Dennis in NH
Member
Did this mod yesterday. I went with 10mm up through the fork.
Here's how I did it (I'm sure there are other instructions already here but thought I'd share since my bike has no center stand). FZ1inNH originally gave me basic instructions and at the time I first contemplated this. But when I first heard of this, I didn't do it because I was afraid of possible tank slappers, instability, twitchy-ness, etc.
First, I put my rear paddock stand on and then my front paddock stand. I loosened both top triple clamp bolts -- relatively easy since access is easy and they are only torqued to 22 ft-lbs. I then loosened the left bottom triple clamp and tried to push the bars down and got nothing -- i.e., nothing moved; I then loosened more and the left bar dropped about 1" -- oh shoot!
I tried to lift the bars but it was too heavy to make a difference.
So, I got my car jack out (big handle and rounded lifting platform); I put a hockey puck on top of the platform and a towel on top of that and put it under my exhaust headers (the two center ones) -- of course, I removed my lower cowl first. I pumped the jack slowly to get things engaged. I then pumped a little more and saw that the front end raised allowing the forks to come back down through the triple -- whew!
I then pumped/released the jack as needed until I got the planned 10mm. To measure, I used a ruler and cut a piece of thin cardboard (mine came from packaging for AA batteries) to the height of 10mm; as I moved the forks through the triple, I placed the cardboard flush against the forks along a few sides of each fork to confirm the 10mm height. I then tightened up each bolt. I then let things down (off the jack and paddock stands), held the front brakes, and bounced the front end to confirm that nothing moved.
While still in the garage and with no paddock stands, I put the bike on the kick stand and it still has a good left side tilt -- it did NOT have the dangerously vertical look as some have observed when they lowered their bikes. Perhaps this issue occurs only when the rear also is lowered.
I sat on the bike and it felt lower -- enough that my feet feel closer to the ground.
I took the bike for a ride. I started out slow just in case there were any new surprises. I did some slow 40mph, then 50mph, then 70mph highway and then just kicked it up to about 112mph. Everything seemed nice a smooth. I noticed these things:
Dennis
Here's how I did it (I'm sure there are other instructions already here but thought I'd share since my bike has no center stand). FZ1inNH originally gave me basic instructions and at the time I first contemplated this. But when I first heard of this, I didn't do it because I was afraid of possible tank slappers, instability, twitchy-ness, etc.
First, I put my rear paddock stand on and then my front paddock stand. I loosened both top triple clamp bolts -- relatively easy since access is easy and they are only torqued to 22 ft-lbs. I then loosened the left bottom triple clamp and tried to push the bars down and got nothing -- i.e., nothing moved; I then loosened more and the left bar dropped about 1" -- oh shoot!
I tried to lift the bars but it was too heavy to make a difference.So, I got my car jack out (big handle and rounded lifting platform); I put a hockey puck on top of the platform and a towel on top of that and put it under my exhaust headers (the two center ones) -- of course, I removed my lower cowl first. I pumped the jack slowly to get things engaged. I then pumped a little more and saw that the front end raised allowing the forks to come back down through the triple -- whew!
I then pumped/released the jack as needed until I got the planned 10mm. To measure, I used a ruler and cut a piece of thin cardboard (mine came from packaging for AA batteries) to the height of 10mm; as I moved the forks through the triple, I placed the cardboard flush against the forks along a few sides of each fork to confirm the 10mm height. I then tightened up each bolt. I then let things down (off the jack and paddock stands), held the front brakes, and bounced the front end to confirm that nothing moved.
While still in the garage and with no paddock stands, I put the bike on the kick stand and it still has a good left side tilt -- it did NOT have the dangerously vertical look as some have observed when they lowered their bikes. Perhaps this issue occurs only when the rear also is lowered.
I sat on the bike and it felt lower -- enough that my feet feel closer to the ground.
I took the bike for a ride. I started out slow just in case there were any new surprises. I did some slow 40mph, then 50mph, then 70mph highway and then just kicked it up to about 112mph. Everything seemed nice a smooth. I noticed these things:
- For casual riding, there's not much different except maybe the ergonomics. I feel more comfortable -- maybe it's due to my FZ1 bar and set back plates in combination with this mod.
- For highway riding and higher speed (e.g., 70mph), it feels better because I can get more of my head out of the wind.
- For hanging off in turns, I think this mod makes sense -- I feel more comfortable hanging off and my arm feels more natural resting on the tank.
- For higher speed (e.g., excess of 85mph; I went 112mph just to try it), not much different than before (no twitchy-ness, no instability, nothing out of the ordinary). In fact, today, my bike felt extra smooth. Maybe because it was about 38F outside and that's the hottest I've ridden in weeks.
- I made a nice right hand turn without hanging off (no need and it was near a traffic light), I think I leaned a little farther than I usually do -- mostly because it felt right. So, maybe this does make the bike a little better of a cornering machine; I guess as the weather gets warmer, I will notice more.
Dennis
