Slid the tubes up today. Installed the 1" lowering shocks a couple months ago.

Ride feels a lot better, more comfortable, so far.

Three pix:

before:


after:


etc:


mud

 

Mud,
Now thats what I am talking about. I have been wanting to to that for the longest time. The look of yor bike has completely changed! How much did you raise the forks? Did you do it yourself? Give me some helpful tips on doing this myself. It doesn't look bad at all, being the forks are now not so flush anymore. Also, I didn't realize you have lowered the rear, since you didn't mentioned that when you installed the shorter stand offs.

 

first off, bike looks good!

how i did mine:
used a craftsman ATV jack to lift it just enough to get most of the weight off the front...
loosened the tube clamp bolts
SLOWLY lowered jack until 2.25" of tube was exposed
cranked bolts tight
removed lift
rode
smiled, been happy with it since.

some have said that if i hit hard i can smash my lower leg caps onto the lower tree, but ive hit hard a few times (over RxR and drainage in the road) and havnt felt a thing... im pretty sure if i hit hard enough to smash clamp to cap, ill be worried about back compression more..

heres mine for reference..

also, i have some shorty progressives on the rear...





[IMG]local://upfiles/4137/B02185BAD9D9495AAAB6B4966144E1AF.jpg[/IMG]

 

hey mud,

Cool look,.... Do you notice any big difference in handling or the ride in general as compared to the stock setup?


John

 

kaduku, it is extremely easy. 45 minutes, taking your time.
FyrFytrRyn sums it up in the posting of his.
Except for, I lifted the bike all the way up on the jack, and,
on mine I didn't lower the jack to push the tubes up in the triple trees.
I just used my meathooks to lift the tubes up.

I raised mine 1". My bars and risers are in the way to go any further.
The inch though, leveled the sickle just about right.

And yeah, I lowered with the HD shocks (one inch) in December.
If you note the amount of rubber between the top of the rim and the bottom of the fender,
you can easily spot any rear lowering whenever people post side shots of their scoot.

This modification is free.

mud.

 

Great lookin scooter FireFighter.

What length progressives??

mud

 

I haven't ridden it enough to judge that yet John.

Definately feels more comfortable so far.

mud

 

Mud,
What are the torque specs? Did you have to completely remove bolts and loctite? How did you determine when it was equal on both sides (visually??)?

 

mud- thanks for the compliment, but im not sure of the length of the progressives, only 5 or 6 of the coil windings show.. plus they are dropped all the way down.

kaduku- when i did it, i took them all the way out and red loc-tite'd them, if theres one thing i dont want to happen, its the front end falling out from under me..full

i noticed the difference in handling after lowering it.. much more stable, but since it slackend the head tube angle, its not as responsive.

side shot and with me on the bike height...


[IMG]local://upfiles/4137/497B8C3AC3A64CB290647A8B655CD0AF.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/4137/DF2C0EF7571A4CA09E976CFBB0AAEF65.jpg[/IMG]

 

FyrFytrRyn,
It looks like you did more than one inch there! Did you torque it back? Also this may sound like a dumb question, but what is the difference between red and blue loctite? I thought they just came in different colors.