Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

hi, i'm new to sv's but own a new pointy which i've had to get lowered. Problem is i've now found that the rear tyre catches on the underside of the rear fender and wondered if anyone else had similar issues when lowering thier bike. I'm about 54 kg and wouldnt of thought it would have been a problem so any help much appreciated.

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

Your weight isn't the overriding factor, if the suspension has had bits changed that allow the tyre to move far enough that it will hit something - it will hit something.

I strongly advise raising it back up a bit until nothing touches.

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

+1

Tiptoes/scooped out seat/platform shoes/whatever.
The suspension NEEDS to work properly, it is much more important than falling over at 0mph occasionally :)

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

I am going to be facing the same problem as you I think - just curious, how tall are you?

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

I would advise you buy a bike which handles good with a low seat, rather than try lower an SV to a dangerous level.

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

thanks for the replys guys. I'm 5'2" and had the dogbones changed to lower the bike like a lot of other people seem to do but never heard of a problem like this before.

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

suspension knackered ?

never head about the tire hitting before

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

Suspension moves through an arc, knackered or not. Knackered suspension just does it without damping.

I've heard of it, and I say same thing in all these threads.

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

i was meaning more along the lines of the spring is knackered

how much have you had it lowered ?

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

bikes been lowered about 40mm. Cant see it being the rear shock 'cos the bikes only done 600 miles and is new. I've measuered the dogbones and as far as i can tell its 165 mm between hole centres. If anyone can shed any light as to whether this is too much i would be v. grateful.

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

I for one am grateful you posted this becuase I'm only 2" taller and I was seriously fretting about this, still trying to find a localish dealer nearby who has one in stock for me to try.

Did you lower the forks as well, by any chance? Scoop the seat?

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

You know how a shock works?

Even if spring is not there, shock still tops and bottoms out at same position.

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

bike was lowered at a 'specialist' local to me and they dropped the forks thru the yokes about 10mm too. not taken anything off the seat but looks like i'm gonna have to get slightly shorter dogbones that lower it by 25mm then take some off the seat too. this should then be a happy medium i hope.

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

It's opposite, longer dogbones lower it, shorter ones raise it.

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

lol yep know how they work was just been thick :rolleyes:

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

could someone possibly take couple of measurements for me from a standard bike for comparison please.
ground clearance at mo from bottom of exhuast near stand is 110mm (40 less than standard i think) , clearance between top of rear tyre and underside of fender is 3 1/4" when on its stand and tip of tail near rear light to floor is 35". Thanks for any help.

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

Id take it back to the "specialist"and tell them the problem.They appear to have lowered it too much and should be able to sort out their error by raising it enough to give you clearence.As said a scooped seat should do the trick.

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

Speedy Claire's SV has been lowered a lot but nothing fouls when suspension is compressed. She won't mind me saying she weighs more than 54kg so it's not a rider weight issue.

I would take it back to the 'specialist' for an explanation of why it is fouling.

Just out of interest, where does it foul? The bit where the number plate sits or the bit under the seat?

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

It's not really a matter of how tall you are but inside leg measurement. Standard seat height on an SV is 31.5" so legs over 32" long will be pretty much feet flat on the floor. You can get a lowered seat or modify your own to get the seat down to about 30" before messing with the suspension.

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

just to double check something when they dropped the forks through the yokes, is there 10mm of fork through the top yoke (not inc adjuster) just because any more than exactly 10mm through the top stops the forks from fully compressing and they hit the bottom yoke

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

I'm 28" inside leg! Looks like a scooped seat should be fine for me.

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

I had longer dogbones fitted to my K3, i think they were about an inch longer than standard and i believe they lowered the bike by about 30mm and i have had no bother whatsoever. The rear of my bike still feels standard with regards to ride quality etc.

mick

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

^ the k3 has a higher rear end

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

Luckypants : tyre is fouling the fender under the seat.

Yorkie Chris: there is 10mm of fork through the yoke to not inc adjuster.

Def taking it back to get sorted. I can actually get both feet flat on the floor at mo so there is still some height to play with, especially if i reduce the seat a bit too.

Re: Bike lowering and tyre fouling?
 

^ that was be me and not YC ;)

and ok thats all right then at least you dont have problems at both ends