lowered sv650s

[skeetly]

I have bought an 03 sv650s which I'mtold has been lowered.
From reading here I understand this is done by fitting different 'dogbones' & raising the fork stanchions in the yokes.
This one doesnt seem to have had the stanchions moved.
How can I tell which dog bones I have fitted?
Can I easily get new ones of the original size?
Where ?
Does it change the handling a lot?
Is it bad that the forks have not been lowered?
Is there any advantage to leaving it lowered?

Cheers

Very sorry. I should have done a forum search first.
I think i found out all I need to know right here on the forum

The original Suzuki dog bones were made of zinc plated steel and had 20F stamped on them.

any Suzuki dealer, or ask on here somebody may have a set they no longer require.

Depends how much they have been lowered, the dog bones will be longer than originals.

See above if its lots then they should have been dropped through the yokes to suit. Perhaps you have diferent springs, preload or air gaps??

Only if your verticallly challenged.

[skeetly]

I've been riding it around long enough now to decide that its a bit soft and I'm sure its too low.
The dog bones are stamped 4KMTL1; I take it these are different to the original T20 ones? How long should the proper ones be?
The front preload was on 4 which i've increased to 3 (factory setting) I think as the preload adjusters are different to the diagram in the hand book so I could have changed 5 to 4
On the rear I changed the setting to the factory default and here its obvious.
Anyone got any t20 dogbones they dont want?

[skeetly]

OK answering my own post here but done some homework and including it here in case anyone else has a look.
original dog bones have holes drilled at 145mm centres. Mine are drilled at 170mm centres and drop the seat height from 31 1/2" to 30" so 1 1/2 " drop (or about 40mm)

Well looks like a call to the dealers for the original dog bones on Monday.

The forks wouldn't have been lowered, thats a myth that a lot of peolpe believe will balance the bike out! If it was lowerd by Suzuki then all that means is it has a shallow padded seat (Thinner and so making you closer to the ground). Other than that John Burt (first reply) has the other answer if it was lowered by the more common dog bones.

[skeetly]

The forks have definitely not been lowered. One less job for me I guess.
The seat height itself is lower and from what I've gleaned on the 'net the oroginal dog bones are shorter than what I have on and so will be getting changed.
If you dont lower the forks when you let the swinging arm pivot go lower surely the whole frame of the bike is tilted back? Doesnt this change the rake and make the handling different? Or is the difference so small it's not noticeable?
The 'jack up' kits that racers use to 'quicken' the steering appear to lift up the back by less than mine has been lowered.


In other words am I worrying about nothing? Does the fact that is has been lowerted make NO difference to the handling?

Originally Posted by skeetly

The forks have definitely not been lowered. One less job for me I guess.
The seat height itself is lower and from what I've gleaned on the 'net the oroginal dog bones are shorter than what I have on and so will be getting changed.
If you dont lower the forks when you let the swinging arm pivot go lower surely the whole frame of the bike is tilted back? Doesnt this change the rake and make the handling different? Or is the difference so small it's not noticeable?
The 'jack up' kits that racers use to 'quicken' the steering appear to lift up the back by less than mine has been lowered.

Yes you are correct with your thinking, but you should only lower the rear end otherwise you are going to turn it into an american GSXR which barely skims the ground (there new found craze).

My SV backend has been jacked up an inch and with the shorter GSXR forks on the front they are still dropped through the yokes 8mm.

[skeetly]

Originally Posted by Dangerous Dave

Yes you are correct with your thinking, but you should only lower the rear end otherwise you are going to turn it into an american GSXR which barely skims the ground (there new found craze).
My SV backend has been jacked up an inch and with the shorter GSXR forks on the front they are still dropped through the yokes 8mm.

Ah right
Well methinks its a set of original bones for me just to get it back to normal...