Preload, all the way, bike lowered...

[Charlesbusa]

thanks Charles, that's exactly the input I was hoping for.

I've heard people mention dog bones but I didn't understand what they were talking about.

Were they hard to install?

much appreciated
nimzondn

PS - I just went out to my regular shopping sites like Kneedraggers, Oppracing, etc. and i could not find anything but lowering links.  They look similar but the descriptions don't say anything about using them to raise the bike.  Is this the same thing as dogbones?  Is there a manufacturer name?  (the link to ebay said that add was discontinued)

thanks
again

Like DNGrumpy said they're easy to install.  The tricky part is lifting the rear wheel off the ground with a jack to the frame(where the center stand would bolt to).  You can't lift the rear by the swingarm, you'll never get the bolts out.

Most dogbones are lowering links, make sure the ones you get are raising links or +1".  

Also with the rear raised an inch and by adjusting your ride height for your weight, you will increase ground clearance.  Not good to scrape fairing or exhaust(if you have stock exhaust)

Read this; half way down the thread I give 3 different links to venders

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[Tufbusa]

Is there a way to raise the rear of the bike about an inch or 1 1/2" without having to crank down on the preload?

I'm one of the rare ones that want my busa to be higher in the back more like a track bike than a drag bike.  But I don't want to compress the spring and cause imbalance between the front and rear suspension.

Has anyone seen a busa raised in the back without adversely affecting its handling?

Any time you raise or lower either end of your bike it will affect the handling. Other than curb appeal, I'm not sure why anyone would want to raise or lower their bike more than a few MM unless you are a drag racer. For street use, it seems to be curb appeal only.

We just set up our new race bike GSXR600 and we raised the rear 4MM to get the geometry exactly correct. It took some trial and error before getting it right but 4-6 MM is about all I ever see to get the handling correct. We never lower the front, always raise the rear. To much height in the rear will generate head shake at high speed as will a rear shock spring being to stiff?

So my suggestion, if you don't know what you are doing, leave the suspension alone. Those tiny little Japanese have put tons of time into technical engineering to make that bike ride and handle like a dream right off the shelf. You can adjust the compression and rebound etc. to suit yourself but playing with the ride hight can get you into serious trouble. If you have intentions of race competition, go to someone like GP Suspension and have them set your suspension up for you. Could keep you from becoming road pizza?

Just my two cents worth.

[Charlesbusa]

The reason I raised the rear of my busa 1" and installed ohlins internals(springs selected for my bodyweight) is becasue the busa doesn't handle like a dream as a track bike.  

I had 2 choices, buy a GSXR or equivalent.  Or mod my busa to make it feel more like a GSXR.  

While I'd love to have a 2nd dedicated trackday bike, I couldn't afford it.  Modifying the busa was my economical choice.



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[nimzondn]

Thanks again Charles.

I'm fairly large for a sport biker (6'-3"/250).  My first bike was a kawi 636.  I'm just a bit too big for it IMHO.  This is why I bought the busa ... it just fits me better ... not to mention the added HP to haul my big ass around.

When I look at my 636 its overall attitude in relation to the ground is more angled (back to front) with a higher seat height (same applies to the GSXR1000 which I almost bought).  The seat is noticably lower on the busa plus the clearance between tire and tail is half what's on the 636.  I like the higher seat and I like the higher back end on my Kawi but I like everything else about the Busa.  The Busa is more comfortable overall to me but the Kawi handles better and I feel more confident in corners and twisties (IMHO).

This is why I want to lift the back end slightly (slightly=1" to me; 4mm is just a little over 1/8" ... that's really slight).

I can't image 1" lift will affect the suspension severely but I'm sure it will some; I'm feel confident I can make other adjustments to compensate.  But I could be wrong.  We're goin' to see.  
I assume tufbusa's comments apply to people who lower their bikes too.  But gosh, it seems like everyone lowers their busa (but a few of us). If the handling is that delicate and easily affected by lowering or raising slighty, there must be a lot of bad handling busa's out there.

PS_I just looked at that link in the Mod forum. I tried revitalizing it since I think I diverted the subject from this threads original intent. Sorry



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[Tufbusa]

Lowering or raising your bike equally on both ends has much less effect on handling than does raising or lowering one end more than the other. I don't know much about straight line racing but for road racing, as you hone your skills and become faster and faster around the twisty track you'll see exactly what I mean. Being fast in the corners depends much more on suspension than it does HP. Raise your busa 1.5 inches and a slow 600 will kick your fanny on the track. Suspension is everything when you are cornering.