Update re: lowering my bike

[Haole Girl]

The rear end lowering kit seemed to do the job on my Sportster. Yay!

My feet are flat on the ground - for the most part - when I need them to be.

Thank you ThomWV and Robb for your help and input! :hi:

[matcom]

1. can you educate a bit?

what was involved?

how many inches lower?

I don't need a lowering kit but am always interested in learning.

:hi:

[Haole Girl]

2. My husband ordered it directly from tamarackmw.com

We lowered it one inch. There was a 1.75 kit, but I decided I didn't want to chance cutting the rear lights (since the wire runs right under the rear fender) by lowering it any further when going over pot holes or bumps.

It's a simple looking piece...
pic:


We loosened the top bolt on the rear shocks, took off the the bottom mounting bolts on the shocks..(you have to raise the frame of bike) and then just put it on each side. Well, we did have a hard time getting one side off-- but we managed eventually (even without a jack stand)!

Hope that helps a little. Sorry I can't give you a more thorough explanation.

[ThomWV]

3. Could I impose on you for more pictures?

KC2,

Dam that's a good looking bike.

I wonder if I could ask you to take two more pictures of your bike with the lowering blocks on it; one that showed the wheel/fender fit that framed in the rear axle at the bottom center and the top of the fender at the top center of the picture - what I'm interested in is how much of your rear wheel is tucked up under the fender with it lowered. In short the question here is how much clearance you have remaining between the tire and the inside of the fender. If you could post a second picture of the lowering block itself that would be helpful. I was looking at my wife's bike yesterday with blocks in mind and noticed that the upper belt guard is bolted on via the lower shock mounting bolt and because of that it might not be possible to use the blocks on the XL(L) - but I'd be happey to be wrong about that.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

5. Did you check the vendor's site?

They seem to have kits for all the Sportster models, so chain guard (belt guard) shouldn't be impacted. They have recommendations on how far to lower vs driver/rider weight on all the models, but the 1" kit seems safe for all models.

http://tamarackmw.com/tamarackmw_055.htm

http://tamarackmw.com

[ThomWV]

8. Thanks for the link! Now, how would you go about asking the delicate question?

After 34 years of marriage I have learned that it is not prudent for me to ask or even speculate about my wife's weight.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

9. If the "L" model needs to be lowered

to fit the driver, I'd go with the 1" kit and trust there's a margin of error in those specs. Unless you drive bumpy roads, the tire shouldn't come close to the fender. And if it does, get a smaller tire.


How does the bike fit? can she put both toes on the ground? Putting both heels down is not really all that necessary. I've never been able to do that with my BMW, and it's not a problem. It sits even higher, now that I washed it.

:hi:

Edit to add: This should have been a response to ThomWV's post. I just mis-placed it and am too lazy to fix it.

[Haole Girl]

6. I'll do it after work, tonight...

Thanks! :hi:

[Haole Girl]

10. More pictures taken this evening:

It's a little blurry, but you can see it
in the middle of the pic (I chose chrome, of course! :hi:):






Now it seems like the front fender has too much clearance...
but I'll worry about that later. I have some ideas about how
to fix that! lol

[Haole Girl]

11. Another pic, different angle & with a better camera:

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

12. Nice pic, very clear

Easy to see how it installs and functions.

With the seat lowered an inch, do you notice any difference in riding position? Knees more bent, crotch-rocket-style? Or is it too small a change to be noticable or uncomfortable?

:thumbsup:

[Haole Girl]

13. I can't decide...hope that doesn't sound stupid

It's a pretty small change. I'm not sure if it's just mental, or what, but slow turns seem a little easier (lower CG maybe?). On the other hand (and I find this a little peculiar) my stops have changed. Now that I am flatfooted when I stop, I'm finding I need to be more careful with quick stops. Hope that makes sense! Everything is a give and take. All-in-all, I am happy its lowered! :-)

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

17. I guess I asked a dumb question ... (no surpise there)

I asked if the riding position was more "skrunched" and if it was noticable. But the change you made doesn't impact the distance from seat to footpeg, so there won't be a difference.

Back to remedial Geometry 101 for me.

:hi:


edit to add: Yes, slow turns get easier. It's a skill that takes a lot of practice and patience, but it will improve. It's not an easy thing to do.

