here is mine slammed with said kit

 

20NightTrain03 has obviously demonstrated you can take this kit pretty low. Here are my before and after pics. Started at about 26 3/8 to the bottom edge of the fender. After the kit install the fender sat at about 24 3/4. I basically lined up the edge of the treat with the bottom edge of the fender. That amounted to a 1 5/8 inch drop. Note that is just sitting. When riding it drops a bit more. I think I had the preload cranked in those pics also. Softening up the ride with drop it some more.

No hassles installing - except getting the shock mount bolts off the swingarm. Its much easier to get at the shock mount bolts if the swingarm is off the bike. Installing the kit I didn't pull the swingarm. Lots of cussing that night. Later on I swapped the swingarm for a chrome one. MUCH easier to remove the shocks that time. It was one of those "Wow! I could have had a V-8!" moments.

Definitely use locktite on everything upon reinstalling. I went a step further so I would know if anything moves. I put a vertical tick mark on each shock bolt with white nail polish.

I bought my kit from J&P. It ran me $100. I've seen them for less periodically on ebay. But even at $100 its still not a bad price.




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I went with the lowest the kit would go with the nuts at the biginning of the stud. Also dropped the front 2".

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I hate to bring it up, but I'd feel bad if I didn't ...

While I agree 100% that lowering a bike makes it look badd azz, I had a very good friend of mine loose his life after lowering his.

It was on a road that we always traveled on on our way back to his house. We'd traveled it 1000 times. After lowering his bike it bottomed out on a turn and it threw him.

PLEASE keep your safety in mind when doing your mods, not just your looks. My friend sure as hell didn't look too cool in that closed coffin.

Again, I'm not trying to steal this thread, or in any way add gloom to anything, like I said, I'd just feel bad if I didn't mention it and I'd heard of someone else going down.

 

A valid point. I imagine the same thing can happen on a rigid as well. Its all part of knowing your bike and everything you do to it and how that affects performance as well as looks.

My performance related concerns were what kept me from going lower. I still have ample shock travel and can ride 2-up without any issues of bottoming. I could go even lower and still not develop any of those issues.

Now that we have the safety concerns addressed.......the Burnout kit is good bang for the buck.

 

Mayfair,

Thanks for bringing this up, I just have a couple questions. I'm assuming there was a dip in the roadmid corner that would compress (preload) the suspension, is this correct? And secondly, did he used to bottom out frequently?

Mine is slammed as low as possible, and I have yet to bottom out...even w/ two-up riding. Having said that, the first time it does, I hope not to be in the triple digits...mid corner!

Thanks

 

YES, there IS a dip in the road mid corner. That's how he got thrown. Comming around the corner he bottomed out on theleft hand side and it threw him. There were gouges in the street as well as his frame showing the hit.

NO, he didn't complain at all about bottoming out prior to the hit. He liked the way it looked and he said he felt like he sat more "IN" the bike rather than ON the bike. Keep in mind he only lowered the rear, not the front. Also, he was an experienced rider with well over 10+ ( probably closer to 20 now that I think of it ) years riding. This wasn't his first day on a scoot at all !!


Like I said, I'm not trying to add gloom and doom to the thread at all. I'm just trying to point out something that may have been overlooked or not even thought about. If you want to lower your bike, go for it, just be aware of the possible consequences prior to doing so, that's all I'm pointing out.

 

I can't really tell if your mad...or just excited to share your experience. I'm going to go with the later of the two.

I never assumed, nor said that it was your partners first day on a scoot!

I also understand what you weretrying to point out. I just wanted some clarification for myself and others here. Now, having said that, I wanted my bike slammed, so I went for it!

Thanks again, dude!

 

NO NO NO PLEASE don't misunderstand me !!!

I'm not mad at all, and I wasn't implying that you suggested that it was his first day. My reply to your post was a reply to ALL not directed solely to you.

I don'tencourage people to do one thing or another at all. I just wanted to inform people of the possible hazzard that's all. Maybe point out something that they may not have even thought of. That's all. It was my friends time to go and I'm cool with that. I know he's up there ripping up clouds like a mother-efer.

 

I have been riding my 96 Heritage with the White Brothers lowering kit for 11 years and 50K plus. Some real world experience for ya here. I call this bike my Not So Softail for a reason, my buddy calls it Spinal Tap! You can and will bottom out ocassionaly.
I lowered the bike day one, so I can't tell you much about how it rode without it. I can tell you it does make you feel like you are in the bike rather than on it as someone said. The softail frame has roughly 4 inches of travel. When you lower the bike with these you effectively reduce tha amount of travel available to you. Makes sense huh? Riding mine with a passenger reduces the amount even more, even after adjusting the preload to reduce "sag" when sitting on it. Hit any kind of bump, hole dip whatever and it will be noticed. How severe depends on the severity of the obstacle. I have came up off the seat on quite a few occasions. Once, just outside Orlando, on the Interstate at 90 mph, I came completely out of the seat. I don't have highway bars or pegs so my feet landed back on the boards, scarey just the same.
Also cornering on this bike is a consideration needed to bemade in advance. Here in Florida, land of the straightaways, it is not that much of an issue. As the T shirt from Deals Gap says, Florida- 318 miles and 11 curves!!! But when I was at The Gap and surrounding areas I had a hard time keeping up with my friends as I can notlean as sharp as they. This is where you will be dragging the floorboards for sure. This is where you face the most likely time you can lose your bike as well. I was leaning hard into a somewhat moderate curve, pushing it hard, when my buddy who was behind me said my back tire lifted up and shifted over about3 inches as I dragged the boards. I never felt a thing to be honest, but he passed my sorry butt as soon as we got out of the curve to avoid being behind me on the next! Can't say that I blame him. This could have been a factor in Mayfair's buddies unfortunate accident as well. Depending on how aggresive a riding style you have,and what the roads are like in your area should be taken into consideration on how much to drop it, if at all.
Once lowered, some of the things you never had to think about such as riding over a curb become factors in your decision making process. Hell, even some speed bumps can cause you to drag the frame. The bottom of mine has some scratches on it, I guarantee you. So all these things and some I haven't remembered are factors when you lower the bike. All this being said I haven't ever considered putting the bike back to stock.
One more important thing, make sure you (or your wrench)check the neck bearings as required. Any slop in here will be exacerbated by lowering the rear. This is a good idea for any bike not just the lowered ones and can prove to be disastrous if neglected.
That being said, hope this helps in someone making the decision to lower their bikes. Some things are never even considered but the cool factor, which is valid, but other information should be presented to make an informed decision.

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