lowering info

[cmac250]

i recently finished my 98 after a few yrs (i joined the army and just got back from deployment) i got on it hard when i got back and wound up melting 2 pistons and basically blowing my engine up. it had like 23k on it so i wasnt that surprised. put a new motor in it and too many mods to list. neway dropped it 4" in the back (im 5 4" so i needed it) i really dont know how low to drop my front forks. im at 1" right now but its not handling like it did b4 the drop. im going to a shop tomorrow to fix it but i wanted to know what is the optimum fork drop for a 4" drop in the rear. also i used protek lowering links if it makes a diff. thanks for ne feedback

[scottynoface]

Its very impressive that you managed to blow the engine up after only 23k miles...

As for the lowering, I doubt any amount of drop in the front will let you retain stock or anywhere near stock geometry with the back being practically on the ground.

[mreedohio]

im at 1" right now but its not handling like it did b4 the drop.

it wont ever handle the same when you lower it especially with such a big drop in the rear, from what i always heard was get a level out and sit it on the seat and lower the front til the level shows its even with your rear. i never had to drop my forks down. oh and your motor shouldn't have blown that quickly, these motors last well into the 50k+ range with proper maintenance.

[arsenic]

these motors last well into the 50k+ range with proper maintenance.

More like 150K

[JayBell]

i recently finished my 98 after a few yrs (i joined the army and just got back from deployment) i got on it hard when i got back and wound up melting 2 pistons and basically blowing my engine up. it had like 23k on it so i wasnt that surprised. put a new motor in it and too many mods to list. neway dropped it 4" in the back (im 5 4" so i needed it) i really dont know how low to drop my front forks. im at 1" right now but its not handling like it did b4 the drop. im going to a shop tomorrow to fix it but i wanted to know what is the optimum fork drop for a 4" drop in the rear. also i used protek lowering links if it makes a diff. thanks for ne feedback

as a note, if you actually try drop the front correctly to compensate for the 4" rear drop, you will end up smashing your lower cowl against the ground on bumps... yer forks have about 5" travel max, a corrective drop on the front will exceed the design limits.

the approximate "actual" fork drop(for the Katanas rake) is 7/8" to match each a 2" rear drop.

you cant compensate for the 4" rear correctly.. sorry.

Change it to a 2" rear drop, put the front forks 7/8" actual drop to even it out.

the bike may just be too tall for you... but we ride with Rican Katgrl... shes got a 2" drop on hers and shes barely over 5'.

[Tmod]

Just a note here but when you lower a bike with links you still retain the same suspension travel but you lose the clearance between the tire and inner fender, Measure how much clearance you have between the tire and fender and from that subtract about 5.5" if you end up with a negative number then you might have clearance problems and the tire hitting the inner fender while going down the road is not a good thing.

Tmod