RSV lowering - questions for those that have done it

[atlm]

I'm considering lowering my RSV, front and rear, and have a few of questions for those that have done it. I would like to ask those that haven't done it not to express their opinions. No offense, but I'm only looking for first hand experience from those who have (or have ridden) an RSV that has been lowered.

 

Parts dragging: On a stock bike, in the twisties, the driver's floorboards are the first parts to drag. This is safe, as they're sprung. They also have non-rusting metal pieces at the contact points. On a lowered bike, does that change to the mufflers dragging first, before the floorboards? This is when leaned over, not upright going over speed bumps and wotnot.

 

Shortening the kickstand: How is that done? Is the kickstand actually shortened, or is the front stop ground down, to make the kickstand go forward more? Does anyone have pictures of that mod?

 

Lowering links and brake caliper relocation: I'd prefer to lower both the front and the rear by the same, one inch. The Baron's kit has links that lower the rear 1.5". Has anyone found links, on eBay or otherwise, that lower the rear an inch rather than 1.5"? And if I only lower the rear by an inch, do I still need to relocate the rear brake caliper?

 

Lowering just the front: I've read that it helps low speed handling. Does it make the RSV twitchy at higher speeds? Highway traffic in ATL occassionally finds itself at 95+ (indicated). Stock, the RSV is rock stabile at speeds higher than that. Does that change?

[Whitlow]

I have been thinking about doing this it is so many post here about it. I was reading on just in the last week or so about it. From what I have read the people that have done it like it. Others say it is bad for handling and your pipes will hit. I think I will be doing it in the future but not sure when. I'm sure you will get several post about this. Good Luck!

[footsie]

I have had one RSV that the rear was lowered on, I really liked it that was, did scrape the pipes at times, but no real problems. Never lowered the frount.

But I am 6'2" with my boots on and a 34 in inseam.

 

My wife's road star is real low, she has the dually exhaust, no she has to be careful about dips going in driveways, and turning sharp at low speed.

On the highway in curves I have never seen her have any problems.

She only 5'2", I had to put her bike just about on the ground.

[cb1313]

I also have asked this question. I am disabled and have 29 inch inseam. With a bad back, 5 shoulder operations and 2 bad knee operations I sometimes ALMOST drop the bike when stopping. I am almost flat-footed but I would really like to lowering the bike to be closer to the ground and flat footed. The only reason I have not done this is I have a toy hauler travel trailer and I am not sure if I will touch when loading the bike ?

Please keep me in the loop on your information.

Cb

[FreezyRider]

My first RSV was lowered front and rear when I bought it. It had the Baron's kit on the rear, and the front had been lowered almost 1 1/4". It handled fine. But, I did end up removing the Baron's kit and reinstalling the stock links. I didn't like dragging my mufflers, and when we really got loaded down for a long trip....all bags full, a bag on the trunk rack, and a hitch rack with a cooler on it as well....it was just tooooo stinkin low. It would scrape in and out of driveways, going over bumps, in turns, everything but going straight.

After raising the rear and leaving the front lowered, it handled as well if not better....especially at slower speeds.

I only had that bike up to 100mph one time and did not notice any handling issues with just the front lowered.

My current RSV has not been lowered in the front, I will probably do that over the winter.

 

Edit: I have a 28 1/2" inseam for those who may want to know, and could flat foot it at stops with just the front lowered. I also wear a fairly thick soled boot, so that helps too.

 

Joe

[atlm]

Any pictures or explanations about the kickstand shortening?

[twowheelsonly]

Being the short guy I am 29" inseam, & wearing Motorcycle boots with large soles, I have always found the stock venture to high & had been looking for ways to be able to get my feet planted firmly on the ground. I also have had trouble backing the bike up if the road was uphill at all,

 

I bought a Corbin seat and it gave me a couple of extra inches closer to the ground ( also great seat when broken in, just do an Iron Butt and it is broken in) so that was a great improvement over the stock seat & my feet could touch the ground firmly.

 

I also installed the Barons Kit when i got my new tires installed and it rides good ( I have about 1000 miles on the new setup) and I had to re-aim all my lights so they were not pointed too far upwards.. I have a centerstand which now drags if ridden agressively ( 5 to 10 miles over the speed limit in the right handed twisty's) ( especially on the DragonTail) which I do not like! so I checked it out and found my centerstand has some up & down play and will droop slightly on a bump causing it to drag lightly on the road.. I was also disappointed to find that the only solution is removing the stand to stop the dragging and I now cannot lift the bike onto the stand anymore without someone helping me... You have to make sure you lean the bike correctly if you use the kickstand or it can drag on the pavement when you kick it out to park.

