Help: Lowering Bike with Barons Kit

[ksufan05]

Hello fellow riders,

 

I purchased a lowering kit from barons to lower my 09 RSV however the instructions are pretty lame. Does anyone have a video or more precise instructions with pictures. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[djh3]

I have not used one of the kits. But as I understand it it is a replacement for the links connecting the shock to the swing arm. So you will need a support of some sort to hold the bike up while you are working on it. I'll look when I got a chance and see if I run across something. Did you run a search here for lowering? Here is a link to a write up that may help you out. Pics and all.

[chabicheka]

Go to the bottom of this page where you will get links to previous discussions on this subject.

Hope you find some answers there..

[Mike G in SC]

Felix,

Make contact with Wild Bill (Bill Little) on this VR site.

He really knows his stuff. He lives in Mooresville, NC, just above Charlotte.

He lowered my RSV.

 

Actually, I would suggest lowering the FRONT before dropping the rear.

This gives better handling, where doing only the rear tends to give more rake and may drag the mufflers.

I do have the Barons rear kit on both my RSTD & RSV, but after getting the front lowered on the RSV, I went back to stock links.

(With passenger and pulling a trailer, was scraping the mufflers pretty strong.)

 

Too bad he's not closer but he has discussed the work with several on this site over the phone.

See him in the Classified Vendor Member:

http://www.venturerider.org/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=4202&title=service-to-lower-front-or-rear-of-2nd-gen-rsv-27s-&cat=36

 

Mike G.

[GeorgeS]

Are you lowering it, to get your feet on the ground ?? I understand that, if you need it.

 

However, if you are Tall, by Raising the rear end 1 inch, you will actually " Improve " handling performance of the bike. !

 

I am 5' 10" tall, I raised my RSTD bye 1 inch. Handles better, !! Expecially cornering!

 

I have read several comments, that " Lowering the rear " actually Degrades Handleing of these bikes.

But, I understand shorter folks might need it.

 

Either way, you need to raise the entire bike on a work stand, and REMOVE TWO bolts. to change the Links !! Its an Easy job.

-- The Rear end WILL COLLAPSE, IF YOU DO NOT PUT BIKE ON A WORK STAND !!!

 

A work stand will run about $100.00 Most parts suppliers sell them, Also Sears carries them ( at least they used to )

[Bert2006]

There is also a different bracket with a spacer that needs to be installed to replace the existing brake calipers. This also involves reorienting the hose fitting as the brake calliper actually gets flipped by between 45 and 90degrees. You re-use all of the existing bolts.

 

I actually removed the lowering kit from mine and returned it to stock as a result of the mediocre handling that the bike had with it on. PO had put it on and bike was bottoming out so much that the rear tire was destroyed with a grove cut out of the center by the seat bolt. I am 5ft10 so height is not an issue for me. Your call....

[Barrycuda]

I know some others have not endorsed lowering kit. I have one on mine and have found no real handling issues. In fact, I took a riding class last year with ride like a pro guy, and did fine. Now, I have nothing to compare it to in regards to stock height in rear with front lowered as Mike has been vocal on being pleased with this method. I am just saying I don't have any issues with it lowered from rear.

[Kirby]

I tried the links on the back to raise it up when I first got the bike but I'm a little vertically challenged so I put the stock links back on and tiptoed the bike until a couple of weeks ago. While I was off work for the Christmas holidays I lowered the front end by raising the forks in the triple trees by 1 inch. This had the same effect as raising the back but now I can flatfoot the bike with ease. Takes a couple of hours to do but well worth it. I'll probably never go back to the stock height.

[Mike G in SC]

I tried the links on the back to raise it up when I first got the bike but I'm a little vertically challenged so I put the stock links back on and tiptoed the bike until a couple of weeks ago. While I was off work for the Christmas holidays I lowered the front end by raising the forks in the triple trees by 1 inch. This had the same effect as raising the back but now I can flatfoot the bike with ease. Takes a couple of hours to do but well worth it. I'll probably never go back to the stock height.

 

Barry, This is what I am talking about. Dropping the front to get your feet on the ground.

I wear a 29 to 30" inseam. Wild Bill dropped my RSV front 1.5" and got me flat footed.

You can only get 1/2 to 3/4 on the RSTD but I got that too. (If I did it again, might do 1" like Kirby did, cause I have bottomed the front a few times in potholes.)

 

On the RSV, I put the rear back to stock, the RSTD got some links half way between stock and Barons.

 

Not slamming the Barons rear, but I got serious scraping, and prefer the handling I got.

 

Mike

[djh3]

I read about the lowering the forks prior to even owning my RSV. Once I bought mine I think I had it a week before I tackled it. So I really dont have anything to comapre it to either. Its all I know so to speak. Its what you get use to I supose.

[GeorgeS]

Just to clear up my previous. When I say, Raising the Rear, improves, Handling.

