Lowering for shorter riders

[Dirt_Dad]

The wife and I are giving serious consideration to getting her a Tenere. The big sticking point is the height of the bike. I see the adjustable Soupy's link would allow up to 3 inches of lowering. I saw where someone suggested this type of link may not be desirable on a Tenere. But I've not found any place where I can see that a stainless steel link like this has actually been a problem.

I have a couple of questions.
1) How far can our bikes be safely lowered. My wife would be riding nothing more hardcore than state maintained dirt roads and a skid plate would be installed. I do not anticipate any rocky trails on her bike.

2) Is there any reason that I should consider stainless and oxided steel adjustable links to be unsafe or even questionable?

http://www.soupysperformance.com/catalog/item/4408900/9047733.htm

 

[GrahamD]

Re: More than 1" of lowering link?

At the front you get an inch without raising the bars. As you probably know.

Are you sure the weight of this thing is OK?

To get 3 inches you would need bar risers and links or / and the optional thin seat.

On the other hand would your wife prefer some new practical, obviously sturdy and protective boots..

You would have to behave from now on though.

Or a combination of shoes and lowering. Some blokes I know have done a bit of a platform boot thing, because they had problems with lowering options.

 

[~TABASCO~]

Re: More than 1" of lowering link?

I would never suggest adjustable links to anyone for safety reasons. Ive seen too many fail on custom bikes out in Datona and Sturgis. We do offer Stainless Lowering links on our site that are not adjustable. I can offer you this if you like. Buy a set of our links, if you dont like them send them back and Ill refund your money less shipping no questions... Our links are 1" but please keep in mind the sag in the rear suspension and the weight involved on the rear of your motorcycle will probably gain your 3" pretty easy if you have your pre load set correctly on your rear shock. This will slow down the front end geometry so take it a little easy until you get use to the differences in your motorcycle.. And consider lowering your forks in the triple trees.

 

[jajpko]

Re: More than 1" of lowering link?

I have links I bought from Jaxon and they are doing a great job. My inseam is 30" and I can flat foot on both sides.
I raised the forks in the trees 10mm and the bike handles nice, but feels a little heavy.. I am going to raise another 5mm and it should be good.

I also used the Road Star seat cushions to lower the seat and raised the front a little. Rear preload is set at the read line and the front is at four lines showing.

I don't think I would go much lower as the handling may be affected in a negative way.

 

[toompine]

Re: More than 1" of lowering link?

I have links I bought from Jaxon and they are doing a great job. My inseam is 30" and I can flat foot on both sides.
I raised the forks in the trees 10mm and the bike handles nice, but feels a little heavy.. I am going to raise another 5mm and it should be good.

I also used the Road Star seat cushions to lower the seat and raised the front a little. Rear preload is set at the read line and the front is at four lines showing.

I don't think I would go much lower as the handling may be affected in a negative way.

I too have the 1" lower links, seat in the low position, forks up 15mm. I have the RozBlock risers 1" up and 1" back and the fork tubes wil not come up 15mm unless you have the bar risers. The side stand will still work with 1" lowering links (barely) but the centerstand becomes very hard to use. The fulcrum point changes on the little foot on the bottom of the stand and it makes it hard to lift. With panniers impossible. I ground the feet off, cut 3/4" off theh legs and welded the feet back on. Now it comes up real easy even with loaded panniers

I have a 29" inseam and am comfortable on the bike. I think 1" is as low as reasonable before you compromise the front beyond ability to compensate

 

[Don in Lodi]

Re: More than 1" of lowering link?

And do remember, the lower and lower the bike gets, the sooner and sooner the footpegs touch down. If it get to the point that she can't corner nearly as well as you there's going to be some disappointment somewhere along the line. I'm wondering, if like my lowered pegs, someone makes a raised peg?

 

[jajpko]

Re: More than 1" of lowering link?

I too have the 1" lower links, seat in the low position, forks up 15mm. I have the RozBlock risers 1" up and 1" back and the fork tubes wil not come up 15mm unless you have the bar risers. The side stand will still work with 1" lowering links (barely) but the centerstand becomes very hard to use. The fulcrum point changes on the little foot on the bottom of the stand and it makes it hard to lift. With panniers impossible. I ground the feet off, cut 3/4" off theh legs and welded the feet back on. Now it comes up real easy even with loaded panniers

I have a 29" inseam and am comfortable on the bike. I think 1" is as low as reasonable before you compromise the front beyond ability to compensate

Good point on the center stand and kickstand. I also had to cut out 3/4 on the center stand and 5/8 on the side stand.
Do you feel the extra mm on raising the forks helped much? I feel the steering is a little heavy and needs the extra 5mm.

 

[toompine]

Re: More than 1" of lowering link?

Good point on the center stand and kickstand. I also had to cut out 3/4 on the center stand and 5/8 on the side stand.
Do you feel the extra mm on raising the forks helped much? I feel the steering is a little heavy and needs the extra 5mm.

