Why the hell do people bitch about guys lowering there bike? People lowering there bike for one of three reasons. They enjoy being flat footed at a traffic light, they are drag racing, or they just want the look of there bike lowered. I am personaly fed up with people complaining about how the bike isnt gonna handle like it did at stock height. Not everyone rides there bike to the limit into corners.
This is a public forum so everyone can post their opinion, just like you did with this post.
If you want to stretch your bike, you can. If you want everyone to like it, wont happen.
The OP is correct.
If the owner of the bike wants to root it's handling by lowering it, so be it.
But a drag racer does it for a specific reason, with different rebound and spring characteristics for optimum performance on the 1/4 mile.
A douchebag that does it to reach the ground at traffic lights should get platforms and then learn how to ride. Or just buy a cruiser.
Just my 2 cents worth.
I lowered and stretched my bike because it is my bike and it is what I wanted. I can take it back to stock easily if and when I want to. I don't track ride yet. I agree that it seems like people think these bikes are made for only people that drag knee through every turn, and if you don't then you should sell your bike and get a cruiser. Build your bike for you and you will be happy about it.
I bought my bike slammed, it rides like shit and handles the same. And im not even talking about aggressive riding, just normal day to day stuff. The left toe of my boots is getting ground down from how often it hits the pavement just riding around town....shit sucks and the slammed look "to me" isn`t worth it.
I come from a long background of slammed cars and ill just leave the lowlife to 4 wheeled vehicles....and yes these bikes were only made with knee draggers in mind.
That's because lowering a car and lowering a motorcycle have completely different effects on the handling characteristics. Lowering a car closer to the ground improves its handling but a car sits flat on all four of its tires at all times (OK it rolls very slightly onto the edge of the tire when you are cornering REALLY hard).
A motorcycle is the opposite, it completely rolls over onto the edge of the tire in order to get around a corner at speed. In order to do this properly it requires ground clearance so that the suspension can compress as you enter into the corner. Most race bike are actually RAISED UP in order to achieve better ground clearance so they can do this without dragging pieces of the bike on the ground.
The only purposeful need for lowering a motorcycle is if you take it off a trailer, stage it up, do a burnout and run it down the dragstrip. The only thing that bike is doing is running flying down a straight line and coasting to a stop. For a street rider that needs their bike to actually turn and stop properly for emergency maneuvering situations, slamming the bike to the ground is completely counterproductive.
Know what happens when you need to slam on the brakes and you run out of front suspension travel because you had to lower you bike because it looks cool......the tire start compressing because you ran out of suspension travel, washes out from under you and you crash.
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"I never drive faster than I can see...besides that it's all in the reflexes." -Jack Burton
I bought my bike lowered 3 inches - and I raised it back up almost immediately. For those couple days I rode it to work before it went back up, it handled like absolute shit on a stick. And to each his own but there was nothing sexy about seeing my gsxr slammed. at all.
IMO it should be a last resort to a short person, after shaving a seat and getting thicker soled boots. If you still can't tippy toe then ok, lower it.
We still bitching about lowered bikes in the Extreme Performace section? There is a legitimate reason people who drag race&run the standing mile lower their bikes. All others do it for the "look". If your bike is slammed&runs 7's at the dragstrip or 250mph in the mile then you have my undoubted attention&respect. If you park your shit at Starbucks to look cool you are a douche....
People lowering there bike for one of three reasons. They enjoy being flat footed at a traffic light, they are drag racing, or they just want the look of there bike lowered. I am personaly fed up with people complaining about how the bike isnt gonna handle like it did at stock height. Not everyone rides there bike to the limit into corners.
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