• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

Front end 'liveliness'

  • Thread starter Thread starter Joe Garfield
  • Start date Start date
Joe Garfield said:
It's interesting how people say raising the back makes the bike turn faster. I just replaced the stock rear shocks with Hagons, so the rear sits up a bit higher due to the stiffer springs. It seems to me like it makes it harder to get into a lean, but hopefully it's just me getting used to the handling characteristics again.
Click to expand...

Raising the back makes the rake steeper and reduces trail, both of which should provide lighter, faster steering. How much is a 'bit' higher? If it is only 1/4" or something you won't notice it. I have longer than stock shocks on my 1100E, close to an inch longer. They very noticeably changed the steering as I described, making it both lighter and faster. What you are really doing when you jack the back up (or lower the front by sliding the forks up in the triple clamps) is reducing the stability. On these bikes that isn't much of an issue for the most part, because they have steering geometry more suited to a locomotive than a motorcycle. Stability is not normally lacking, so giving some away isn't a problem. Someday I am going to get bored and drop the front 1/4"-3/8" just to to see what that does for the handling when combined with the longer shocks.


Mark
 
mmattockx said:
Raising the back makes the rake steeper and reduces trail, both of which should provide lighter, faster steering. How much is a 'bit' higher? If it is only 1/4" or something you won't notice it. I have longer than stock shocks on my 1100E, close to an inch longer. They very noticeably changed the steering as I described, making it both lighter and faster. What you are really doing when you jack the back up (or lower the front by sliding the forks up in the triple clamps) is reducing the stability. On these bikes that isn't much of an issue for the most part, because they have steering geometry more suited to a locomotive than a motorcycle. Stability is not normally lacking, so giving some away isn't a problem. Someday I am going to get bored and drop the front 1/4"-3/8" just to to see what that does for the handling when combined with the longer shocks.

Mark
Click to expand...

PO on one of my bikes (83 1100E) dropped the front 1 1/2." I don't know if he cut the springs down or what. It was even lower via sliding the forks up as high as they could go but the V&H exhaust hit the ground leaning in right turns. This is a great thread. Learning a lot here.
 
mmattockx said:
Someday I am going to get bored and drop the front 1/4"-3/8" just to to see what that does for the handling when combined with the longer shocks.


Mark
Click to expand...
I've been running GS1000 forks on my 80 850 for the past seven months or so. They're ~19mm shorter than the OEMs. Sharpened up the front nicely, and compensates for the weight of the Vetter. Using a set of what appeared to be (anonymous) aftermarket springs that were in another set of GS1000 forks I bought for the sliders, it's all a bit of a mix'nmatch, but it works. Rear is a pair of ex-HD Showa air shocks, set at around 20psi. The whole plot hustles around the bends and bumpy backroad here quite well, but the GSs always did belie their weight once on the move.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top