tree clamps and sliding the fork up a bit through the clamps, but be careful (this alters the geometry of the bike). I wouldn't lower it more than an inch this way.

The "proper" way to do it is to use a different spring and spacer in each of the forks. There are lots of ways to do this pretty easily (a search should yield some results). Front end "lowering kits" generally consist of just a spring and piece of PVC pipe. You can probably do this yourself if you're fine with taking apart the forks.
 
5" is probably too low, you won't have any fork travel left
 
Okey, thank you very much guys.. I'll think i'll loosen up the clamps and slide the fork up a bit.. That'll give me around 1,5inches.. And then i'll change the rear spring into one that's about 1,5 - 2 inches lower.. I think that will get me some goodlooking results :-)
 
Or break out the spanners and do this:

fork_shorten_exploded_view.gif
 
at 5 inches your exhaust has a very good chance of scraping on turns and bumps. (ask me how i know) lowering it 1.5 inches in the front and 2 in the back will give you a great look with practicality at the same time.
 
hehe, i think you're right about that man.. i got a little carried away there, and lost my sense of practicality.. 1,5 in front and 2 in the back it is..
thank you for a great advice "hillsy"
 
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