 

I'm talking about High Speed Cornering performance, on curvy roads!!! I'm not talking about driveing around a parking lot at 5 MPH.

 

Remove ALL the " Dead Weight " from your RSTD, ( passenger seat, passenger floor boards, AIS System, Useless chrome pieces, etc. etc. ) install the narrower front tire, raise the rear 1 inch, and you will be surprised at how this bike will perform on Twisty, Curvy Roads !!!

 

But, I guess it all depends, on how you ride, and the types of roads you ride on.

 

I love to get behind a couple of sport bikes, on a curvy road with the RSTD, and PUSH them !! :cool10:

[djh3]

Useless chrome pieces

:shock3: Blasfamy

[Mike G in SC]

Guess this kinda got off subject Felix, my bad. You already got the kit and are asking "how to".

 

 

I just tried to pull the instructions off the Baron's website but it would not load.

SO, my recollections.

 

 

I "assisted" on it on my RSV a few years ago. If you can do a rear tire change, you can probably do this. I had a friend do it, I helped because he knows simple tricks that may stump me.

 

But, yeah, need a bike jack. Remove side bags, remove mufflers, jack it up but probably need to put a length of 2x4 (or pry bar) flush under the tire so you can lift & drop it when you pull bolts.

(Poor man method if you don't have a bike jack,,, if you have a trailer with chock, chock and tie down front tire, the put a bottle jack under the bike,,, this works fine.)

Pull the rear caliper from the stock bracket, hang it with a wire of wedge it to the front side out of the way. (This is good time to change pads if needed.)

 

When you pull and replace the rear caliper bracket you need to pull the axle bolt because it needs to go through the larger hole and sleeve on the bracket.

You do not pull the tire, you are just going to slide the axle bolt out & back in enough to swap the bracket.

The sleeve goes to the right side of the bolt, between the bracket the swing arm.

 

Now, to mount the caliper to the new bracket, as noted, the trickier part is to adjust the brake line cause now it's coming from a new angle. A bit of a fight. You need to loosen the bolt that holds the brake line and pivot it to be coming from the down side. There is no slack room and you may need to put a few bucks in the cuss bucket. You may need to open the bleeder to do it. So, when you are finished you want to see if you need to bleed out any air.

 

The actual links themselves are held on with two bolts, top/bottom. Careful with the nuts on those bolts. They are some kind of crush nuts and you can destroy them if you strong arm them. I had to replace a set once.

 

As you will see, the new links to shorten are longer than stock (about 1/4 to 1/2"), so the 2x4 or a pry bar may be needed to raise/lower the tire (or can do with the jack).

 

You do have to pull both bolts, then put them back, top bolt first. When putting in the second bolt, you will need to use the pry bar to raise or lower, and it will slide right in. I don't know the torque value but just don't try to kill it.

Oh, the bolts (or just the bottom?) go through a 3" sleeve that may try to come out with it. Might be a good time to pull the sleeve, clean and lube it with grease.

 

 

Whether you lower the back or front,,,, IT IS GREAT TO GET BOTH FEET ON THE GROUND AT STOP! My wife is as happy as I am,, she was worried about me dropping it at stop with her "extra" weight.

 

Good luck, Mike G

 

EDIT: as you can see I had to edit this,, actually a few times,,,, as it all comes back to me. And yes, second time around I would do this myself.

 

Oh, before you tear it down, look at your rear brake pads,,,, this is a great time to replace them,,, as you will be right there. Or if one pad is more worn, swap sides.

Edited January 12, 2014 by Mike G in SC

[hellboy7]

Well... I wouldn't exactly say that it improves the handling and performance of the bike. I think stock height is that way fo ra reason... You'll have the worry about bottoming out now. That's a really tricky and dangerous situation if you're on the highway. You might bounce off your bike so i'm not sure it's the most advisable thing to do.

[Barrycuda]

Barry, This is what I am talking about. Dropping the front to get your feet on the ground.

I wear a 29 to 30" inseam. Wild Bill dropped my RSV front 1.5" and got me flat footed.

You can only get 1/2 to 3/4 on the RSTD but I got that too. (If I did it again, might do 1" like Kirby did, cause I have bottomed the front a few times in potholes.)

 

On the RSV, I put the rear back to stock, the RSTD got some links half way between stock and Barons.

 

Not slamming the Barons rear, but I got serious scraping, and prefer the handling I got.

 

Mike

 

Mike, I read ya loud and clear. perhaps at some juncture I will experiment in asking Wild Bill to drop the front and reset stock rear height. if he wasn't so gosh darn far. not THAT far, but based on my limited free time, he is.

I will say P.O. had the rear lowered and there is road rash on the stock pipes. but that is the trade off for being flat footed when I need to be...

[Raider58]

Just wear some tall riding boots, that's what I do to get flat footed. lol Seriously, I lowered my Raider and sure it looks cool, but it definitely changes the geometry angles of the bike and it handles much differently now. Not that I don't like it, it just gets some getting used to.