Post by 90GTVert on Feb 14, 2010 21:24:35 GMT -5
Lowering A Scoot
I just lowered the front 1 5/8" last night. I should have taken pics of that too, but I keep forgetting. It's a simple process on some scoots, a little more involved on others. Some of the steering stems/fork trees will allow you to simply loosen the 1 or 2 bolts holding each fork tube in place and reposition them to your desired ride height. Others, like mine, have stops built in at the top of the triple clamp area that won't allow you to lower the scooter any. I had to remove the shocks and dremel out the stops. The stops are just a lip at the top of each fork tube hole. Just make sure you smooth it out pretty well so you get all the clamping ability you can. If you leave a bit of a lip it may only clamp to that small area. I feel better having all the surface area for clamping force that I can get.
If you decide to lower the front of your scoot, take a good look at all clearances before jumping into it. Remember to leave room for suspension travel. Measure both fork tubes to be sure you are moving them an equal distance, you don't want a crooked scoot.
I just took a couple of pics to help show what lowering the front does. Sorry, they aren't too great.
There's the bolt on one side that holds the fork tube in place. You can see how the fork tube is raised above the triple clamp now. Stock was sitting basically flush.
Here's the clearance of the front fairing to front fender now. Much better looking, hopefully I left enough room for bumps.
Lowering the front 1 5/8" alone just wasn't enough. I ordered a shorter shock from Parts For Scooters to drop the back. The shock I was using is nearly 12" eye to eye and the new shock is 9 1/2" eye to eye.
Old vs New
Both of these shots are with it sitting on a stand so it's partially off of the ground.
Old Shock
New Shock
Here are a few shots of it on the ground with it's new stance. It's not lowrider low, but better. It still has a little rake with he back being higher, but it's about how I wanted it. If I weren't so heavy I'd try to go lower, but this may be pushing it for me. You would think just being fat would be enough of a lowering kit for most people lol. I may hit my first big bump and bottom out front and rear. We shall see.
I cut the kickstand today. I know I said that I would wait to see if I could keep it this low, but the more I look at it, the more I like it lowered. Somehow I'm gonna keep it this low or real close. With the stock length kickstand, the bike sits nearly straight up. It takes next to nothing to make it want to tip over.
Here's the kickstand in stock form. Be sure to make marks to show the orientation of the foot piece of the kickstand before you cut anything.
I cut off 3/4" and ground both pieces at an angle to get a better weld, then used a pair of vice grips to hold both pieces together to start the weld.
I welded the two parts together and ground down the welds.
After cleaning, I painted it gloss black again so you can't really tell it was ever modded (other than noticing it's shorter).
The scooter leans about the way it did at the stock height with the stock kickstand now. ;D
