HOW TO: Install Lowering Links

[Teh_K]

Sometimes it's not always obvious to people, so...

How To: Install Lowering Links

[Black_peter]

Great write up...
People are hosting some super stuff lately..
Good job posting the torque specs and lock tite use!

Guys a little sticky please??!?!

[FTGRET]

Outstanding

[ThAzKat]

Awesome, this is the stuff we have been wanting. I agree there has been some great write ups lately. Sure do appreciate all of the stuff people seem to take for granted like B_P said.

[The CyberPoet]

One thing: go back and edit the metadata so it doesn't say "How to install grips"...

Great write up!

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[Teh_K]

whoops!

... same format, different info... you know...

[Black_peter]

Sticky!!!

Guess I don't have the Md86 touch!!

[md86]

I didn't read it , nor do I want to lower my bike , so how do I know it's really sticky-worthy ?

[toezter]

Sticky!!!

Guess I don't have the Md86 touch!!

+1

[mmaher]

Excellent! Another neat upgrade...Now I just need to find how to adjust me front end to counter the rear lowering.

[Teh_K]

We lowered the bike's front end later, so I don't have an official write-up about it - but here's roughly what we did:

Place bike on centerstand.
Have an assistance push down on the rear end of the bike (making sure to push on part of the frame, or maybe grab bar). This will cause the front wheel to leave the ground.
While the front end is up, place 2 car jackstands under the framerails by the engine. Make sure you place the stands on straight/flat parts of the frame.
Have assistant slowly let the bike back down so that it rests on the car jackstands. Note that the only thing holding your bike up is the centerstand and the jackstands - so don't bump it!
Put some masking tape on both fork tubes to mark where they currently are (so you can see how much you've lowered it later).
Stack some blocks of wood or something under the front wheel so it won't fall when you loosen the tree clamp bolts.
Loosen the clamp bolts on the upper fork/tree clamp and the lower fork/tree clamp. This will allow the entire fork/front wheel assembly to fall.
From here, you can add or remove some blocks of wood under the front wheel until the new desired height is reached (using the masking tape as reference).
Once you've got the right height, tighten up all bolts on the upper and lower fork/tree clamps - be sure to torque bolts to proper spec! All of the fork clamp bolts (top 2 and bottom 4) are all 23 Nm (16.5 ft-lb) for both the 600 and 750.
Have assistant push on the rear-end of the bike again and remove the jackstands and blocks of wood.
Have assistant slowly let the bike back down until the front wheel reaches the ground.
Take bike off centerstand and you're done!

Keep in mind that this was written from memory, but I think I covered all steps

[The CyberPoet]

You got all of them, but one:
Measure your forks from the triple-tree going up afterwards to make sure they are perfectly even (ignoring the tape altogether) -- just in case they weren't before you started. Something that displays at least 1/10th of an mm or 1/100th of an inch is preferable for doing the measurements.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[Teh_K]

You got all of them, but one:
Measure your forks from the triple-tree going up afterwards to make sure they are perfectly even (ignoring the tape altogether) -- just in case they weren't before you started. Something that displays at least 1/10th of an mm or 1/100th of an inch is preferable for doing the measurements.

+1

We did measure it after we were done (forgot to mention above), but we could only get 1/32-inch accuracy. But yea - you want them as even as possible.

[ridekat750]

im bout to lower the front of mine now thanks guys

[rwcreigh]

man i would be afraid to lower it.hit a speed bump and it could cost some bucks.