Riding my turbo K75 the other day, I felt like my CoG was higher I'd like it to be.  Never bothered me on any of my other Ks so that's a bit odd but thought I'd try lowering it a tad.  Since I'm not a suspension expert, (or any kind of expert really) I thought I'd throw my thoughts out and see if it makes sense to others.

When I put the paralever on it, I installed a rebuilt Works performance shock from a 4V bike. (K1100)  I have a 2V Ohlins lying around which is about an inch shorter. Since the shock angle is roughly 45 degrees, I figure that should lower the rear end by about 0.707"(18 mm.)

In order to lower the front the same amount I took the cosine of the rake (26.5 degrees) and calculated that mounting the forks up through the trees by about 16 mm should lower the front by the same amount to keep the bike "level."

I'm also going to install a seat that puts me 1.5-2" further back and swap in some S/RS bars for the C bars. That should help me get my body's CoG down a bit too and make the ride a bit sportier.

What say you?

Might be easier just to wear a pair of these:



Good protection too!

Makes sense to me except I would just do the shorter shock first, you know, one change at a time.
Apart from fitting new rubber, which transformed the handling and gave me renewed confidence in the new to me
bike, The best thing I did was shave 20mm from the seat foam when I recovered it due to torn cover.
I did this to give better security at low speed manouvering, I'm 5' 10" ( 1780mm), and was a bit tippytoe at times.
A bonus was the near perfect riding position with the C bars for long distance riding.
Yes, I "lucked out" with that one but 42 years riding does give some insights at times! Let's not mention the time I stopped the oil leak at the air filter on my 750 Commando by plugging that stoopid rubber hose!
I was young, OK? Besides, the smoke screen was Very impressive.

Ghost who rides wrote:Makes sense to me except I would just do the shorter shock first, you know, one change at a time.
Apart from fitting new rubber, which transformed the handling and gave me renewed confidence in the new to me
bike, The best thing I did was shave 20mm from the seat foam when I recovered it due to torn cover.
I did this to give better security at low speed manouvering, I'm 5' 10" ( 1780mm), and was a bit tippytoe at times.
A bonus was the near perfect riding position with the C bars for long distance riding.
Yes, I "lucked out" with that one but 42 years riding does give some insights at times! Let's not mention the time I stopped the oil leak at the air filter on my 750 Commando by plugging that stoopid rubber hose!
I was young, OK? Besides, the smoke screen was Very impressive.

Yeah, well the C bars were going anyhow. I'm 6-2 with 34" arms and they don't let me get my weight forward and to the side enough for any "real" riding. They're OK for running around town doing errands in the sit up and beg position but now that the weather's starting to get better (warmer and drizzly vs cooler and rainy,) I want to get out of town and get some real riding in.

And I have 34" legs too so I'm not lowering it to get my feet on the ground.  They're already there.

duck wrote:I'm . . . going to install a seat that puts me 1.5-2" further back and swap in some S/RS bars for the C bars. That should help me get my body's CoG down a bit too and make the ride a bit sportier.

What say you?

Ya. I've been working on the ergonomics of the RT, and moving back in the seat increases the lean angle about 8-10 degrees.

And yes, in order to do this properly the handlebars have to come back to you.  The old RS bars are 23" tip to tip and have a measly 3" set back. The standard "C" bars may do the trick with a 7" set back. The C's are also 25" tip-to-tip and that may provide greater leverage for the counter-steer "punch" I don't know.

But, you'll have to set the 'C' bars in the 'down' position to get them to come back to you. I don't think that will be a problem with the RS, but be prepared for a slightly different hand position.

I'm not real tall, 28" inside leg.  But I still prefer the stock seat with the wide (16v) S bars.  My sidecar has the low seat, wide S bars and 2" barbacks.  The low seat on the solo puts me back from the bars too much (the C bars should sort that) and spreads my legs further as the bike is wider at that point.

Lowering the bike I'd be doing exactly what you suggest(lower the front and the back together), just lowering the back will increase the fork rake and make the steering slower(yes you will feel it). Lowering the two by the same amount will retain the current steering geometry but reduce cornering clearance. 

Myself I prefer the back up and the front down to sharpen the steering and make the bike turn easier on twisty roads, dropping the forks even 10mm is noticeable in that regard. But that's just my preference.

Al