Ride height measurements

[yougod]

Where would the proper locations be to measure ride height? On a car I can measure from the ground the the fender wells or from the center of the rims to the fender before and after lowering it.
I will be lowering the Busa Monday and I want an even drop. I'm not sure if eyeing it out will be sufficient enough since I'm a bit of a perfectionist.

 

[dadofthree]

Well it goes against your anal ways but I dropped my '06 1 1/2" up front and 2" in the rear and it made the bile appear level.

 

[yougod]

I'm assuming making a drop of 1" in the rear does not require a 1" drop from the lowering links.

 

[dadofthree]

The only way to lower the bike in the rear is with lowering links. Make sure you get a good set. We have had a hand full of incidents reported where the cheapies folded and caused wrecks in a few of them.

 

[yougod]

I just received my Soupy's rear links and front block today. I am doing the install in the morning. I just want to be fully prepared.

 

[dadofthree]

I used a floor jack on the oil pan and had a friend hold the bike. Soupys are good quality.

 

[yougod]

I started to lower the ride today. I didn't get too far, though.. As the second bolt I was trying to take off (14mm) would not budge and I ended up stripping the bolt head . I just tightened everything back up and have decided to tackle it another day.

I will have to find a place to order a new bolt before I decide to do the work. I may decide on finding a motorcycle shop to do the work for me, at this point, since I rather have someone else struggle with the stripped bolt head. I was thinking that there might be a little bite left on it and using an impact driver (the one that you hammer on the end of it) might work that bolt loose but it will have to be more stable than it would be on a rear bike stand and a floor jack.

 

[dadofthree]

They'll either use channel locks , vise grips or an easy out. Impact is the way to go in the future.

 

[yougod]

I wasn't getting a good bite with the wrench. And the angle wasn't giving me good leverage to get pressure on it. Such a small bolt with so much torque on it. Anyway.. the wrench started slipping and one corner started getting rounded. I moved the exhaust out of the way and put a 1/2" drive impact on it with a 14mm 6-point impact socket on it and said "F*IT". Needless to say, the impact turned but the bolt didn't. Now it's pretty rounded out.

So I put everything back together and went on a 30 minute joy-ride to forget about my troubles.

 

[dadofthree]

From memory on the Gen I I removed one of the mufflers ( cans ) to do this.

 

[yougod]

Well.. I got to thinking last night at about 11PM. And I must've not been thinking that well when I was doing the work.. But I kind of thought that I could just take off the 17mm on the opposite ends and knock out the bolt the other way around instead of trying to loosen it up from the 14mm end.

So, being the OCD/perfectionist that I am, this kept me up all night and made me set the alarm clock for 4AM to test my theory. I get up and get on the bike by 4:15AM and finish up by 5:15AM. I measured out the difference and the back end lowered about 1.5" when measured at the lowest point of the plastic, which is enough for me to plant both of my feet on the ground comfortably.

The front and the rear of the bike frame measure right at 4" off the ground. I'm wondering if I should mess with the front end at all. I bought the Soupy's kit which includes the handlebar riser.

 

[dadofthree]

Maintain all the height you can as long as you can flat foot it. You will have issues with bottoming out and dragging the lower you go. You will damage the header tubes and collectors everytime you bottom out. You already have the blocks up front from your other thread. You can always make changes and see what you like.

Also by lowering the bike you have decreased it's ability to turn. Hard parts will contact the road surface sooner, the lower you go. I found out the hard way