52 • GARAGE BUILD • ISSUE 419
How Low
Should You Go?
TECH THEORY^ • by John FrankA zip-tie positioned like this one on a fork tube can be used to estimate fork travel. After going for a ride, the new position can be measured.
absorbers that incorporated an offset
mounting system. The offset mount
avoided interference with the chain
guard by moving the shock absorber
outward by more than half an inch.
The drawback was that the shock ab-
sorber spring now rubbed on the back
of the right saddlebag. The solution to
that issue was installing a set of saddle-
bag supports before my next road trip.
An alternative to changing shock
absorbers is the installation of lower-
ing blocks. Lowering blocks reposi-
tion the bottom mounting bolt on each
shock absorber towards the rear of the
swingarm and up slightly. The result is
generally less expensive than replacing
the shock absorbers.
2QHRIWKHßUVWWKLQJV\RXPD\
notice after lowering a bike is that it
doesn’t lean over as far on the sides-
tand as it previously did. To under-
stand why this happens, you need to
visualize a right triangle beneath the
bike. The hypotenuse is on the pave-
ment. The sidestand is one side of the
triangle while the third side is a line
extending from the sidestand pivot to
the end of the hypotenuse.
Readers who studied geometry or
trigonometry may recall that the three
angles of a triangle always add up to
180 degrees. Lowering the bike makes
the angle between the pavement and the
frame slightly smaller. The angle at the
sidestand’s pivot stays the same becauseD
IFFERENT RIDERS HAVE DIFFERENT REASONS FOR
lowering their bikes. Some think a lowered
bike just looks cool while others hope a
lowered center of gravity will result in better
handling. Occasionally a shorter rider will need a lower
VHDWKHLJKWLQRUGHUWRKDYHERWKIHHWàDWRQWKHSDYHPHQW
when stopping the bike.
How a bike is lowered depends on the type of suspen-
sion it uses. Shorter shock absorbers are one way of lower-
ing the back of a bike with a conventional swingarm. One
notable exception to this is the triangulated swingarm on
ßUVWJHQHUDWLRQ+DUOH\'DYLGVRQ6RIWDLOVZKHUHWKHEDFN
of the bike is lowered with a longer shock absorber.
The simplest way to lower the back of a bike is by
installing shorter shock absorbers. Peruse the pages of
PRVWDIWHUPDUNHWSDUWVFDWDORJVDQG\RXZLOOßQGVHYHUDO
pages devoted to replacement shock absorbers for most
popular bikes.
Shock absorber diameter is one of the dimensions that
must be considered when lowering the back of a bike.
Some short shock absorbers or heavy-duty shock absorb-
ers may be slightly larger in diameter than the stock parts
they replace. Adequate clearance must be maintained
between the chain or belt guard and the shock absorber.
Years ago I lowered the back
of my Sportster with short shockCautions and tips for lowered bikes