Cutting front fort tubes to lower your bike

[ali]

I've heard a few people doing this to lower their bikes, has anyone here done it or even heard of it.

Here's an example of one
https://fbcdn-photos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-0/10987329_10101776318545363_400282559283867263_n.jp g?efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9&oh=2cfa8b90e335047758bca218f01ce1d9&oe=5592620D&__gda__=1435323741_0dd3a47a997b558ffe0faf9ea92947c 0

https://fbcdn-photos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-0/10987734_10101786569856653_5840567681482382302_n.j pg?efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9&oh=ac97a5d4687f454bf090cbc72314e366&oe=557F43B1&__gda__=1435442382_3a0f0d38d3bac0d5d29f20adcfcead2 0

[Matteson]

That bike appears to be a show/ drag bike. He probably did that so he didn't have to strap the front end. If your bike is used for street riding then this may be a bad idea. You could always raise the tubes in the triple tree and buy adjusting links for the back.

[2004xb12s]

You would have to remove all internal dampners as they wouldn't work with a cut down fork. Basically just leaving you with a spring inside the front fork. AKA it would ride like hell. and the more I think about it with the internals removed the spring wouldnt have anything to sit against....hmm

[ali]

That bike is mostly used for drag and show, he lives in the same town as me. Wonder if you had to put stiffer springs in the forks

[2004xb12s]

Well I guess the more I think about it, It seems possible. He had to have cut the spring down for sure because it wouldnt fit otherwise. The internal dampners would fit but they wouldnt be able to function as the dampening rod would always be compressed.

[AZmidget91]

I would love to lower my SCG more

[ali]

So really that worth the hassle, damn me and my short legs

[user_deleted]

ali: i'm not saying don't do it and i have no experiece with same but let me state a word of caution here:
the XB's were designed by some brilliant individuals and alot of R&D as well as historical data was used to determine proper suspension dynamics, geometry, and componentry. one of the critical considerations is a thing called front suspension "trail". what is it? stand the bike straight up....draw an imaginary line perfectly vertical thru the center of the front axle. mark a precise point on the ground where that line hits the ground. now draw a perfectly straight line thru the center of the front steering neck. mark a precise point on the ground where that line hits the ground. see the 2 points on the ground? measure the precise distance between those 2 points and that is the trail measurement. altering the length of the front fork tubes drastically alters that measurement and typically results in bizarre handling characteristics including the dreaded "high speed death wobble" among other deficiencies.

[squidbuellie]

Yes you can do it and it's not hard... It's the poor mans lowering or raising kit.
People have been doing it for years.... Harley dyna guys will cut pvc pipe and use it as a spacer to tighten the front end up or lower their bikes.
It will not hurt your front end but you will want to check the fulid. But remember unlock Harley's you can't just bend the kickstand... You will need to replace or cut and reweld the kickstand and change the rear shock or get super old school...
And cut the rear shock...

The other thing you can do is mill another grove in your fork tubes and slid the front forks in the triple tress... And I know this is a little to much tmi but I have seen people just remove the snap ring and just slide the forks up.... I'm not a fan of this because I ride hard and do tons wheelies.

[go cytocis]

altering the length of the front fork tubes...typically results in bizarre handling Bingo!

I wouldn't be taking any cues on how to set up motorcycle suspension from whoever built that "drag" R1 in the pic above. An extended swing arm on a bike that's clearly never seen a real drag strip (as evidenced by the passenger pegs, lights & license plate) shows that the builder was really only concerned with the appearance of the bike rather than how it would handle on the street.

Counter-intuitive to what many folks believe about motorcycle ride height (perhaps because of what they know about car suspension set-up), a lower bike actually equates to a much less nimble ride, which is fine for drag-racing in straight lines, but not what you want if you plan on going around corners.