Well, everyone knows that I had a lot of work done to Baby J during the last year and a lot of it I did not do. Also, a fender bender that she's recovered from quite nicely. Anyway, it's all made me very cautious about bike sounds and tightness of bolts. The last few days I've been riding her and she felt a little heavy on the front end. Don't know how else to explain it other than feeling like a heavy weight had been added to the nose section of the bike.
I also realized that lowering the front wasn't the best thing for me since I'm kinda tall. Figured I had a little time this weekend to raise the front back up and get some riding time in. Removed the aftermarket triple tree and just loosened the upper triple clamp bolts. Went to the lower triple clamp and made one good turn on each bolt and a second turn on the upper bolt on the right side and the bottom fell out. I've seen folks with lowered bikes before, but this was unreal! The top of the nose fairing was hittin' me about mid-thigh!
Now, none of the work that I have done on Baby J since I got back impacted the forks or the suspension. The only thing I've done is removed the upper triple tree and reposition it to prevent the master cylinders from tapping the windscreen at full left/right turn. Nothing to either of the triple clamps! Pulled out some tricks to get things put back together, but managed to get it done and still do a quick 120-mile ride.
Point of this story? If you can do the wrenching to your bike do it! Also, any time you do anything to the forks/suspension have the front end supported. Okay, class over.
I also realized that lowering the front wasn't the best thing for me since I'm kinda tall. Figured I had a little time this weekend to raise the front back up and get some riding time in. Removed the aftermarket triple tree and just loosened the upper triple clamp bolts. Went to the lower triple clamp and made one good turn on each bolt and a second turn on the upper bolt on the right side and the bottom fell out. I've seen folks with lowered bikes before, but this was unreal! The top of the nose fairing was hittin' me about mid-thigh!
Now, none of the work that I have done on Baby J since I got back impacted the forks or the suspension. The only thing I've done is removed the upper triple tree and reposition it to prevent the master cylinders from tapping the windscreen at full left/right turn. Nothing to either of the triple clamps! Pulled out some tricks to get things put back together, but managed to get it done and still do a quick 120-mile ride.
Point of this story? If you can do the wrenching to your bike do it! Also, any time you do anything to the forks/suspension have the front end supported. Okay, class over.