If i lower my 04 R1 what will it effect? im just lowering about 1 to 2 inches to make up for shortness?

Question

If i lower my 04 R1 what will it effect? im just lowering about 1 to 2 inches to make up for shortness?

Answer 1

you can buy lowering links to lower your bike that go on the mount for the rear shock....this will lower the back of the bike..

but ideally the front should be lowered the same amount to retain the correct steering geometry...

not sure if you can slide the fork tubes through the triple trees on the R1...??

& you can get some foam taken out of the seat to lower that a small amount...

dont worry about it scraping on the road...  older bikes use to scrape all the time..(wore the foot pegs of the RD350 down by about an inch)..   you will get use to the bike touching down in the corners..

Answer 2

Most people that have their bike lowered also get the kick stand shaved down. there is no center stand - LOL

It will effect cornering but not to the point where you'll wipe out everytime you take a corner. These guys are being really extreme. About 75% of the sport bike riders i ride with (over 150 riders) have their bikes lowered and have no problems with tires being unloaded. You just have to take it easy cornering and go 65 through the twisty instead of 75. Whoo whee big deal!

Make sure you get it lowered professionally so they can do it correct.

I've rode with and had my bikes worked on by Tech 9 Cycles and Custom Cycles who were both featured on SpeedTV Superbikes. I ride with guys who build bikes from scratch and have rode for over 20 years. Some of the c**p I read on Y!A they would laugh at. I know I do. I don't know it all but if I don't know I either ask around of shut my trap.

Answer 3

I don't think tinker has seen an 04 R1.  There is no center stand and with the undertail exhaust, you'd scrape your hip before your cans touch the ground.  But I would agree with everything else he said about losing ground clearance.  If its only 1 or 2 inches, just tippy toe it.

Answer 4

You can probably get away with 1 inch, but 2 and you'd be dragging everything, you could have someone modify the seat buy removing foam to shorten the seat height.

Answer 5

The clearance of the bike dramatically affects the speed you can go around the corners, as you will not have sufficient ground clearance.

You are talking about 1 or 2 inches when it has less than 5 inches of ground clearance in the first place.

So it would only be 3 inches off the ground. Your side stand would grind, unload your tires, causing an unsafe condition, or accident.

If you are turning the other direction, your center stand would scrape, also unloading the tires, potentially causing an unsafe condition which you are obviously unqualified to handle.

If by chance you did not have either a side stand OR a center stand, you would grind the exhaust pipes away, also potentially causing a fatal accident.  

You could put training wheels on the motorcycle and then you would not need a side stand nor a center stand, but exhaust pipes are sort of required,