 

I mainly ride solo so I set my rear shock to 40 lbs. to try to prevent the rear from being to soft in a corner.. The bike handles better atock with 30 lbs in the rear shock.. honestly I preferred the stock setup for overall handling in the twisty's and riding 2 up. I will probably re-install the stock bones and raise her up so I can enjoy my rides more when the road isn't straight. Hey I live close to TWO and the Northern GA area so handling is everything...

 

Hope that helps!!!

 

Ride Safe,

 

Stewart

Edited November 5, 2009 by twowheelsonly

[atlm]

It would scrape in and out of driveways, going over bumps, in turns, everything but going straight.

 

That's my concern. Like TwoWheelsOnly, most of our riding is in the North GA mountains, on twisty roads. I'm nervous about hard parts touching down, rather than spring-loaded parts, while 2-up and leaned over at speed, and I really don't want to tear up the bottoms of the mufflers.

 

So has no one with a lowered bike modified their kickstand? I read on a few posts that some sort of shortening was necessary. Is that not the case?

 

Has anyone found rear links that are just a bit longer, that only drop the rear about 1/2"?

[Jerry W]

I have lowered my bike front and rear. I lowered the front using the directions on this site and the Barons kit to lower the rear. In my opinion, you must shorten the kickstand. My stand is 1 1/2" shorter than stock. I think the stand from one of the orgional Royal Stars would fit, if you can find one. Either way, the stand needs to be shortened.

[atlm]

Jerry W, do you drag mufflers a lot, also, or have you done something that gives you better cornering clearance?

[Mike G in SC]

Mine is a RSTD but, kinda same.

I got it used, it already had the Barons rear lowering kit. Also had the Road King mufflers. MAJOR SCRAPES on the cans. I put back the stock dog bones.

then I went to a local fab shop with a template of both stock and Barons dog bones.

I had him make a pair exactly 1/2 between. He was having fun so only charged me $20.

So, I am down closer to 3/4". On the front of the RSTD you can only lower about 1/2" to 3/4" due to the air caps on the forks. So, I am basically leveled out 3/4" instead of 1 1/2.

I like it. Oh, I also got the Barons 4-2-4 mufflers. They sit higher that single cans and only scrape if I am basically in trouble anyhow.

 

PS: I also have the small front tire. But I am in debate on that, not sure the low speed steering benefit outweighs the change in dynamics at speed.

 

Mike G in SC

[atlm]

Mike G, do you still have your Baron's dogbones? If so, can you tell me the center-to-center hole spacing and hole diameter? If you happen to have your stock links and could measure those, that would be nice, also.

 

My thought is that if I can lower the rear about 1/2" with dogbones, and lower the front about 1":

I shouldn't need to relocate the rear caliper.

The 1/2" in the rear shouldn't make a significant difference in cornering clearance - not enough to have the mufflers touch down first.

The 1/2" more drop in the front than the back should quicken low speed steering slightly, but not enough to have a noticeable effect on high speed stability.

[Mike G in SC]

WHY,,,,,,, YES I DO!

 

Actually, I just measured my template (on cardboard).

 

Center of holes measure:

Barons = 7 5/16"

Stock = 6 7/8"

Hole diameter should be safe at 1/2" or a fine hair smaller.

 

(Always drives me nuts how longer makes lower!)

 

For me, he centered at right about 7".

 

I did not have him trim them to dog bones, just rectangular pieces. I ground down the sharp corners for knuckle safety. He used tough steel, Mack Truck frame rails! Just the right width. I painted them so I felt like I did something.

 

I did leave the Barons caliper locator mount on, makes it easier to check/change the rear brake pads. But, yeah, if you can lower just a bit without buying the whole kit, do it.

 

Mike G in SC

[Jerry W]

Jerry W, do you drag mufflers a lot, also, or have you done something that gives you better cornering clearance?

 

No, I don't have a problem with dragging unless I go in a driveway with a steep dip in front. You can raise the rear up some by airing uip the back shock. When I first lowered, I drug a little and the shock sometimes bottomed out when riding double, after I aired the shock up I had no further issues.

[atlm]

Thanks Mike G!

 

There are usually a variety of dogbones for sale on eBay, so I'm hoping one of them is a good fit. Using your measurements, a 7/16" difference equates to 1.5" drop. If I can find dogbones with 7" hole spacing, or a touch over, that should drop the rear about 1/2".

