Lowering a bike???

[awjonesii]

Hey guys,

Thought I would look to you guys as to how (if possible) I could lower my wifes bike a couple inches. She had the Honda CM400 which was fine. I bought a 84 Honda Sabre 700cc bike for her thinking that I could lower it. But so far I am at a loss. Some proficiency or expertise in this area would be awesome.

Thanks.

Al

[darkbane]

for the rear you have to find shorter shocks that'll fit the bike. So if stock is a 13 inch from Eye to Eye or Eye to Clevis, then try to find shocks that'll fit that are 11 inches...etc.

As for the front, you need to loosen the triple tree so that you can slide the forks up through the tree to the desired length.


Good luck

[TheCafeKid]

for the rear you have to find shorter shocks that'll fit the bike. So if stock is a 13 inch from Eye to Eye or Eye to Clevis, then try to find shocks that'll fit that are 11 inches...etc.

As for the front, you need to loosen the triple tree so that you can slide the forks up through the tree to the desired length.


Good luck

Mind you however, i would be carefull lowering MUCH..no more than an inch in front id say. There are other ways to do it aswell, such as cutting the fork springs, but that will work. You may have to get some risers for your bars to give clearance.

[TheCafeKid]

Also, as a heads up, the GS "L" models most often came with a 12 inch shock. that will get you an inch and a half.

[Joe Nardy]

Al,

Since you've already bought her a bike this isn't much help but the cruiser style bikes have the lowest seating positions and low centers of gravity so they're often the best choices for females. A Magna might have been a better choice than a Sabre.

You can probably cut down the seat and lower it 1-2 inches.

Another possibility is thick-soled shoes with higher heels. Here are some with a 1 and 7/8 inch heel: Women's boots

Nearly two inches can make all the difference in the world! 8-O



Thanks,
Joe

[bwringer]

Maybe these Bombshell boots from Icon...?



They're a little kinky looking with the buckles, but they would add quite a bit of height. I don't remember what her normal riding boots look like, but if she likes these they might partially solve the problem.


Anyway, as Al's Technical Advisor, I'm a little stumped too. Lowering the front a bit is pretty straightforward, but we didn't want to do that without also lowering the rear. We did put Progressive springs in the front (using very little preload) along with new fork seals.

The rear suspension on this bike is a single air-assisted shock. On most sportbikes, the aftermarket will readily supply lowering links to replace part of the suspension linkage. However, no one lists an application for this bike.

We've already cut down the foam in a spare seat as much as possible, but another inch or so would really make her a lot safer on this bike. She can ride it, but she's tippy-toeing on one leg at stop lights, which isn't ideal. She definitely needs to move up to a bike with more power -- she's been winding the snot out of that poor little underpowered CM400.

The Sabre 700 is a pretty sweet machine, and it's a shaftie so that makes it OK in my book, even if it is a Honda. The V4 engine is eerily smooth, and very torquey. I also have to say that when we removed the rear wheel to replace the tire, the rear spline and coupler look about 10 times more robust than the same parts on a GS. It honestly looks like something from the rear end of a tractor.

Any ideas would be appreciated!

[bwringer]

Okay, so I'm a little bored this afternoon...

After digging into this for a while, I think we might be able to figure something out.

There are lowering links available for most sportbikes and cruisers with single rear shocks that work through linkages. You basically replace one or two linkage bits with slightly longer bits to get that slammed-to-the-ground look. Many of these even have two or three holes at one end so you can choose the degree of lowered-ness, and I've seen a few that are made of two threaded pieces so you can adjust them over a certain range. However, no one makes them for this bike.

Here's the rear suspension on the Sabre. I've highlighted the linkage bits that would get replaced:



I'm thinking that we could make some careful measurements and then either comb the earth for lowering links with the dimensions we need (links for Honda CBR600 & 1000 look really close, but I can't find dimensions listed anywhere) or make a set from discarded Czechoslovakian tractor parts.

[paco13]

It would take quite a bit of researching to find what bikes, dirtbikes or atvs links would be the right length with the right size bearing/bushings to fit. Probly easier to pull yours off, raise lower bike with jack or something to where you want it, measure to see how long the bones would need to be and make your own or have someone else fab some from a chunk of some scrap aluminum. Or use threaded rod and spherical ends so to be adjustable. Maybe find some tie-rod ends from an atv/snowmobile, some were the type that a bolt passed through instead of the stud being part of the ball joint.
The longer dog bones usually soften the suspension a bit as well due to leverage ratio being changed.

[bwringer]

Still bored... :-D

It looks like you can buy all sorts of Heim joints and threaded rods in metric sizes from McMaster-Carr http://www.mcmaster.com , so based on a WAG of 10mm for the diameter of the pivot bolts, that would end up as maybe $50 - $60 worth of bits (four joints, two threaded rods, four nuts, miscellaneous fasteners, beer).

Of course, we have yet to actually measure or eyeball anything, so who knows.

It might also prove easier and/or cheaper to simply drill holes in a couple of bars of steel and press in bushings...

I sense a winter mission is upon us.

[paco13]

Hiem joints, thats what I was looking for.
Drilling holes in steal or aluminum would def be easier and cheaper route. If theres room maybe have a couple hole's. Just check for clearance through full stroke of travel.