Shorter dog bones, dropped yokes combo

I did a search, but could not find the answer to this particular question.


My forks are 'standard', but with 15wt oil and 17mm of spacers on top of the springs. The preload and comp damping now feel about right and i am happy with them. There is no rebound damping to speak of, but you can't have everything

Last weekend, i dropped the yokes down the forks, by about 5mm. I wanted to be conservative, as i don't want to put to much weight on the forks. The bike turns in a little quicker just as i wanted and to my surprise there has been no adverse effects on the front end.

A while back, i bought some shorter dog bones as an impulse but kind of thing but never fitted them.

I am now toying with the idea of fitting them, but was wondering if anybody could give me their experiences of shorter dog bones, with a lowered front end. Will it be overkill for the road?


I realise i could just do it and see, but if it is just going to mess up the handling by putting too much on the front, i will just have a few beers tonight instead.

[yorkie_chris]

I've got shorter forks than standard, as well as a shock which is roughly 15mm longer than stock, and it tips in very easily.

I doubt it'll be a problem

[21QUEST]

IMO , you should pretty much disregard the chassis setup...if the bike does all you need it to do. The first thing want to ask when people ask "should I get shorter dogbones/drop forks.." is, "are you having any problems with how the bike rides?"

I, for an example prefer a bike that is pretty much flat in geometry(whatever that means ). There are a number of bikes on here i just know i wouldn't enjoy riding no matter what they have on them....because the basic setup is just wrong for me.

The way I love my bikes setup works for the way I ride and feel prefer from a bike.
I guess I'm sayign if your bie feels just 'sweet' with the forks dropped 5mm, I don't see what is to be gained by also sticking the shorter dogbones on.


Ben

[yorkie_chris]

I disagree.

If you've been riding a standard bike for ages, you don't know there's owt wrong with it untill you try something different. So IMO mess around with it as much as possible, so you can find out how you like it.

Cheers Yorkie.



In response to Quest, when i first rode my bike i though the front end was horrible, it was nearly bottoming out just with engine braking. When i rectified that i though it felt loads better and i rode it around like that for some time perfectly happy with it.


I dropped the yokes as i knew it was a 10 min job to set back to standard if it was ****e. It turns out it is now even better! When i think about it, my worries about overloading the front were largely unfounded as i have already addressed the preload issue.

Hence, there is a little man in my brain who now wants to see if he can make it better still. Nothing i am doing is irreversible, i enjoy the tinkering and i will be learning stuff, either through making improvements or horrible mistakes.


I asked on here, to see if anybody would say "holy **** batman, whatever you do don't use short bones and a lowered front end, you will end up in a hedge with a bike rear wheel milling your helmet away whilst petrol drizzles into your face and makes your mascara run" or whatever.


It might make it worse, i may find that the slight trade-off in stability is worth the agility, you never know.

[yorkie_chris]

Some heavier springs might be an idea too, spacers dont compensate for the fact that stock springs are very light.

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Some heavier springs might be an idea too, spacers dont compensate for the fact that stock springs are very light.

I know they are only £70, they are definitely what i would buy for it, if i was spending money, but my SV is supposed to be a practical, cheap, workhorse for me. I am fairly skint for the foreseeable future, so i can't justify spending that money on it.

There comes a time when you have to accept that an SV is a budget bike and great at what it does. Everybody has their own idea of how much is too much, my threshold is extremely low due to financial constraints.


What i have considered though (and probably will end up doing) is cutting the springs down and then fitting really long spacers to compensate. Apparently, this is the same as changing the spring rate. I read about it on the web somewhere and it appeared to make sense. If it goes pearshaped, then i can just buy some progressive springs. I won't mind spending money then, because it will be 'essential'

[dizzyblonde]

TBH I'd agree with Ben, I have two SVs and two completely different set ups.
I would agree with Chris on one issue..
Until recently my yellow SV was suffering from overrustyness and YC completely rebuilt her. The suspension was completly foobarred on that bike, so he put a new shock( Hagon because I didn't want nowt fancy) and some Hagon progressive fork springs. Now I'm no shortar$$e and I weigh about 9 half stone. In the forks was put 15W oil......obviously the benefits of just having new stuff was fantastic, all he did was pull out the old and shove in the new and it was absolutly astounding. Standard dogbones too, because I believe unless your seriously tall or seriously short faffing around with that is pointless
Now, I have a black one as well, it has a saggy stock shock, and Ohlins linear springs, it did have a jack up kit( shorter dog bones) and an unknown weight of oil. I bought it like that and quite honestly with me it was bloody awful. Took em off straight away
Recently we took the forks out and had a look in them, they were packed with washers because the previous owner was 13 stone, and the preload on the shock was up to the max. Since taking the washers out and putting 10W oil in has made the front end too bouncy now( so thats easily fixable), and for a certain reason we had to drop the yokes( so the forks stick up more above the top yoke) by about 10mm...the handling isn't too sharp but not half as sharp as the crap dogbone set up.
I don't believe in faffing too much with stuff like that unless its completely necessary( but thats just my personal opinion) I had a go on YC's nakid SV with all its funny Gsxr front end and odd shocks, and no offence Chris, but I preferred it before when it was standard...but YC likes it like the way he has it, and hes not me. \everyone has their own views on this sorta stuff and this is just mine

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by dizzyblonde

I had a go on YC's nakid SV with all its funny Gsxr front end and odd shocks, and no offence Chris, but I preferred it before when it was standard...

Hehehe. You just not trying hard enoug on it

[dizzyblonde]

I'm not keen on nakid bikes neither......I'm a bird and I feel like an ape sat on yours....hehe