Lowered the Kat (front)

[noodlemice]

Finally got around to lowering the front around 1.25". Feels much better, tried raising the back up a little but I can't budge that coil. I was able to drop the rear by spinning the coil but I can't get it back up even with the rear tire off the ground. Any suggestions? -noodlemice

[babybusa]

isnt there a tool its easy to take the tension off but put it back on now thats a different story. ill let cyber chime in and help you out

[babybusa]

i think very highly of him

[noodlemice]

I got the rear up all the way now, got a monkey wrench and was easy as hell. Jacked in a different place instead of on the coil itself so there was no tension at all. Thanks busa, yea CP has prob helped me out the most since I been here he's really helpful. -noodlemice

[Viper817]

looks good noodle...if you get a chance send me a PM and let me know what you did.. I like that idea...

[GixerKitty]

Looks nice..i had to lower my front...and lowered the rear end so i could touch the ground a little better...

It handles great so far.

[Court93kat]

Noodlemice... if the original toolkit is still with the bike, you have a tool designed specially for the rear shock adjustment. Flat wrench with an arc to it, and a "hook" on the end. That one tool most people look at and say "what in the world is this for?" It fits into the slots at the bottom of the coil spring and allows you to turn the adjustment.

But hey... I'm not Cyberpoet.

[hawkeye]

ok this is a noob question, but how do you lower your front? and how much can you go w/ it?

[Court93kat]

Originally Posted by hawkeye

ok this is a noob question, but how do you lower your front? and how much can you go w/ it?

I have lowered my front also. You loosen up the fork clamps on the upper and lower triple trees, and allow the fork to slide up through the clamps. I did one side at a time to keep the bike from just dropping on me. And let is slide slowly through the clamps.

How far?? Well, you don't need a whole lot for it to make a big difference. A little will help with your handling, but too much will begin to hurt your handling. Try it in 1/4 or 1/2 inch increments until it feels good to you. You also don't want to go too far as your front fender will be getting closer to your headers and possibly melt your paint. You also loose suspension travel as you lower the front. Keep all that in mind when you do it. OH... and make sure you do both side the exact same amount.

[noodlemice]

Yea, just loosen the clamps on the forks..1 bolt up top and 2 on the bottoms on each side. Dont even gotta remove your fairings, takes about 10 mins. I kept a jack underneath my exhaust just in case I didnt know if the bike would just slide down the forks. Like Court said just do one side at a time. Very easy to do. I raised my rear back up and lowered the front it handles great in turns feels like a completely diff bike. I got it about low as you can go, dont gotta worry about the headers cause they're no where near any paint least on my bodystyle, but you do gotta worry about the headlight cross member bottoming out on the front fender. I lowered it 2" but that bar would barely tap the top of the fender going over speed bumps at around 30-35mph so I raised it half an inch and it's perfect. Tire and fender tuck into the fairings nicely and I can bend my knees at a stop.

Here's another pic from the side, sorry kind of dark I'll take a pic tomm when it's daylight out, from the opposite side too. Remember the bike is leaning hard to the left side on the stand in this pic, when it's sitting straight it looks very low, barely see the reflector cause it looks tucked.