Lowering questions?

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Eric Lawson

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I just got my lowering link from Soupy's Performance and plan on lowering my 08 FZ1 soon. I want to lower bike about 2 inches front and rear equally to not mess up the stock handling. In doing so i have concerns about front fender touching fairing under heavy braking or rear tire hitting underside under heavy acceleration. I think Gen II FZ1 has 5 inches of wheel travel? Trying to find out if this will be an issue?
 
I don't know the answer about parts hitting. But I think you are misdirected in thinking that lowering the front and rear the same amount can't lead to a change in handling. Anytime you are messing with the heights, you are changing the geometry of the bike, or at the very least, the center of gravity.
 
I don't think lowering the front 2" is a good idea unless this is going to be a drag racing bike. I wouldn't lower the front much more than 10mm if I were you. And that being said do 5mm at first and see how it feels. Remember that lowering the front is not the same as lowering the back...
 
Yes i am aware that lowering bike will lower center of gravity. I didnt wanna just lower the rear because i knew that would change degree of the fork and thus change handling. Friend of mine lowered his Gen I FZ1 in same way with lowering link on rear and sliding forks up. He placed a level on gas tank lowered rear then lowered front until bubble in level was back in same place as was with stock. Should note he races bikes at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, on R1 not FZ1. He claimed his FZ1 actually handled better after lowering due to the lower center of gravity. I just had concern about suspension travel. I think the lowering link says it can lower up to 4 inches on rear but i dont wanna go beyond 2. Im not trying to make a drag bike or a lowrider, just one i can flat foot at an interesection since i am vertically challenged, 5'9. I think bikes always look better a few inches lower too.
 
I am 5'10" with a 29" inseam. I cannot get both my feet flat on the ground but I have never been able to on any bike I have ever owned. I am just used to it. I have never had any problems though. I usually cover my rear brake at intersections and lean slightly to the left to get my left foot flat or close to it. If I use both I am on my toes.
 
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Haileyan said:
I am 5'10\" with a 29\" inseam. I cannot get both my feet flat on the ground but I have never been able to on any bike I have ever owned. I am just used to it. I have never had any problems though. I usually cover my rear brake at intersections and lean slightly to the left to get my left foot flat or close to it. If I use both I am on my toes.
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This is exactly what I do and I have never had a problem. Not even with a fat chick on the back. I am 5'5"ish with a 27 inch inseam at best, maybe 5'7"ish with boots on.

If people lack that much confidence in controlling their bike, perhaps they should take some riding and safety courses and build their confidence.
 
Eric Lawson said:
Yes i am aware that lowering bike will lower center of gravity. I didnt wanna just lower the rear because i knew that would change degree of the fork and thus change handling. Friend of mine lowered his Gen I FZ1 in same way with lowering link on rear and sliding forks up. He placed a level on gas tank lowered rear then lowered front until bubble in level was back in same place as was with stock. Should note he races bikes at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, on R1 not FZ1. He claimed his FZ1 actually handled better after lowering due to the lower center of gravity. I just had concern about suspension travel. I think the lowering link says it can lower up to 4 inches on rear but i dont wanna go beyond 2. Im not trying to make a drag bike or a lowrider, just one i can flat foot at an interesection since i am vertically challenged, 5'9. I think bikes always look better a few inches lower too.
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I think you are still not understanding. Since the forks are not straight up and down on any bike, you can't just adjust the bike equally on the front and back and still wind up with the same geometry. You are affecting more than just the center of gravity. The level coming back to the same spot means nothing.
 
Yes perhaps but i will let you know how bike handles when i get it done. I dont believe forks can rise more than an inch and half due to hitting bottom of stock handlebars anyways. I feel confident on bike when moving but there are alot of steep hills here and i am always a bit nervous when i have to stop on one. Would be nice to have better footing at times. I will post pics and a review when bike is lowered, hope to have done sometime this week.
 
Eric, the rule of thumb is to lower the front exactly one half of what you lower the back to maintain the best ratio regarding geometry. That will keep the rake close to the same angle. Your center of gravity will change and it will handle differently. That doesn't mean it will handle better or poorly, just slightly different. So, 2" in the rear, 1" in the front.

Afterward, treat it like a new bike and take the corners easy and build up to speeds you're used to. Develop a feel for the new position.

Good luck!
 
Yes that is exactly what i think i shall do! A one inch drop in front and two in the rear. Of course then i will have to shorten kickstand, but thats part of the fun i guess. :tup:
 
Lowering complete! I lowered front exactly one inch. I'm not exactly sure about rear but its anywhere between one and two inches, i had hard time with knowing exactly how much i was lowering i did my best to measure accordingly. I now have to get my kickstand lowered asap! But apon riding the bike it didnt handle better or worse but def different. I could tell center of gravity was now lower, it does lean into curves faster. But should note in doing all of this i also stiffened up the springs in front and rear which would also make it handle different. The front tire seems better planted on hard acceleration. I could really give it alot of RPM's of the clutch in first gear before front lifted. All in all it rides nice, i can now flat foot when stopped and the bike looks great!
 
Glad to hear that you're happy with the results. The only thing that I would caution you about is that since you reduced the amount of trail in the front (by lowering it an inch) the bike may feel a little more twitchy. This will probably be more obvious if you're accelerating hard and hit a bump. Just something to keep in mind...
 
Why yes i did notice it do be a little more "twitchy" but more responsive. I guess maybe will lower rear another half inch if that would help? Right now i cant go any lower without giving kickstand attention.
 
Yes, that's to be expected. Lowering rear another 1/2" might not be a bad idea. Also if you can afford it, a steering stabilizer would be the ideal solution.
 
Yea, they are certainly not cheap! Well at least the ones available for the FZ1. There was a groupbuy going on for the Hyperpro through CycleSector, but it was still quite expensive and I think it's probably over by now.
 
Eric Lawson said:
Yes i am aware that lowering bike will lower center of gravity. I didnt wanna just lower the rear because i knew that would change degree of the fork and thus change handling. Friend of mine lowered his Gen I FZ1 in same way with lowering link on rear and sliding forks up. He placed a level on gas tank lowered rear then lowered front until bubble in level was back in same place as was with stock. Should note he races bikes at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, on R1 not FZ1. He claimed his FZ1 actually handled better after lowering due to the lower center of gravity. I just had concern about suspension travel. I think the lowering link says it can lower up to 4 inches on rear but i dont wanna go beyond 2. Im not trying to make a drag bike or a lowrider, just one i can flat foot at an interesection since i am vertically challenged, 5'9. I think bikes always look better a few inches lower too.
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I was thinking of doing the same on my '09 FZ1 (5'7 29" inseam), until I read that lowering the front by sliding the shocks up can cause problems, because you are losing front suspension travel, and could end up with your front fender/tire contacting your triples under hard braking. I wouldn't lower it more than about 1/2" at most. I also installed the soupy's lowering link, and set it about 2" lower in the rear, it really seemed to not corner nearly as well, seemed heavier to turn, so I set it back to about where the stock height was.
 
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