[ThomWV]

14. I'm going to by a set of them today

I climbed up on a friend of mine's BMW a couple of weeks ago and I felt like I was sitting on top a step ladder; sometimes its tough being a short guy. Thing is that compared to Janet I'm dam near a giant

This bike is a lot better than the Yamaha she had (sold it last night on E-Bay) but its apparent that she will feel better if I can get the thing down a little bit lower. These look like just the ticket to do the rear - they are shiney and you know how that makes my heart throb. Gonna get me some.

Thank you very much for the pictures. God dam that's a good looking bike.

[ThomWV]

15. PS: I can spell the word "Buy", I just didn't want to.

Not really, but its too late to go back and edit it.

[Haole Girl]

16. lol! I didn't even notice

I'm glad that provided a possible solution! :-)

You probably know this, but please don't be worried if it takes awhile for your wife to get used to the Sportster. I keep telling myself "baby steps...baby steps"! Of course, some friends of mine are telling me my baby steps are way too tiny!! Please keep us posted... I'd be interested to know how she progresses! :hi:

[Ganja Ninja]

4. Nice looking bike. n/t

[Haole Girl]

7. Thanks!

:-)

[ThomWV]

18. KC2 - long reply

KC2,

Based on your recommendation I went ahead and bought one of these lowering kits. I was hoping it would arrive today so I could install it while my wife's off at a birthday lunch with an old friend but it didn't arrive with today's mail. So it goes. I'll take her out to dinner tonight for the big 61.

I wanted to answer your question from post 16 above. You asked how she's progressing with the Sporty. Nicely would be the answer but I thought I'd mention something else about it. Just something I noticed the other day.

We took a fairly long ride on some roads that had essentially no traffic and were composed of mildly challenging twisties. These were nothing like the roads I took her to last week. She loosened up and started to go with the flow of the bike; it is a beautiful thing. She lost that jerkiness derived of the absurd proposition Rider Training Courses spew out that somehow you steer by pushing or pulling on the handlebars. I have been trying everything in my power to break her of that horrible habit before it became ingrained, I would curse the instructor who told the class that if he were standing in front of me.

So the result was that her riding improved 1,000% right then and there. She started to understand the relationship between power application and turn radius. She's still not convinced that the bike will turn sharper as you lean further over right up until the moment the foot pegs drag, but I'm working on her. She's clearly getting to understand that you do your braking before you turn and more importantly that although its the shifting of your weight that leans the bike over it actually the power of the engine, not your muscles, that brings it back upright as you exit turns. As I said, flow with the bike.

At any rate at about the same time she fell into the grove something else changed too. This may be a non-sequtur but here goes; she's sitting on the bike differently. Her bike, like yours (they are essentially identical other than color) has mid controls. Her feet would not comfortably reach forward controls so that's a good thing. She sits on the bike quite comfortably because she is small but the angle of the left foot peg is such that it causes her foot to unnaturally point straight ahead and her left knee to press against the side of the tank. If you are riding behind her it looks like she is sitting partially sideways on the bike, facing off-center to the right. Of course she is facing straight ahead but the tops of her legs are pointing as if she were turing to the right. I do the same thing when on her bike. The foot peg, which is way to close for me, catches my heel and forces my foot straight ahead, thereby twisting my left leg to point to the right. So I just slip my foot back a little bit and swing my leg out to where it should be.

Well, when she started going with the flow of the bike rather than consciously trying to steer the bike through turns her seating stance on the bike changed too. She must have intuitively pulled her foot back that necessary half inch,or whatever it is, and she sat more conventionally on the bike. She started letting the bike's handling capabilities take her along the road rather than force its every foot of progress.

So that was the very good thing that happened in the last couple of days. Its interesting too, because now (with some reasonable reservations) she is just itching to get on the bike and ride compared to before when she was like a kid going to a horror movie; she knew it was gonna be fun but it just plain scared the sweet beegeebus out of her.

[Haole Girl]

19. Thank you so much for the update!

I'm so happy she's doing so well!! I'll have to have my husband look, next time I ride, to see if my left foot (and left leg) does that, too! ;-)

Thanks again! :hi:

[ThomWV]

20. Blocks arrived today - thanks for the recommendation

I was getting ready to buy one of those stamped steel sets. Glad I didn't. They would work the same of course but the ones you recommended are just plain nice. Sweet machine work, sweet chromeing. I'll be putting them on in the morning.

Did I tell you how much I like your bike?

[Haole Girl]

21. Glad to help!

Oh, and, yes you did... but it's nice to hear it again! :D Thanks!