 

I'm guessing this is all actually metric. If the hole diameter is just under 1/2", that should be 12mm. Time to do some searching.

[atlm]

Thanks Jerry. So you're using a kickstand from one of the original Royal Stars, and it's short enough to work? Is that from a Gen 1 Venture, or the late 90's Royal Star cruisers?

[Jerry W]

No, actually a friend and I shortened mine. The one I was refering to that might work was from a Royal Star from the years 1996 to 2000. I think that would work, if you can find one. We cut 1 1/2" out of mine, drilled & tapped each piece and threaded an althread into each piece then welded it back with a stainless rod and buffed it out and you can't see the weld.

 

I was going to have it powdercoated black because usually chrome pops off when you weld it, but this was the best chrome I have ever seen. We tried to pop it with a torch and it would not pop off so we used stainless to weld it with.

 

The reason we threaded it was so it would be like a solid piece and the weld would not be the weak place in the kick stand.

 

Hope this helps

[WilsonTAMU83]

My bike had the rear only lowered when I bought it. Road it that way for about 6000 miles road ok, little hard to turn, but it hit the pipes 2 up and loaded, which is how I ride a lot. When I changed the rear tire I went back stock, works better for me, handles better at slow speed and does not drag. I am a 33" inseam and yes it is taller.

 

Lots of people like them lowered and I would think doing both ends would be better.

 

I have the links and the bracket to relocate the brake caliper.

 

PM me if you are interested.

 

Kelly

[Tom]

No, actually a friend and I shortened mine. The one I was refering to that might work was from a Royal Star from the years 1996 to 2000. I think that would work, if you can find one. We cut 1 1/2" out of mine, drilled & tapped each piece and threaded an althread into each piece then welded it back with a stainless rod and buffed it out and you can't see the weld.

 

I was going to have it powdercoated black because usually chrome pops off when you weld it, but this was the best chrome I have ever seen. We tried to pop it with a torch and it would not pop off so we used stainless to weld it with.

 

The reason we threaded it was so it would be like a solid piece and the weld would not be the weak place in the kick stand.

 

Hope this helps

 

His kick stand looks professional too! Ive seen it..I need a friend like he has for sure. Tom

[Jerry W]

 

Here is a picture of my kickstand after it was shortened

[Mike G in SC]

If you are just going to lower 1/2", I don't think you need to worry about the kick stand.

At 3/4" lower, I still have the stock kick stand. I do pay attention if I park sideways to a slope or if the left ground is higher than my tires (like the road shoulder). But that's not often enough for my concern.

 

Mike G in SC

[JerryK]

I had 2000 Venture lowered just the rear with Barons parts....I liked it and bike was totaled at 86,000 miles.....Made it easy for my short self to ride. I now have a Midnight Venture and just lowered the front by sliding tubes up 1". Handles better than the rear only I had and is a lot better at low speed handling.......I rode lowered rear about 50,000 miles now have ridden lowered front about 40,000 miles.

:Venture:My 2 cents worth Jerry K

[atlm]

When lowered, it sounds like most folks don't drag hard parts when riding solo (some exceptions) and most folks drag hard parts when riding 2-up and loaded (some exceptions). I'm wondering if it's directly related to total load on the bike.

 

Can everyone please tell me your total (estimated) weight on the bike when dragging hard parts frequently, and when not dragging hard parts much?

 

total weight when/if dragging a lot (driver + passenger + stuff?):

 

total weight when/if not dragging much:

[WilsonTAMU83]

Loading and dragging pipes on a street turn off a red light about 350 lbs. Helped with 30 psi in the shock but still drug on my driveway and some others.

[atlm]

Thanks everyone for all of your responses!

 

At this point, I think I've written off lowering the rear end 1.5" with the Baron's kit. Two Sunday rides in a row I've ground floorboards in the twisties. They're sprung, like footpegs I've ground on previous bikes, so it's just noisy, not dangerous. I don't want that to change to grinding mufflers, which aren't sprung, and can have much more dangerous results. Also, the bike feels a little sluggish turning at low speeds, and I don't want to make that any worse.

 

I think I'm going to try the Butler seat mod and lower the front a little (about 3/4"). If after that I want it lower, and am not having clearance issues, I'll try lowering the front to 1" (total) and lower the rear about 1/2" with home-made links, using this method:

[ame=http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=492]http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=492[/ame]

only with longer links instead of shorter, of course.

 

Winter projects.