For sure you need to be at 15mm. I checked the rake before and after and the 15mm brings it back to stock rake (or very close). Anything less than 15mm and you are carrying more rake and a lot slower (heavier) steering

 

[troll]

Re: More than 1" of lowering link?

What is your wife's inseam? I have a 28 5/8" inseam and have lowered the SupaT including the low seat with modifications to the seat and feel pretty good about riding it anywhere. The forks tubes can only be raised so much due to the clamping area machined on the top of the tube. I still have more work to do to get it as sweet as I would like. deffinately doable for short folks. The link below is to the little write-up I did on the project.

http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=1613.0

 

[troll]

Re: More than 1" of lowering link?

That looks pretty workable. Does that get you to a flat foot? Thanks for the link and write up.

not both feet full heel to the ground flat - good solid balls of the feet on both sides or one full flat and one ball of the foot. very solid footing considering that most of the time I am both feet on the pegs ::26::

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Re: More than 1" of lowering link?

Installed the links (thanks, Jaxon), and the lower seat arrived today. After dropping the front 15mm I asked my wife to give it a test sit. So far so good. I have not adjusted the suspension yet and she doesn't want it done yet. I need to ride it first to make sure the geometry is still correct, then I'll let her loose to give it a shot.

She's pretty giddy tonight. Very excited to be on a bike again. She's heard me rave about the bike and is chomping at the bit to get back on two wheels. Provided Saturday goes well I'll officially be bike-less.

 

[The Ferret]

Re: More than 1" of lowering link?

Could you let me know how the bike felt with the 15 mm lowering of the fork yokes, please?

I dropped mine 10mm and I find the bike a bit slow on the turn in, especially if the tyre pressure isn't spot on.

cheers

Graham.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Re: More than 1" of lowering link?

Could you let me know how the bike felt with the 15 mm lowering of the fork yokes, please?

Took some rides tonight. First was set at 15.5mm. Steering was noticeably quicker than stock setting. Faster than I wanted to hand over to my wife. I found 13.3mm to be pretty close to stock. Plan to leave it there for now. I'll adjust more if she desires, but don't expect to move it from here.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Re: More than 1" of lowering link?

Thanks for input on this one, special thanks to Troll and Jaxon. It's official, the lowering worked and my wife happily rode off on her Tenere today. Which of course mean I no longer have a Tenere, but that's temporary. You guys gave me the ideas, example and parts to make this happen. My wife is happy and that means I'll be happy. Thanks gents!

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Re: More than 1" of lowering link?

Right-on, give us a picture of that girl on her new ride... ::008:: ::26::

How about a video of her first 45 seconds on the bike? Hasn't been on a bike since last May, has never been on any bike bigger that 800cc. And this is what I find her doing before completing her first lap around the parking lot. I think it was her way of asking me "why are you making me ride in this parking lot?" Point taken.

S10 First Ride

I think the bike is going to work just fine for her.

 

[52edub]

Just got my lowering links from Ride on Adv and slapped them on this morning. First of all the service was super fast from Jaxon at Ride on Adv. This is an easy mod and I should have taken pictures, but forgot. You will need a 19mm socket and wrench. Put the bike on its center stand and you will need something under the tire to jack it up. I used my long handle from the motorcycle jack. Loosen and remove the nuts and washers on the right side of the bike. Leverage the tire up a bit to get the strain off of the links. Pull the right side link off and then the left. Installation on the new links is just the opposite, but be prepared to leverage the tire higher than before due to the new link length. Tighten up the bolts and torque to spec (61 ftlbs/ 85nm). I also raised the front forks about a 1/4", but that is to each owners taste. Put the bike on the side stand and I feel it doesn't need to be modified. I don't see it being too upright for tip over danger. When I did this to my V-Strom I needed to mod the side stand because it was too upright. Getting the bike on the center stand takes a little more effort, but not hard at all. Great mod for me with a short 30" inseam and new Corbin seat.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Re: Lowering Links

Using Jaxon's lowering link on my wife's Tenere and it's been good for her. She does have to think about where she is parking because the sidestand can be too long if the ground is sloping too much for the bike. That is actually pretty common. We may get it shortened if it becomes too much of an issue, but it hasn't yet. Will not do the center stand, that's much easier to deal with.

 

[troll]

Re: Lowering Links

I used Wasp's lowering links - 1", and shortened my side stand by 1". If I was to do it again I would only shorten the side stand by 1/2" to 3/4". I found that the bike stood to upright without shortening it. I welded on a larger foot at the same time.

 

[jajpko]

Re: Lowering Links

Another 30" inseam here. I used Jaxon's links and first raised my forks, 10mm, then 15mm and finally settled on 13mm. Turns in very nice and just right for me.
I also shortened my side stand and centerstand 5/8 inch. Works great like this.. Oh, put a pad on the side stand..

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Re: Lowering Links

Another 30" inseam here. I used Jaxon's links and first raised my forks, 10mm, then 15mm and finally settled on 13mm.

I went through the same exercise. Found 15mm was too fast and 10mm was too slow. 13mm turned at the same rate as stock. Amazing to me how such tiny changes make a big difference.